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.) Our advice and inspiration pages contain lots of helpful tips, guides and how to's along with inspirational ideas for making your home look fantastic. Solid wood flooring can be a feature of any room and allow for almost limitless and timeless interior ideas. Vertically will elongate a room and works great if pointing towards a window, as it will follow the natural light. High quality skirting, architrave and beading. If its a darker room, however, you wont need to worry about this point. Almost always, the flooring in a hallway should run the length of it, which goes back to the guideline about running along the same direction as the rooms longest wall. There are often uneven places in the subflooring that are caused by the joists beneath. Your email address will not be published. Houzz offers an app that boasts as one of its features the View In My Own Room 3D app. While laminate flooring can do wonders for your home, its successful deployment depends on planning and decision-making carried out before the first trip to the hardware store. What determines whether Schengen flights have passport control? Since these sit on top of the floor, they create an uneven surface and can be a trip hazard. The direction of the planks will lead the eyes to focus more on the width of the room rather than on its length. For one, the tongue-and-groove nature of most laminate flooring presupposes that installation will run left to right. They also handle the occasional water spill much better than most laminates that usually swell, bubble and blister at the site of water! In general, laminate manufacturers recommend laying laminate flooring perpendicular to the longest wall in a long, narrow room to avoid a bowling alley effect. If you do, it will damage the installation, resulting in an uneven floor. The great thing with laminate is it's so flexible you can lay it any way you want. Before you begin installing your laminate flooring, figure out which direction the natural light runs. 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. How to prove that both people know the same dictionary word? 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. However, a narrow room that stands perpendicular to a long hallway might be poorly served by running the flooring in the same direction of the hallway and creating a short, squat feel to the room. If you are installing so that the flooring runs parallel to you (for instance, the flooring will run with the longest wall, and the longest wall is on your left), start on the left side. 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. While they CAN expand and contract, most laminated floors are essentially plywood! In what direction should you lay a laminate floor? Another idea seeks to enlarge how the room feels. Now here is an ingenious idea. This means that it is not significant which direction you lay down the floor. Laminate flooring is its own monster, so it has its own rules. It is common to see the laminate or wood flooring boards running with the direction of the longest walls in a room. Ignore other opinions as the one that matters more to you, is often the best choice. This, however, is just one of the many ways to lay your laminate flooring. Run it lengthwise down the hall and the same direction in the living room at the end. Often the subfloor can be slightly unlevel due to high points running along the joists and low points halfway between the joists. Which side of laminate flooring goes against the wall? You probably care a great deal. Also please explain the "chalk line". This will make the floors structurally sound and will help prevent the planks from separating, sagging or buckling. The dilemma you now face is huge and the subject of much debate: which direction should you install your laminate flooring? Do not apply skills and practices from one kind of project to an entirely different one. here. It often depends on your design preference and what you feel seems to have the most sense. Try to minimize wastage by minimizing the cutting of planks. It is easier on the eyes just to flow with the direction of the light and the long lines of your laminate flooring at the same time. The source of your natural light, such as windows and doors should have no bearing on how you install a laminate floor. All Rights Reserved Powered by. History of italicising variables and mathematical formatting in general. Depending on the houses layout, this may require you to have flooring running in different directions in multiple rooms. It is easier to decide which way to lay your laminate floors if you have a clear design intent you want to achieve. We also participate in other affiliate programs which compensate us for referring traffic.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'allaboutmaterials_com-mobile-leaderboard-1','ezslot_14',178,'0','0'])};if(typeof __ez_fad_position!='undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-allaboutmaterials_com-mobile-leaderboard-1-0')}; He is an architect for more than 20 years. Before you commit, experiment with the angle of the lines to create different feelings and effects. Preferred direction for laying laminate flooring thorughtout a house? Wood and laminate underlay for all sub-floors types. A floors direction can help unify a home or be used to level out an uneven surface. For instances, walking across a cold laminate floor first thing in the morning can be like entering a haunted house at a fun park! As to the the recommendation of running it paralelle to window or light source, I ignored that because mine (shaw) had very tight seams, and running it across the room just looked wrong. The long lines created by the laminate floor can naturally lead the eye in a certain direction in your home or room. Laminates are almost always floating and will invariably sound hollow and creak as the temperature changes. 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. This will accentuate the length of the laminate planks as well. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. There is, however, an exception to this. 