Laminated floors can also expand and contract. Laying the flooring east to west, or horizontally, may help the room feel wider. * This article may contain affiliate links. All Rights Reserved Powered by. I'm thinking of installing laminate flooring and have a question: If I'm installing laminate throughout the house, should ALL of it be going in the same direction? Let me add that I am NOT a fan of laminate flooring. Needless to say, ignore the natural light when choosing the direction to lay your wood floor. There are some circumstances where it will make a difference and we want to cover those here, but we will start with some of themisconceptions that you may have heard before. What about using a cushioned underlayment designed to fix that? Which Direction To Lay Laminate Flooring? agreed! Hide expansion gaps around pipes with our radiator collars. Select which room your new engineered floor will be installed in, to see our recommended choices. Because the pieces need to be staggered when laid out, which contributes to the sturdiness and durability of the completed floor, changing the direction of the flooring will involve a great deal of cutting. If that is your plan, I would start on the right wall of the large room and work to the left. Given the choice I would say laminate or solid wood. This layout may also help the room to feel a bit larger. You can create a unique feel to a room if you lay your laminate flooring at a diagonal across the room. This will create a more natural flow and will accentuate the length of the room better. Try to minimize wastage by minimizing the cutting of planks. It is common to see the laminate or wood flooring boards running with the direction of the longest walls in a room. Strip flooring can be installed in any direction in any room, however the convention is to run parallel with the longest wall in most situations. Hi there! That way you can do it without using a transition between the two. Now here is an ingenious idea. The transition strip will then be located aligned to the door when it is closed. Running it horizontally across the width of the room will lend a feeling of the space being shorter than it is. Find out more and set your cookie preferences Required fields are marked *, Copyright . Anyone who has installed ceramic tile knows the benefits of starting in the middle, but this applies to ceramic tile. Its funny that laminate gets bashed for being cheap flooring and the answer is engineered? The tongue is the side that you will want to place against the wall as you start your laminate-flooring installation. You would generally want to use a T-moulding for cases where the level of the floor will be different. Determine which in your home or your room you consider being the focal point. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. The direction of the laminate will basically become perpendicular to that door. The long lines created by the laminate floor can naturally lead the eye in a certain direction in your home or room. Again, you must take into consideration what you want to achieve. Do you cut the tongue off the first row of laminate? In fact, this one carries so little weight, even with some research we still couldn't find out where this tale came from. Maximum size of an Earth-like planet that's as close to reality as possible. What determines whether Schengen flights have passport control? Please. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'allaboutmaterials_com-leader-2','ezslot_4',634,'0','0'])};if(typeof __ez_fad_position!='undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-allaboutmaterials_com-leader-2-0')};Also, a diagonal placement will most of the time create the most wastage in materials compared to a parallel or perpendicular direction to the rooms shape. However, this approach requires caution in that if the room is too narrow, the shortness of the individual laminate pieces might impart a cluttered or claustrophobic feeling to the room. Should you lay it horizontally or vertically across the room? So, there is no right or wrong way to lay your wood flooring. While there are a lot of opinions on the "proper direction" for laying laminate, I think the best advice is to buy 2 or 3 boxes of the one you are interested in (they should be returnable.) Also please explain the "chalk line". All About Materials is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Laminate flooring is its own monster, so it has its own rules. The importance of this cant be overstated. Dont ever short-stagger your flooring, it is both not aesthetically pleasing, and can also bring up some of the same issues as not staggering the floor at all. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. Is there a specific guideline for this? I read the question and I see no mention of "light". So many answers to read through, maybe I missed it but there is also diagonal. " If it is out a couple of inches over a long span, and you run the boards along the wall, one side of the hall is going to have boards that get thinner or wider. They are always a "picture" of wood on some pressed paper or synthetic backing. This means that it is not significant which direction you lay down the floor. While they CAN expand and contract, most laminated floors are essentially plywood! Select which room your new laminate floor will be installed in, to see our recommended choices. To make all of these decisions easier, look into an augmented reality app. Plan on a seam in the middle of the doorway. It also looks better if you have an actual wall or accent that is also placed at a diagonal. I have a passion for everything related to tools and DIY projects around the house. You could, however, get away with changing the direction of your laminate floor if the room is separated from the rest of the house with a door. Lift to Fit. While there arent many straightforward answers involved with this topic, this may be one of the few. I did have a great deal of scratches in the engineered when I used that. If you are installing the laminate floor in a somewhat square-shaped room, then the direction can go either way. The transition strip when the door is frequently kept closed will less likely become a