The most common way to lay hardwood floors is by aligning the boards parallel to the longest wall. This is the preferred direction for laying wooden floors because it provides the best aesthetic result, creating a look similar to a bowling alley. Nowadays, we have options like laminate flooring and artificial wood floors, which don't expand dominantly in any direction, so there's really no need to stick to any one direction. However, the most natural direction to place a wooden floor will always be throughout a room and it all depends on the history and natural characteristics of solid wood floors. As a general rule, be sure to place the floor in the same direction as the main light source in a room and in the same line as the entrance that is most commonly used.
If there are multiple doors and windows, choose the direction that is easiest to install. To add some useful “optical effects” to your room, place wooden planks from the entrance to the outside to make your room appear larger or longer. If you want your room to look smaller and warmer, place the wooden floor from one side wall to another side wall. Whenever you place hardwood floors in a hallway or any long, narrow area, you should run in the opposite direction from the entrance. In general, the floor of an entrance should be placed perpendicular to the door, as this provides a visual anchor for the space and improves the sense of openness.
This approach also minimizes the amount of dirt and debris that will creep into the entrance from the outside, helping to keep the house cleaner overall. Moving the floorboards from the front entrance of a room to the opposite wall simplifies the line of sight and makes the room appear less crowded. Therefore, it is the preferred option in most cases. When installing a floor in an entire house, it is best practice to keep the same address throughout. If you keep this address, tables may cross entrances to some rooms.
Although you can always change the direction of the floor on doors to avoid this, you must also take into account the direction of joists. A diagonal installation is as stable as one that runs perpendicular to joists and creates an interesting visual effect that works especially well in large rooms. While a 45-degree diagonal is most common, it's not your only option. A floor that is slightly biased with respect to a wall (perhaps as little as 10 degrees) can help visually link that wall to one in another room and create a unifying principle. Diagonal installations require more work and more wood, since more unusable cuts occur when making angular cuts.
When placing wooden floors in several rooms and in a connecting corridor, all boards should face in opposite direction from main entrance of corridor and adjoining rooms should continue in that same direction. Working with part of floor rather than with all of it allows exceptions to normal aesthetic rules. While laying hardwood floors primarily requires aesthetic planning, there are some important structural considerations that will affect appearance and stability of new hardwood floor. Engineered wood floors are extremely popular because they are most stable and versatile type of real wood flooring.
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