Can I Install Hardwood Floor Parallel To Joists

However that is mostly personal preference.

Can i install hardwood floor parallel to joists. A flooring contractor howard brickman responds. With 5 8 plywood or thicker the plywood itself will grip the fasteners well enough to avoid the floor from pulling up so hitting joists periodically throughout the installation is less of an issue. First renail the existing plywood subfloor so that the old nails are tight and add new nails to achieve a maximum nail spacing of 6 inches. The subfloor is tji joists with 3 4 t g osb glued and screwed.

Determine where to start consider your starting point very carefully. I have always installed hardwood flooring perpendicular to the floor joists. Hardwood floors that are installed parallel to the joists will eventually sag between those joists. Flooring is tbd but will probably be either 3 4 hardwood or 1 2 engineered.

The most common way to lay install hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall or run in the installation. My question pertains to an upcoming job. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically. If your subfloor is oriented strand board osb we d run the wood across the joists.

I have a client that would like their 3 4 birch flooring to run parallel to the joists. Older houses with 1 inch planks running. I believe the national wood flooring association recommends a glued 5 8 1 2 subfloor combination for a parallel application. If you prefer a layout that requires the boards to run parallel to the joists you need to shore up the subfloor by adding a layer of 3 8 inch plywood.

Joist spacing will be 16 oc tji and subfloor will be 3 4 ply.