tripping hazard, and it wouldnt become noticeable. There are transition pieces available for both styles, but they usually involve a change of floor level like a threshold and are not a good idea to use on open flooring, as they can create a tripping hazard, however they are fine to use in doorways etc. Vertically will elongate a room and works great if pointing towards a window, as it will follow the natural light. Often asked: What did Luther and Erasmus disagree on? SKIL 75540 4-3/8-Inch by 40T Carbide Flooring Blade. In this case, you need more than, Were going to put in a new floor.. We have heard so many suggestions over the years and some even have some merit, but in the majority of installations, it really won't matter at all. Another serious consideration is what type of flooring to use in a large high traffic area vs a smaller room. The windows of your south-facing wall will bring in light that runs perpendicular to that wall, so many laminate floors are laid out to travel in the same direction as that light. Then lay the laminate floor in the direction parallel to the shorter walls of the room. Why must fermenting meat be kept cold, but not vegetables? Which way should flooring run in a hallway? Choose the best configuration that benefits and looks good with the majority of the rooms but give priority to what you consider as the main areas of your home. If its a darker room, however, you wont need to worry about this point. What can I do about flooring height differences when installing laminate flooring? Solid wood flooring, expands dominantly across the grain. It usually is a combination of design interventions to create the right illusion. Do this at different times of the day, under different lighting conditions, etc. This doesn't answer the original question; please check out our Help pages to see how better to contribute. Site design / logo 2022 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. The light thing is because some cheap laminates cup at the seams so the light method is to eliminate the wavy look from a distance. It could be the fireplace, artwork or sculpture, or a particular window with a unique feature. One other suggestion: buy the good stuff. There are several variations in doing this method. Think of hallway flooring for a good example. Wood and laminate underlay for all sub-floors types. Snap a few boards together, then a second set, and take a look at how they look placed next to each other where you enter the hallway -- you'll want to see it with the room lighting to see how it looks. For instances, walking across a cold laminate floor first thing in the morning can be like entering a haunted house at a fun park! How can I remove laminate flooring from an oddly shaped hallway without destroying it? Hello, and welcome to Stack Exchange. However, if it is perpendicular to the joists it will be more likely to span any dips and appear more level. Select a colour to see all the engineered wood flooring we stock in this shade. So you asked this question to a contractor, then the guy at the home improvement store, and finally, your father-in-law. Then should you decide to extend the flooring into adjoining rooms, the floor would be installed in one direction throughout. The best direction to install laminate flooring is parallel to the rooms longest wall. Probably not all that invested. When laying the laminate flooring, one of the questions that get asked quite often is which way to lay it so that it will create a more aesthetically pleasing result? There are no rules that absolutely must be followed, as floor installation over the years has yielded the best practices that anyone installing laminate flooring should consider before starting the project. Slide Both Pieces Over. A transition strip can in many cases be avoided with some planning; as most flooring is tongue-and-groove, you can simply cut a tongue or groove in the ends of the pieces that will go against a perpendicular board. You can use this to see what flooring will look like in your homenot just the color, but see it running in different directions as well. When choosing one direction to use to lay your laminate flooring in multiple rooms of your home, test out each of the design guidelines listed above and see how it looks in each of the rooms. The long lines of your laminate floor will then become parallel to the direction of the light entering your windows. However it's just a few planks that make the full run- the rest expand into the other rooms. It will be a weak point and look like crap. Pay attention to the size of the rooms receiving the flooring. Don't forget to read our helpful guide to laying laminate flooringif you are about to embark on a new project. Houzz offers an app that boasts as one of its features the View In My Own Room 3D app. Laminate flooring does not follow these same rules. The reason why hardwood is best done in one direction over another is surely due to seasonal (humidity based) expansion and contraction of the wood. Unfortunately,this one has nomore merit than an "old wives tale". You will likely get three different answers, as this is not an easy question to answer. No matter what you choose, youll need to make at least some cuts to the flooring pieces. Choose some of the most popular colours here. I would do one direction, vertically in your drawing. But there are as many solutions as there are floors in the world. Another idea seeks to enlarge how the room feels. This will create a more natural flow and will accentuate the length of the room better. Because of the laminate floors tongue and groove locking system, the transition strip is placed on top to cover the part where the locking system meets and the change of direction happens. I'd guess you're suggesting laying you starting in the middle of the hallway to make it even, but then you might end up with 2 narrow pieces, so I doubt that's it. This can make a very attractive transition to a large hallway or separate use area in an open design. the reason floors are typically done in one direction rather than another is a) aesthetics (most say it looks best going the long dimension) and b) labor (there's fewer cuts that have to be made if you lay it in the