topic Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors in Community Chat

Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Kalli — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 05:47:29 GMT

Just had oak floors put in my study and I love it. The wood runs in the direction from front of house toward back. Same is true of our larger living room that is longer from front to back than side to side. (Hope this makes sense.)

The last room we're putting oak in is our smaller tv room. It's a little slightly longer from left to right than front to back but only by a little.

Would you run the wood the same as the other 2 rooms that have the boards going from front to back? Does it matter which way to run it? Or is it just personal preference? Contractor said it's up to me but for some reason I'm unsure about this final room since you walk in it more from left to right? Ugh. Silly, I know.

Thanks!

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

nrm — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 05:57:33 GMT

Do the rooms butt up to each other? If they do then maybe the new wood should go in the same direction. If you could get a sample of the new wood you could put it on the floor and see how it looks both ways. Easier to see it in person.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Kalli — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 06:02:54 GMT

@nrm wrote:
Do the rooms butt up to each other? If they do then maybe the new wood should go in the same direction. If you could get a sample of the new wood you could put it on the floor and see how it looks both ways. Easier to see it in person.

Thanks for your quick response. While the rooms are next to each other, I have to walk down a slight tile hallway to get from one to the other.

The room in question is slightly wider than it is long. This seems to indicate the wood should run left to right, not front of house to back but I've laid the wood both ways and not sure which looks better. Ugh. I hate indecision.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

nrm — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 06:09:06 GMT

My wood floors run from the front to the back of the house from the living room through the dining and into the den. They all run the same way. But your house is broken up by stairs so I would still try to get a decent sized sample or two and see how,it looks. The flooring company should bring one to your house if you ask.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Kalli — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 06:17:01 GMT

@nrm wrote:
My wood floors run from the front to the back of the house from the living room through the dining and into the den. They all run the same way. But your house is broken up by stairs so I would still try to get a decent sized sample or two and see how,it looks. The flooring company should bring one to your house if you ask.

The wood planks are already here. I've been laying them this way and that way for over an hour and can't decide.

The advice online says always run along the longest wall. Also says to run all rooms the same way. BUT if I run it the same as the other 2 rooms, it will not be along the longest wall. If I run it along the longest wall, it will be perpendicular to the other 2 rooms.

Therein lies my dilemma.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

beach-mom — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 06:21:02 GMT

I agree with nrm - get samples and lay them down to see how they look. When you enter our home the study is on the right. The wood is lengthwise as the room runs more long than wide. Our living room is on the right. We had that put in lengthwide also, with a wood border around it. In between the two rooms - our hallway, they suggested we do a diagonal look. We did and it looks great! It's hard to envison your floor plan, but I would play with samples and get advice from the store where you bought your wood. Good luck!

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Kalli — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 06:26:30 GMT

Well, I'm going to bed and whatever I decide before I leave for work is how it's gonna be. Sometimes I just have a hard time deciding something. In reality, the seams are so close, no big indentation between boards, that it might not make much of a difference.

Since I've been struggling with this decision for a while, I now will get 4 hours of sleep tonight! sigh

Thanks for your help!

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

CAMOGIRL — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 07:26:23 GMT

OK, here is my opinion.

I like consistently in decorating. I would do the floors running the same way in your TV room. I have all my wood floors going the same direction through out my house. The man I had install them suggested that. It looks great. The only other flooring I have is Saultillo tile in the kitchen, baths,and laundry. I hope this helps. Whatever you decide on - enjoy those beautiful floors!

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Abrowneyegirl — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 12:29:15 GMT

I have had lots of HW floor installed over the years, we never had a choice of which way they ran, it was always based on which direction the floor boards ran. The floor boards are the support structure under the sub floor that the HW sits on. The direction of the floor boards determine the HW direction due to distribution of the weight load otherwise you get sagging.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

millieshops — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 13:37:31 GMT

@KalliI don't know your answer, so I'll ask a question which maybe some can answer: If you run the planks acorss the wider part of the room (different direction from the other rooms as I understand your descriptions), won't that make the smaller side of the room look even smaller?

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Lila Belle — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 13:54:54 GMT

Our floors all run in the same direction.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

ladyroxanne — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 14:01:06 GMT

i would run them all the same direction.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

brii — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 14:16:02 GMT

I would run them all in the same direction.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

SharkE — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 14:26:39 GMT

If the wood isn't sealed use Johnsons Paste wax. I had beautiful oak floors at one time and I got down on hands and knees with old rags and polished with the wax, let dry and then buffed it up to a high shine. You can rent floor polishers too. Paste wax is great.

floor I have now has a coating on it so I just mop it with 'mop and shine' anything that is especially made for wood.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

mima — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 15:00:25 GMT

@Abrowneyegirl wrote:
I have had lots of HW floor installed over the years, we never had a choice of which way they ran, it was always based on which direction the floor boards ran. The floor boards are the support structure under the sub floor that the HW sits on. The direction of the floor boards determine the HW direction due to distribution of the weight load otherwise you get sagging.

OP, I think this is your answer above! I hope you notice it.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

JustJazzmom — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 15:04:50 GMT

The floor person we used stained the wood floors with a Bona stain then finished it off with the Bona satin finish polyurethane sealant.

This product doesn't have an odor and you can walk on it within several hours instead of waiting for it to cure overnight.

The Bona stain on our floors is a lot nicer than using the previous MinWax stain which had more reddish tones in it.

All our wood floors run in the same direction from front of house to back.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

RedTop — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 16:39:43 GMT

I like walking into my rooms and seeing the wood flooring running in the same direction. I would not want one room to be different.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Fressa — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 16:54:20 GMT

We did floors a few years ago and I had the a similiar situation because of our semi open floor plan. I didn't want to see dfferent directions from the flooring from the rooms that butted up to each other. Now when I went from the long hallway to the bedrooms, study, etc. I chose to vary the direction of the floor to make the room look more sqaure. I had one room that was long and narrow and another that was wide. I also opted to an accent pattern in the middle of one room. I was also hoping to do a herringbone pattern with the same planks in the back room because that really can hide those odd shape rooms. My number one concern was for the flooring not to look like a bolwing ally with our floor plan. I'm glad that I varied the direction for the rooms off the hallway. They only butt up against the hallway and not the main part of the house. All this being said it really comes down to what you personally like. It's nice when it's done but the all the decisions can be a headache. My vote is to make the room look more square or less wide or long. It helps with furniture placement as well as easy on the eye. Hope this helps you.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Carmie — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 20:16:48 GMT

Hardwood floors should be placed opposite the way the floor trusses run. It is not safe to place the hardwood and the trusses in the same direction.

Re: Help! Need advice - hard wood floors

Kalli — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 21:42:38 GMT

Well, the room is half done. I had them lay the floor in the same direction as the other 2 rooms that have hardwood.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to share your advice! I appreciate it!