Which direction should you run hardwood flooring in a long hallway???? Long ways or cross ways?
The sub-floor is 3/4" plywood. Going perpendicular to the floor joists would mean laying the hardwood "cross-ways" (the width of the hall), but I think I would prefer the appearance if it were long-ways (along the length of the hall).
Is there a right or wrong here? How bad is it if I do not go perpendicular to the floor joists?
perpendicular
Did mine cross ways. I like the look. Give the appearance of a wider hall and flows right into the room at the end of it where the wood is in the same direction. . FWIW, you never see hallways in the brochures, just full rooms. Ed
perpendicular
Run it long ways down the hall. Floor joists are irrelevant. You will not be nailing to them. Put down 30 lbs felt paper under the floor. Stagger all joints by at least 6". Rent a good floor nailer. Move the wood into the space to be floored at least two days before you lay the floor. Have fun. I like doing a floor occasionally.
perpendicular
I say compromise. Nothing adds fun to a flooring job more than running them at 45 degrees to the walls.
todd
It looks 'fishy' when it's done HERRINGbone style, though
Mat, the answer is simple. Lay some boards down in both directions and see which you like the best. As a rule of thumb, if you run them length wise, the hall will look narrower and longer. Lay them width wise and the hall will look wider and shorter.
I laid wood flooring in our very modest master bathroom. The room is 6' deep from the door and 12' wide and I laid the flooring such that the length of the board was in the 6' depth direction. The bathroom literally looked twice as big after I was finished.
perpendicular
"Run it long ways down the hall. Floor joists are irrelevant. You will not be nailing to them. "
While you will not be nailing to floor joists, they are not irrelevant. Crosswise of the joists will give a much less springy, stronger, floor. I think long wise down the hall does give a better appearance.
Walt Conner
Split the difference. Run them cross-ways for the first half of the floor, and the long wat for the second half.
tt, who feels certain someone will say I'm wrong -- that it should be the long way for the FIRST half, and cross-ways for the second.
perpendicular
With only 3/4" ply, and flooring running lengthwise, you will get dips between the joists over the years. This can be remedied by another 3/8" ply or blocks between the joists.
Appearance is a matter of taste. Running lengthwise is much harder to install, but easier to sand. The short way is much easier to install but the sanding is all edger work.
M Hamlin
I suppose it depends on the hallway. However, I know some folks that have an old farmhouse with a large hall through the center. the planks are laid down the length of the hall, and, are alternating hard maple and walnut. Looks very nice. By the by...I understand the wood was cut and milled onsite when the house was built... Regards Dave Mundt
What if your hallway is a mobius strip?
djb
the same way you would in a short hallway
perpendicular
Only time I've ever seen the flooring in a long narrow hallway running crosswise was in a large room that had been partitioned and made into two rooms with the hallway running between them. The hallway was about
16' long and 3 1/2 or 4' wide (didn't measure, just a guess). Something about it didn't look right. Can't put my finger on it, but it just didn't look right. Might just be conditioning. Ms. Leslie, do you live in Maryland by chance? Regards, Hank
I've been thinking about this since mine runs crosswise and the majority seem to think length wise. My conclusion is: It all depends.
If you have say four rooms off a hallway, some of the flooring in the rooms may be running the same direction as the hallway and it would look OK, but the rooms at the end would not have the flow into them from the hall. It would be a compromise of sorts.
In my case, the family room flooring runs crosswise to the hallway, so since it is the same flooring continued, it is natural to follow the same direction. I think if I changed direction, it would look awkward. I'll eventually do the room at the opposite end and continue in the same direction. Off to the side is a bathroom and utility area and since neither has wood flooring, it does not matter visually.
I looked as some web sites for flooring, but none seem to show a hallway. Ed
The conventional wisdom is that flooring should always run parallel to the long direction of the room. In a hall that means running the long way. If you sub-floor is adequate the direction of the joists is immaterial (remember that carpet gets laid directly on sub-flooring all the time and those floors don't have sagging problems).
Tim Douglass
No, I live nowhere close to Maryland. Why do you ask?
Several years ago I lived in Frederick Maryland and knew a woman by the name of Leslie Gossett. She was a most interesting woman, brewer, biker (bicycles), kayaker (paddler), sort of lived off the land; she didn't really have a steady job, but always managed to make do. She was probably 10 or more years younger than me and I'm 62. This Leslie would have/could have been a great woodworker if she chose. It would (sigh) have been one of her interests. Lost track of her in the last 6-7 yrs., but I hope she hasn't changed. Hank
Ed, I didn't think it was the correct/or the incorrect way to do it. This was in one of those beautiful Victorian mansions (American Victorian) built in the 1870s. This was in the McKnight section of Springfield Massachusetts. This beautiful structure had been divided into apartments and, other than partitions, hadn't been too badly butchered. The long hall just didn't look good and I expect it's more to my eyes conditioning to expect long runs with long. Inspect I could change, but thinking about it, naaaa. Regards, Hank
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