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. Another serious consideration is what type of flooring to use in a large high traffic area vs a smaller room. 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. This is especially at problem in doorways. Would you like to balance a long narrow room by giving an illusion of width? You would generally want to use a T-moulding for cases where the level of the floor will be different. Chose which one you like the best. The tongue is the side that you will want to place against the wall as you start your laminate-flooring installation. So running the width of a plank across the narrow part of any room will naturally reduce the amount of expansion required. He is passionate about design and architecture and enjoys sharing his knowledge and information with people as well. There are many to choose from, but the SKIL 75540 4-3/8-Inch by 40T Carbide Flooring Blade makes for a solid option. If you are a visual person and might make better decisions if you can see your options, then consider sketching out a plan. Some of these interventions are to paint the two long walls a lighter color than the shorter walls or add a large mirror or group of mirrors on one of the long walls.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'allaboutmaterials_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_18',168,'0','0'])};if(typeof __ez_fad_position!='undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-allaboutmaterials_com-large-leaderboard-2-0')}; If the room contains several doors and windows and following any of the design guidelines above can work, then opt for the direction that is easiest and more efficient to install. Laminate flooring manufacturers often require their floors to be staggered anywhere between 6 to 12 inches, some manufacturers even want more. The transition strip when the door is frequently kept closed will less likely become a tripping hazard, and it wouldnt become noticeable. In fact, what matters most is your personal preference. 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. Two such exceptions are if the door is placed at a diagonal, and if the door faces a wall as you enter and it is just a short distance away from that door. The light coming from the windows often makes the same effect of leading your eyes in a certain direction. link to 12 Reasons Why Vinyl Plank Flooring Is Good for Basements, Reward flooring has a web app called Room Visualizer. In fact, this one carries so little weight, even with some research we still couldn't find out where this tale came from. Choose how you personally prefer the flooring to look. Just a note - running a floating floor longer than the maximum recommended length without an expansion gap will void the warranty. 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. Your email address will not be published. Should you lay it horizontally or vertically across the room? This could be the fireplace of your home, a big hall from the entrance, or an art piece.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[728,90],'allaboutmaterials_com-leader-1','ezslot_13',169,'0','0'])};if(typeof __ez_fad_position!='undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-allaboutmaterials_com-leader-1-0')}; Using the same direction of laminate flooring throughout the house will give the design a unifying and cohesive look. Needless to say, ignore the natural light when choosing the direction to lay your wood floor. Often asked: Cundo dos segmentos no son consecutivos? The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company. Please. If you are reaching out in front of you to install (that longest wall is straight ahead of you), then start at the top. 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. This site uses first and third party cookies to provide you with a great user experience. [Comment/edit from anonymous user] In thinking about this and reading other answers, I would go perpendicular to floor joints and not worry about the rooms and the hall. Most laminates have end T&G that is incompatible with the edge T&G, making this a non-starter. Unlike hardwood, which is strongly anisotropic in its properties, plywood is well behaved. * This article may contain affiliate links. The idea here is that perpendicular installation will help level the finished floor. Of course, there might be hallways that run in the wrong direction if you are laying the floor in an area covering multiple rooms. For another (pragmatic) thing, if you start in the middle, you will spend much more time cutting pieces and struggling to fit them in along the edges of the room than you otherwise have to. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. 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. Laying laminate flooring horizontally will can make a small room appear larger. In most cases, you should lay your laminate flooring parallel to the longest side of the room or your home. So, there is no right or wrong way to lay your wood flooring. Do you cut the tongue off the first row of laminate? Choose your favourite to see all the engineered wood flooring available in this style. We stock a large range of laminate flooring from the worlds best brands. Determine which in your home or your room you consider being the focal point. At the end of the day, you can lay them in whichever direction you feel is right. The way you install it is determined by your own preferences. It obviously matters in which direction you lay your flooring. If you're going to break the floor and rotate it at the hallway, I'd say fine, just install a transition, and if you're going to add it to any additional rooms in the future, consider rotating them relative to the hallway, too, so all of the transitions are the same. While you shouldnt change your floorings direction without reason (in other words, dont feel obligated to have at least one different space), if you choose to, or if dimensions or some other factor requires a direction change, its best if it happens from room to room. This site uses first and third party cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Hi there! These are just design guidelines and are not strict rules that need to be followed every time. 