Hello,

My wife and I are building a house that should be done in about 9 weeks. After 2 hours of youtube and lots of reading we are thinking about battling solid hardwood floors ourselves (nailed down). But I have a couple questions...



1. Based off the floor plan I'm thinking I would start against the 17 2" wall? That's where I start my first line right?

2. Assuming I'm correct on question 1. I would need two significant direction changes and one smaller one. One to feed into the Nook, one to feed into the Study and one smaller one for the Pantry correct? Looking at using slip tongue. Is this the right idea?

3. The one area that concerns me is the Study. As you can see the study entry is angled. I do this exactly like everything else? I just have to cut my board edges at a angle or do I have to do something completely out of the norm to overcome the transition into that room?

4. Do you guys see any other tricky areas that I may have missed here?

Thanks for all the help!

I would want to have the flooring run the long direction in the study.
Two 2-1/4" strips will make a header that goes across the doorway so you could change direction there would be one way to change direction. The room would be more inviting aesthetically.
The rest is a good plan.

I like the recommendation. Didn't even consider that and I think it'll make it easier to lay by taking that recommendation. One thing I don't get is why you recommend Two 2-1/4" strips to make a header. You're talking about a piece that i would basically put under the study doorframe to make that direction change right? Why wouldn't i just use a 5" wide plank there...why two 2-1/4".

Lay a baseline from the family through the dining room. Lay the flooring in 2 directions from this baseline. If you do this you won't need the 'diagonal' transition unless you really want one.

This is the idea you guys are basically detailing correct?

I posted a picture on the DIY forum. Also, see my comment about laying the baseline from family room to dining room (down the middle of the house.

yea I saw that. I replied there...thanks for all the help!

Interior walls are generally 4-9/16" thick which would be the same as a door casing, which is the width of two strips.
If you are using 5" stock then you may want to rip it to this width.

Can one of you guys post a link to the DIY forum you're talking about? I don't want to miss it....might learn something.

This is it....I just did a cut and paste.
www.doityourself.com

JIMMIEM, wouldn't your proposal of starting with a line from the family room to the dining room and go in two directions make the floor go parallel to the joists? (If I understood correctly). Is this acceptable? I ask because I have a similar situation and discarded due to the joists direction.

As you look at the blueprint I believe the joists run from left to right? If this is correct and he wants to lay the flooring perpendicular to the joists then the flooring would lay down like those inside the study in his picture. If you extend a long line through the family room and dining room and lay floor boards on this line you would have the boards in the same direction as those inside the study. If I have the joist direction correct then the family room boards in his picture are parallel to the joists.

Post # 3 in the DIY forum he's saying that the joists run front to back. But let's wait for him to confirm.

I'm having trouble telling which is the front....the bottom left shows steps and a foyer and the garage doors......I may have it wrong.

He just confirmed....front to back....not left to right. I had it wrong...I asked for a clearer blueprint but from what I can make out aesthetically speaking the flooring might look better if it ran in the same direction as the joists as rooms seem to run their long walls in this direction too....a clearer picture of what everything is will help. Generally flooring should go perpendicular to the joists but a good joist and subfloor system will be ok with a parallel installation....a diagonal install would cover both bases.