When installing a wood/laminate floor, should the planks run...

[brerrabbit]

I am putting down wood flors in my wifes sewing/scrapbooking/craft room this weekend. I will be running the wood parallel to the wall with the longest measure. I think it looks best that way. Additionally in older houses it usually ran from the front door into the house. so it was the longest from front to back and I think this became the accepted method for most houses. Interestingly enough the original reason for this was not necessarily looks but the fact that the floor joists ran from side to side of the house and back then they used real wood with no subfloor (think plywood/ concrete foundation) They had to run it that way so the floor joists would support the floor.

We chose bamboo flooring for the room. Its harder than red oak and it has a dark cherry finish. Its supposed to be more environmentally friendly to because bamboo grows to full maturity in only five years and is considered renewable. Finally, I didn't know it until I read the material that came with the floor but bamboo is actually a grass and not a wood. Who knew?

 

[VirtuallyMe]

I've never put the new stuff in- but I have lived in many older homes with hard wood floors- and after a quick look at my child hood photo album to check floors in those homes they are all the same as my current home

The hallway is vertical but all doorways that enter the hall are horizontal and same in all the rooms

So from my front door you'd enter across horizontal boards
turn into my hall and walk down vertical boards and then into any of the room horizontal boards

The only place you enter a room from another and are at vertical boards is the bathroom to our master bedroom and that is because the bathroom was placed on the vertical end of the boards...

Hope this helps

 

[ChrisnSteph]

You know, after having laminate in my last two homes I said the exact same thing until a friend of mine had the laminate I'm using installed in her home. It's a higher end, beautiful laminate that really does look like real wood at first glance. It even as that hand-scraped look to it. She loves it and it's held up really well with all her kids and dogs. And after hearing all the complaints my neighbors have with their real wood floors, I think this is the way to go. Plus, $4800 vs. $25,000 was a huge selling factor as well!

 

[MrsPete]

I don't know the answer, but I'm wondering about something similar:

I'm going to put in laminate -- well, not ME, not DH either, but someone from the store's going to put in laminate flooring for me -- in two large rooms, a hallway, and an entry way.

I feel sure the flooring should run "lengthwise" down the hallway, which means it'll be horizontal in the entryway by the front door. I think this'll make it right in the two rooms, but I think it's going to be odd in the entryway.

 

[MrsPete]

You know, after having laminate in my last two homes I said the exact same thing until a friend of mine had the laminate I'm using installed in her home. It's a higher end, beautiful laminate that really does look like real wood at first glance. It even as that hand-scraped look to it. She loves it and it's held up really well with all her kids and dogs. And after hearing all the complaints my neighbors have with their real wood floors, I think this is the way to go. Plus, $4800 vs. $25,000 was a huge selling factor as well!

Hmmm . . . do you know the name-brand of her laminate? How long's she had it? (Hoping she's had it long enough to "wear" a bit -- everything looks good on the day it's installed!)

 

[oxfordcircus]

May we ask why???
Durability, Personal Preference, ???

Perhaps it was the brand I used - Armstrong - but the finish layer was super thin. It took quite a force to scratch the surface, but once it scratched, there was a green filler visible. Second, we spilled some mild cleaner on it once (I can't remember what it was) and it very quickly got into a seam which wasn't sealed very well and the seam puckered up. Third, some water from a leak got under it and a bunch of seams puckered. Fourth, it made a very loud and unnatural sound when we walked across it, despite the padding that we put underneath. Fifth, our house was 50 years old and on a conventional foundation. Thus, the floor wasn't perfectly flat or solid. There were a couple of high traffic areas that were a little soft and the laminate "gave" when we walked on it. It didn't happen while I was still living in the house, but I could anticipate the tongue and groove seams giving way, breaking and opening up. Anyway, those are my reasons for not liking the flooring.

 

[hydster]

I don't know the brand in question but I can say this:

We've had ours down in our living/entry area since 9-01 and it still looks brand new! My youngest has used his roller blades, scooter, my nephew's heelies, it's been colored on with marker and crayon, had water sit on it for a day and a half and still looks great! I absolutely love it! We tried in vain to scratch a scrap piece of it with a nail and we couldn't do it.

We have real hardwood in our kitchen and I will NEVER have real hardwood again. When we remodel our bedroom we are going to use cork. That stuff is supposed to be really amazing as well.

As soon as we get our tax refund it will be going into a new kitchen floor that isn't hardwood. I cannot wait to get rid of the maintenance of the hardwood in the kitchen. We've had it redone about 4 times in 10 years. Just can't hold up to laminate in our opinion.

