Do You Lay Hardwood Floor With Joists

I am replacing our floating laminate flooring on the main floor with waterproof vinyl planks.

Do you lay hardwood floor with joists.

If you can feel some deflection you have two options. The correct direction for laying hardwood floors. When learning how to install hardwood flooring there are a few tips to keep in mind. The installers of the laminate floor orignally installed north south at our request but had to reinstall to lay in the direction to cross over the joists east west of house layout because the glueing in the laminate planks could not withstand the flexing not supported by joists.

The floor i am replacing was installed directly on top of the joists about 2 feet from the ground crawl space. Floor joists are used to support a floor over an open area like a basement crawl space etc. No matter what you do you should eliminate squeaks on the subfloor first by screwing the floor down through the sub floor to the joists anywhere you can hear squeaking. Thank you for your time.

Make sure you ve got the right amount of flooring for your space. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically. Laying a solid hardwood strip floor is easier and faster if you choose a prefinished product to avoid the extra work of sanding staining and finishing. True years ago wood floors were installed directly over the floor joist no greater than.

While personal preference is a factor the direction in which you run hardwood flooring boards is governed by visual and structural guidelines. The trick however is to silence the squeaks without damaging the finished floor. It s like a mini bridge that s only supported at each end. When you can t get access to the floor joists from below your only choice is to make the repairs from above.

When possible begin installation from the straightest longest wall and install the flooring perpendicular to the floor joists. The other option assuming you have access to the open joists from below is to install 2x4 blocking between the joists 24 inches on center. The most common way to lay install hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall or run in the installation. Fortunately there are two fastening systems both manufactured by o berry enterprises that can do just that.

Another thing to consider is floor joists. Consider laying your wood floors in a diagonal or herringbone pattern throughout your house. Installing hardwood floors with a few careful preparations elbow grease and a weekend you can have beautiful new floors.