long direction), Can you explain what "the light thing" is? link to Can Water Get Through Vinyl Plank Flooring? I have used both and the laminate held up much better. We have also written a full installation guide for every other type of wood flooring. How to fit many graphs neatly into a paper? The long lines generated by the laminate floor planks, most of the time, lead the eyes and your view along that direction. Which way should you lay laminate flooring in Long room? If you were putting down a wood floor, you are likely using pieces of varying lengths, making a direction change a bit easier, but laminate flooring is different. Calculating length of curve based on data points? Youve chosen your laminate flooring, youve moved the furniture out of the room, youve prepared the subfloor, and youre ready to go. I'm Angelo, the guy behind All About Materials. Instead, youll want to follow the wall as a guide to laying your laminate flooring. If you are a visual person and might make better decisions if you can see your options, then consider sketching out a plan. It may affect your choice of colour, but it should never influence what direction to lay a laminate floor. Laminates are almost always floating and will invariably sound hollow and creak as the temperature changes. Arguements For laminate is it's cheaper, a good one should last a long time with care, and it can be disasembled if necessary to replace damaged spots. Each of those options has its merits and, depending on the situation, drawbacks. The direction of the planks will lead the eyes to focus more on the width of the room rather than on its length. If you have a window where sunlight from the outside enters the room, lay your laminate floor in the direction perpendicular to the placement of the window. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[336,280],'allaboutmaterials_com-netboard-2','ezslot_20',608,'0','0'])};if(typeof __ez_fad_position!='undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-allaboutmaterials_com-netboard-2-0')};If you have an unusually narrow room and you would like to make the rooms width look wider than it actually is, then try laying your laminate floor perpendicular to the direction of the longer wall of the room. Once the two pieces are connected, slide them both over just far enough so that both jambs cover the flooring ends. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. How does JWST position itself to see resolve an exact target? The choice will be yours whether to run flooring in a hallway so it either stays with the rest of the house or follows the longest-wall guideline. You cant leave standing water on it but with two kids and a dog I had no issues when using the laminate. This is an ultimate resource of building and finishing materials, equipment and furnishings, and other things related to the design and construction industry. This assumes your hall is square. Today we have options such as laminate flooring and engineered wood floors, which don't expand dominantly in any one direction so there really is no need to stick with any one direction. By continuing to use our site you consent to use our cookies. wait for the floor to cure Before you use your new floor or move into the room, make sure the floor is completely cured. It obviously matters in which direction you lay your flooring. You can run Laminante anyway you wish but running it the longest way of the room results in less wast. Or could it be installed in one direction for one room and installed in a different direction for the other room? I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but I've always heard it is better to install laminate flooring perpendicular to the floor joists in the room. Before you begin installing your laminate flooring, figure out which direction the natural light runs. Getting paid by mistake after leaving a company? Which side of laminate flooring goes against the wall? Cheaping out will end up costing you. Again, these are guidelines, and individual solutions will vary for countless reasons. It must be added that if you want to make the long room seem shorter, consider the horizontal installation. By running boards perpendicular in halls, the boards are cut to stagger joints which make them have a tendency to buckle and separate due to ther short length. They also help us understand how our site is being used. This site uses first and third party cookies to provide you with a great user experience. He is passionate about design and architecture and enjoys sharing his knowledge and information with people as well. Laminate flooring comes in a wide variety of quality levels, from extremely poor to fairly good, but share a common trait. Make your decisions before you buy the first piece of flooring. History of italicising variables and mathematical formatting in general. Before you commit, experiment with the angle of the lines to create different feelings and effects. With a longer hallway I would also consider how square the hall is. Connect them and place them in the room(s) in different directions and at different places - especially where light enters and where the floor will adjoin with other flooring. This way you would make sure you have a full width board at the door entrance, and if there is a thinner board it is on the outside wall. Your email address will not be published. Almost always, the answer to this is no. This will make the room look larger as well. Dont forget to put the spacer between the wall and the laminate! If aesthetics is not a concern then it really doesnt matter which way you lay your laminate flooring. We recommend cutting off the tongue on this first row to avoid any problem with the expansion gap. This will make the floors structurally sound and will help prevent the planks from separating, sagging or buckling. By submitting your email address, you agree to receive offers from Wood Floor Warehouse in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Directions for Installing Laminate Flooring Start on the left side of the room and work to the right. The great thing with laminate is it's so flexible you can lay it any way you want. This usually isnt an issue if its a threshold, but in the middle of a bedroom floor, a trip hazard will eventually snag someone stumbling out of bed at 3:00 am. Essential items to clean and protect your wood or laminate floor. Feel free to, As its currently written, your answer is unclear. When deciding which direction to lay laminate flooring, in conclusion, it really is quite simple. Find out more and set your cookie preferences, Don't exceed manufacturers maximum length / Width of Installation, Don't forget to leave expansion gaps across all doorways. