Does hardwood flooring have to be installed horizontally with the longest (widest) part of a room ? Or can it be installed from the shortest side of the room (narrowest) and then just worked all the way down to the end of the room? Thanks.
I've never seen any rules like that, and based on the installation in homes I've had where hardwood was in every room, some rooms happened to be short ended others on the long end. So I don't think it matters.
I have seen that you want to acclimate the wood to the environment for several days ahead of installation, and that you're better off installing in the summer when things are more humid versus the dry of winter.
Best Regards,
-- Todd H.
On standard surfaces (joists and subfloor) hardwood flooring can be installed in any direction. Our L-shaped room has the bulk of the flooring installed on the diagonal, surrounded by three boards (two light and one dark) parallel to the walls. It took extra time to lay (cutting all those extra 45-degree angles) but looks superb and the contractor took photos to show off to other customers.
The above recommendations are spot on. Real wood should go perpendicular to the joists - engineered flooring isn't as limited. In every installation I've seen (included the one I did in my own home) it was laid perpendicular to the joists.
Another rule of thumb is to lay the boards "Parallel to the light source and perpendicular to the direction of the light." In other words, the wall with the greatest amount of windows (or at least the windows which receive the largest amount of sunlight) is the one you'll want to lay the boards parallel to, and therefore the run will end up perpendicular to the incoming light from the windows. This reduces the appearance of seams.
If you install it long way in a rectangular room the room will have the illusion of being longer and skinnier, installing it from short side to short will give the illusion of being wider, if you care about additional structural strength install it perpendicular to the floor joist. Joe
Parquet doesn't need to be aligned.
If one room transitions in to another, continue that direction into the next room/closet.... Stand in the doorway to the room to help you determine what is visually appealing. Someone mentioned diagonal and I think there are no hard and fast rules. . We are just about finish with 2500 sp ft of 5/8 x 5 1/8 maple T&G. Some rooms were different.
In a great room/master/office we rain it with the long wall. In the main dining room we ran in with the short wall. (concrete foundation). Other bedrooms were different, also.
-- Oren
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