I am in the process of trying to lay out wood flooring for installation in my great room. I understand from this month’s article on wood flooring installation that normally wood flooring is installed along the longest dimension of the room. My first thought was to run the flooring the longest dimension, but my ceiling is tongue in groove cedar that runs the shortest dimension of the room. So should my wood flooring run parallel with my wood ceiling or run perpendicular? Your thoughts?
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Whatever you like best....
or even diagonal....
where are the doors located?
Me, I'd run it with the ceiling. There is no WRONG way however....
thanks for your reply. there are four doorways. one at each of the longest ends (one from the foyer and one from the sun room) and two on the side (into the kitchen and breakfast nook).
It should be run perpendicular to the floor joists.
Mad Dog
Thanks for your reply....I should have been more specific. I'm installing Pergo flooring over plywood. Does that make a difference in your answer? Thanks.
Depends on how good the plywood installation is. Sounds like your question is mostly about looks. I couldn't care less myself if the floor runs in a different direction than the ceiling boards. I don't think they relate at all. But I'm not a freak like some of my clients either. Some people probably want their drywall installed in the same direction as their flooring.<g>
What Mad dog said.
If you don't run it perpendicular to joists you gotta straighten up and strengthen up the subfloor. Seen it run wrong tooooooo many times. Hardwood should not look like the ocean after it's installed.
Thanks for your reply....I should have been more specific. I'm installing Pergo flooring over plywood. Does that make a difference in your answer? Thanks.
There is no way Pergo is gonna wave in either direction.
Unless your flooring is the exact width as your as your t&g it will not match anyway.I would set it where it woild match both of the walls as evenly as possible. Besides, you can only look either up or down.
if the room is long and skinny, lines on top and bottom that run the length will want to pass you through the room. Not what one usually wants in a great room. I dont think you can go wrong either way since the cieling is going the width.
Personally I would like the look of flooring going one way and cieling the other in a great room, i think it'll make you want to sit down, and make the room feel like the center of the house.
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--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
I don't folow the idea of running it the long way at all. Matter of fact, I never heard of that before.
For me, the predominant rule is to run it with the light as it flows into the room. If the dominant light runs across the fgrain pattern, especially with prefinished flooring, that light will highlight all the flaws and magnify them. By running with the light, it brings it into the room.
I see no relation between the cieling and the floor excapt as has been noted, that you can hurt the feel of the room by laying both with the length of the room. It is a similar thing with stripes and solids for clothing style. A tall skinny person wearing verticle stripes will look even taller and thinner. Solids or horizontal stripes would compliment him more.
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