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. Do not walk on the floor for 24 hours after installation. Can Water Get Through Vinyl Plank Flooring? If you are installing the floor in more than one room, or even in an entire home, this longest-wall concept becomes complicated, as the longest wall in the bedroom may be opposed in direction to the one in the living room. Do you need to stagger laminate flooring in hallway? What is the nature of a demiplane's walls? Whenever you are placing wood flooring in a hallway or any long and narrow area, it should run in the direction away from the doorway. Once youve put down flooring in two rooms or so, you will see the benefit of not having to back your flooring pieces into place, a practice required much more often when moving right to left than left to right. So test out a laminate floor direction that will give you the least amount of cuts needed to install the whole floor. You, the homeowner, though? But, my goal would be to eliminate waste so the long wall method would be my choice or else you need to plan like 20% waste into your sqft calculations. However your room looks like a narrow rectangle and with furniture placement, the eye would like to see the install running perpendicular to the long side of the rectangle room. If youre cant decide which direction to lay the floor, then try the other design guidelines instead. This can also be a place where dust or dirt can collect or where your mop can frequently hit. Transitioning from horizontal to vertical at the doorway seems natural and will also serve to help set the room off on its own. I agree that running parallel to the longest wall is the best installation method. Select a colour to see all the LVT flooring we stock in this shade. Direction changes can be challenging to execute with laminate flooring, mainly due to the uniform size of the pieces, as laminate flooring almost always comes in pieces of a fixed length. Most laminates have end T&G that is incompatible with the edge T&G, making this a non-starter. A better option is to use an application that can help you visualize what the laminate flooring will look like when laid in a certain direction.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'allaboutmaterials_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_2',177,'0','0'])};if(typeof __ez_fad_position!='undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-allaboutmaterials_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0')}; Reward flooring has a web app called Room Visualizer that will allow you to upload a picture of your room and then give you visual feedback on how the floor will look when you lay your planks in a certain direction. Notch and cut the first piece to fit and then slide it completely under the jamb. Help lead the eyes toward the direction of the focal point by laying the laminate flooring perpendicular to that focal point. Sometimes floors have a slight dip or waviness between joints. here. While wearing vertical stripes may make a person appear taller, trying the same on your floor simply won't help to make your room look any bigger. Unlike hardwood floors or vinyl planks though wherein the transition strip can be flat and flush with the rest of the floor, the transition strip used for laminate floors juts out. When the boards are laid across the room, the lines between the boards and the wood pattern visually widen the room. When you lay your laminate floor in a direction parallel to the shorter wall of the room, it gives the illusion of length to its narrow width, making the room look wider. Running the boards across the shortest width of the room will help make anyspace appear bigger. The only problem is, it won'twork! These are just design guidelines and are not strict rules that need to be followed every time. Don't be afraid of changing directions from the room to the hallway if your using a good wood product that can be cut cleanly on a table or chop saw. Cutting the pieces will require some sort of transition piece or trim. Some of our best selling laminate flooring categories. The source of your natural light, such as windows and doors should have no bearing on how you install a laminate floor. Ethical implications of using scraped e-mail addresses for survey. As with just about anything, there are right and wrong ways to do this. How Do You Make A Narrow Room Look Wider With Flooring. Now that youve chosen the direction for one or all of your rooms, its time to lay the pieces in physically. I would recommend laminate over engineered. Select a colour to see all the solid wood flooring we stock in this shade. If it is too short, cut a new plank in half and use one half to start the second row. It is also worth mentioning here that there is a school of thought that doesnt consider wall length or anything else past the floor joists. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Explore our finishes. Luxury vinyl tiles are very hard wearing, water proof and can sometimes be softer and warmer than regular laminate flooring. How much does it cost to manufacture a conductor stone? While starting in the middle of the room is not a mortal sin, it is simply not practical given the construction and constraints of laminate flooring. Does it matter which way you lay your flooring? Wood floors should always be laid perpendicular to floor joists across rather that in between them. If you didn't want to break it, and with all other considerations being equal, I'd not look at your problem as two smaller rectangles, but as two sets of walls and there's more linear feet of walls running one direction than the other, so there'd be more cuts running the boards across the hallway rather than down.