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. Hello, and welcome to Stack Exchange. Slide Both Pieces Over. Do this at different times of the day, under different lighting conditions, etc. So many answers to read through, maybe I missed it but there is also diagonal. " Of course, light can be managed, and light is different every day, but as with so many of the ideas surrounding the subject of flooring, it is a starting point, and it is something to consider during the planning stages of your project. Does it matter which way you lay your flooring? Probably not all that invested. If these joists present high and low areas, and you run your laminate flooring parallel to the joists, the flooring will have the same rises and falls as the uneven subfloor. These are just some of the examples of a design goal that can be achieved just by laying the laminate flooring a certain way. This will create a more natural flow and will accentuate the length of the room better. Door threshold bars for all types of wood and laminate flooring. Find out more and set your cookie preferences Seriously investigate the advantages of a better quality engineered product. You can lay your flooring either horizontally or vertically. Then you can butt your hall pieces up against it and run them the length of the hall. The direction of the laminate will basically become perpendicular to that door. Could one house of Congress completely shut down the other house by passing large amounts of frivolous bills? Choose your favourite to see all the solid wood flooring available in this style. Ethical implications of using scraped e-mail addresses for survey. One other suggestion: buy the good stuff. Cheaping out will end up costing you. Unfortunately,this one has nomore merit than an "old wives tale". Take advantage of this effect to create a unique experience of leading the eye to an area of importance in your home. Consider an engineered wood "click lock" instead. Which Direction To Lay Laminate Flooring? Luxury vinyl tiles are very hard wearing, water proof and can sometimes be softer and warmer than regular laminate flooring. You can change the direction of the laminate flooring. The difference is that laminated flooring does not have this problem. Or could it be installed in one direction for one room and installed in a different direction for the other room? 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? 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. It can also help unite how a room feels while being something striking to look at. 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. But do ensure that you do the following: Sign up to our mailing list for exclusive offers, inspiration and advice. If you are interested in creating the illusion of space, this will best be served by vertical installation. This will make the room look larger as well. From a design standpoint the parallel installation along the longest wall would draw the eye down the planks and make the room seem narrower than what it is. The long lines of your laminate floor will then become parallel to the direction of the light entering your windows. Because you don't want to have to cut a 1" wide strip of laminate all the way down the hall or the room to finish the job. Laying the flooring east to west, or horizontally, may help the room feel wider. What are the possible attributes of aluminum-based blood? Instead, youll want to follow the wall as a guide to laying your laminate flooring. Keep reading for the entire article. If you really want to have different directions between spaces, consider using a darker color "frame" around the room. 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. When deciding which direction to lay laminate flooring, in conclusion, it really is quite simple. Following the floor joists may give you a finished floor that just doesnt look right to you for whatever reason, which is yet another element to consider before you start your project. Select a colour to see all the LVT flooring we stock in this shade. 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. 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. I read the question and I see no mention of "light". That way the install would be parallel down the hallway - it's okay if it looks narrow. Typically, the boards are installed with the direction of the longest wall. The floor alone might not be enough though to create the illusion of a wider room. Youve chosen your laminate flooring, youve moved the furniture out of the room, youve prepared the subfloor, and youre ready to go. Our experts take a look at this hot topic. This is especially true with an open plan design where each room or space of your home doesnt have any wall partitions that separate one from another. As with just about anything, there are right and wrong ways to do this. For instances, walking across a cold laminate floor first thing in the morning can be like entering a haunted house at a fun park!" Place spacers along each wall to set up the expansion zone. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. Site design / logo 2022 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. I expect laminate flooring would be the same. Select a colour to see all the solid wood flooring we stock in this shade. This would be for the whole house, not just one room. It also looks better if you have an actual wall or accent that is also placed at a diagonal. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Essential items to clean and protect your wood or laminate floor. This layout may also help the room to feel a bit larger. The real question is to whom it matters. If you intend to sell your house in the future, you should make sure that whatever way you lay your laminate flooring should be aesthetically pleasing to the majority of people. How to fit many graphs neatly into a paper? Can a US citizen who's never lived in US vote in US? To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Can you lay laminate flooring right to left? agreed! How should I orient the laminate flooring in this room? I learned that you should install hardwood flooring with the long edge parallel to the long dimension of the space it's being installed in. It only takes a minute to sign up. Almost always, the answer to this is no. Exceptions abound, but much more often than not, you want to start from the left at the top of the room when laying your flooring, depending on your orientation. Having a transition strip that is not flush with the rest of the floor can become a tripping hazard. My name is Jack and I write for ToolsOwner. Running your flooring diagonally can have dramatic effects, which can help lead the eye to specific places in the room. If that is your plan, I would start on the right wall of the large room and work to the left. You can tailor the laminate floor installation to your tastes and the dictates of the room or entire house in which the flooring is being laid. Say for example, let's say I have a hallway that is perpendicular to a large living room. Home Improvement Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for contractors and serious DIYers. It will be a weak point and look like crap. So my advice is to lay the flooring perpendicular to the joists in the room and hallway, and if that means having it run in different directions for the two, just cover the space in between up with a transition strip in the doorway, like a t-moulding: The instructions for the last type of laminate flooring I installed actually recommended not selecting the direction based on the longer dimenension of the room, but based on how much light is coming in from each wall, and to select it so the planks ran perpendicular to the wall with the most light. Unsubscribe at any time. SKIL 75540 4-3/8-Inch by 40T Carbide Flooring Blade. Lets discuss the variations below. 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 should you decide to extend the flooring into adjoining rooms, the floor would be installed in one direction throughout. How can I tell when FFMPEG is done writing a file? You will likely get three different answers, as this is not an easy question to answer. There are several variations in doing this method. Not only does it tend to make a hallway look narrower than it actually is, but can cause a lot of waste of material when installing. They can be miserable to work with, easily damaged and almost impossible to repair after installation. This can also be a place where dust or dirt can collect or where your mop can frequently hit. How much energy would it take to keep a floating city aloft? JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. There are many misconceptions when deciding which direction to lay laminate flooring. and we thought that we should finally put it to rest once and for all. The importance of this cant be overstated. 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. Which way should flooring run in a hallway? According to this aesthetic, install the flooring so that it runs parallel to the longest wall in the room. How Do You Make A Narrow Room Look Wider With Flooring. 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. You, the homeowner, though? 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. You can also consider following instead the other laminate flooring laying direction options as well. Transitioning from horizontal to vertical at the doorway seems natural and will also serve to help set the room off on its own. You can create a unique feel to a room if you lay your laminate flooring at a diagonal across the room. I also ran it lenghtwise thru a living room, foyer, living room and down the hall without any transitions..over the recommended length for contiuous runs. They creek, look cheap, and bubble. If you are installing the laminate floor in a somewhat square-shaped room, then the direction can go either way. What can I do about flooring height differences when installing laminate flooring? Engineered wood flooring is extremely popular due to being the most stable and versatile real wood floor type. Pricing is very close and the engineered products usually are much more stable due to having a solid plywood backing, and somewhat refinish-able with a true hardwood veneer. A diagonal install can be subtle, too, as even a ten-degree slant can draw elements of the room together. Calculating length of curve based on data points? Choose your favourite to see all the LVT flooring available in this style. Some of our best selling laminate flooring categories. Now we get into some stickier issues. Only use a diagonal direction for special conditions, and be careful not to use this in a room that does not call for it because it might lead the eyes in a direction you might not want it to go to. We stock a wide range of colours in laminate flooring. I definitely wouldn't change directions at the entry to the hallway. Laminate flooring does not follow these same rules. Maybe you didn't have any buckling, but that doesn't mean someone else in a different climate won't. 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. Determining LO drive voltage for 13dBm mini-circuits mixer. I would do one direction, vertically in your drawing. It must be added that if you want to make the long room seem shorter, consider the horizontal installation. Each of those options has its merits and, depending on the situation, drawbacks. Pulling a room together, uniting elements of texture and color, and tying together asymmetric wall sizes might benefit from a diagonal pattern. Laminated floors can also expand and contract. What is the nature of a demiplane's walls? This will help lead the eyes smoothly inside as you enter the house or the room. Then lay the laminate floor in the direction parallel to the shorter walls of the room. Again, you must take into consideration what you want to achieve. 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. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. How soon can you walk on laminate flooring? Lift to Fit. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. I will not use engineered again. How do you stop laminate flooring at doorways? Explore our finishes.