Does Lamiante Flooring Hve To Perpendicular To Joists

The floor joist run parallel to the length of the room and i would like to lay the hardwood lengthways not perpendicular to the joist installing hardwood over laminate my home was build just 5 year old and now i want to install a hardwood floor in our kitchen.

Does lamiante flooring hve to perpendicular to joists. Some people say laying the laminate perpendicular to the joist will provide some structural support and help prevent future squeaks. A flooring contractor howard brickman responds. This can cause laminate or engineered flooring to pull apart slightly allowing moisture to enter through the cracks. If the subfloor is stiff enough there is no reason why solid nail down strip flooring can t be run parallel to the joists.

If you have an older house with a shiplap floor the shiplap is perpendicular to the joists so the flooring is parallel to the joists. This provides added strength to the floor and helps cut down on bowing in the laminate. The real reason for this is because there is over time a slight give between the joists. Installing them parallel creates the possibility that the floor will sag.

Others say that the laminate isn t stiff enough so it wouldn t. That said some times it s not possible to do this. Most directions recommend running laminate flooring perpendicular to floor joists. Some houses have the shiplap on a 45.

I guess you wouldn t have to lay it parallel but the shiplap has a lot more movement then plywood or osb. There are also tools you can use to measure the deflection or flatness of the floor and of course you can also hire an engineer to come inspect the floor joists and sub floor to calculate deflection and grading. Most manufacturers recommend that you run the flooring across the floor joists. If the answer to either of these questions is yes then you will want to lay the hardwood planks across the floor joists in a perpendicular fashion.