Do You Lay Hardwood Floor With Joists

If you can feel some deflection you have two options.

Do you lay hardwood floor with joists.

True years ago wood floors were installed directly over the floor joist no greater than. If raising the floor height is not a problem you can install a layer of 1 2 inch plywood over the existing 3 4 inch plywood. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically. Installing hardwood floors with a few careful preparations elbow grease and a weekend you can have beautiful new floors.

You should also lay red rosin paper on the subfloor before you apply the wood to eliminate squeaks caused by the subfloor and hardwood rubbing together. Make sure you ve got the right amount of flooring for your space. Floor joists are used to support a floor over an open area like a basement crawl space etc. I am going to replace all of the joists and want a product that i can install as the original right on top of the joists.

The floor i am replacing was installed directly on top of the joists about 2 feet from the ground crawl space. When possible begin installation from the straightest longest wall and install the flooring perpendicular to the floor joists. The most common way to lay install hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall or run in the installation. The installers of the laminate floor orignally installed north south at our request but had to reinstall to lay in the direction to cross over the joists east west of house layout because the glueing in the laminate planks could not withstand the flexing not supported by joists.

The trick however is to silence the squeaks without damaging the finished floor. Another thing to consider is floor joists. When learning how to install hardwood flooring there are a few tips to keep in mind. It s like a mini bridge that s only supported at each end.

When you can t get access to the floor joists from below your only choice is to make the repairs from above. No matter what you do you should eliminate squeaks on the subfloor first by screwing the floor down through the sub floor to the joists anywhere you can hear squeaking. Fortunately there are two fastening systems both manufactured by o berry enterprises that can do just that. The other option assuming you have access to the open joists from below is to install 2x4 blocking between the joists 24 inches on center.

The correct direction for laying hardwood floors. Consider laying your wood floors in a diagonal or herringbone pattern throughout your house. Laying a solid hardwood strip floor is easier and faster if you choose a prefinished product to avoid the extra work of sanding staining and finishing.