 

[oxfordcircus]

As soon as we get our tax refund it will be going into a new kitchen floor that isn't hardwood. I cannot wait to get rid of the maintenance of the hardwood in the kitchen. We've had it redone about 4 times in 10 years. Just can't hold up to laminate in our opinion.

Speaking of kitchens...it was a refrigerator that gouged our laminate floor. We were moving out of the house and rolling the refrigerator when we tried to turn it 90 degrees and the wheels became like boat anchors. It left a very visible gouge that was white in the shallow parts and green in the deep part. I agree that under the right conditions that the laminate seems to be quite durable. Unfortunately, we didn't seem to have very many "right conditions" in our house.

 

[kbkids]

We're building a house right now and putting a high end Pergo throughout the majority of it. All areas of it will meet up at some point, so in order to keep it going the same direction throughout, in the majority of the rooms it will be vertical, but some of the hallways will be horizontal, and a small half bath will also end up being horizontal. But most important to me was the foyer. It is vertical from the front door leading all the way up to the fireplace in the next room.

 

[kbkids]

Well, my dh is the installer. He's done this before, but I'm kind of nervous because this is a LOT of laminate he's putting in - about 1700 sq ft worth.

We're about to start ours soon too. It's our first attempt, and we're talking about 2400 sq ft, so I'm REALLY nervous.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Hmmm . . . do you know the name-brand of her laminate? How long's she had it? (Hoping she's had it long enough to "wear" a bit -- everything looks good on the day it's installed!)

Mannington Revolutions Plank. She's had it just over a year. She has dogs, 3 kids and a pool in the back and the kids are always dripping water all over the floor, so it gets a lot of abuse. Looks as good as the day it was installed!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Once you cut it, the laminate is worthless on the cut side. There's is no way to improvise another "groove" into the end you've cut.

I wouldn't say that. If you need to cut a plank to finish a row and you have about a foot or more left over, that piece could be used to start another row. Since the planks are approximately 4 feet long with most brands, the chances are good that you can use that cut piece.

Fifth, our house was 50 years old and on a conventional foundation. Thus, the floor wasn't perfectly flat or solid. There were a couple of high traffic areas that were a little soft and the laminate "gave" when we walked on it.

Ooh, not good. There shouldn't be any rises or dips with the subfloor more than 1/8". The underlayment will help with that, but anything more would require floor leveling. Was the floor installed by a professional?

 

[Disney Doll]

In our house, when standing in the doorway of the room, the planks follow the length of the longer walls in the room...I think horizontal.

 

[lesroi]

All the laminate flooring instructions I've ever read suggest that it has nothing to do with the shape of the room and everything to do with the orientation of the main source of light.

Where is the window in the room? The planks should run parallel to the main source of sunlight. (i.e. the planks run perpendicular to the window through which the most light enters the room.)

If you run the planks in the other direction you will notice the seams between the planks a whole lot more. By installing the flooring in this method the seams between planks will be less noticeable.

This is how ours is laid. It is the opposite of the "longest width" way. We have a 3-door wide slider at one end of the room and running the planks parallel to that (which would make them "correct" in the "longest width' method) would make it so that you would clearly see the seams every afternoon when the room is flooded with light. No matter how good your installer, there will be visible seams if you look hard enough. Ours are hard to find but they are there.

Ours was all professionally laid so I tend to believe this method!



Tracy

 

[Freyja]

Ours run horizontal everywhere except in 2 rooms where it runs vertical (the rooms turn that way).

 

[Luv'sTink]

Okay, here is how I think it is commonly decided.

Most rooms are clearly wider in one direction... Rectangular, not square.

The wood-planks should follow the directions of the LONGEST measurement of the room. Whether that is 'horizontal' or 'vertical' from any given entrance.

You want the eye to follow the w-i-d-e-s-t path to visually open up the space.

like this:
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

not this:
________________________________________________
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l

That was great! This is correct, otherwise it will make the room look stuby.

 

[oxfordcircus]

We're about to start ours soon too. It's our first attempt, and we're talking about 2400 sq ft, so I'm REALLY nervous.

Oy. Good luck.

 

[Amity 3]

I laid the first floor of our last house in laminate four years ago. you always run the plank the length of the room, not the width. it helps when you run through the doorways, and the seams aren't as noticeable. it also cuts down on waste and the cuts you have to make.

I learned many things, like don't install it in a bathroom.

 

[ElizaB39]

I didn't read the entire thread...

But I was told that they length of the boards are to run perpendicular to the floor joists.

 

[ElizaB39]

I laid the first floor of our last house in laminate four years ago. you always run the plank the length of the room, not the width. it helps when you run through the doorways, and the seams aren't as noticeable. it also cuts down on waste and the cuts you have to make.

I learned many things, like don't install it in a bathroom.

I agree.