Hi Everyone,

I am preparing to install hardwood in my L-shaped Living room/dining room and was wondering if I should start the floor in the middle of the room with a slip tongue to change direction or would it be okay to just start at the wall? The floor is 3/4" x 2 1/4" Red Oak. The length of the room is the direction the tongue would run.

Thanks for your help!

Jacob

Jacob, there are a few things that would determine if You have need to start in the MIDDLE . . .
-Room extremely wide
- You might anticipate greater then normal changes in moisturize
- or it just makes it easier for You to start with a straight line, due to the shape of the room.
Most often start at the wall..
Pro Comfort floor tools.com

Thanks Pro Comfort, the room is 14' wide for 13 of the 22' and then 22' wide for the last 8'.

Rule of thumb is start in middle if room is over 20 feet wide. Also, if you take the short wall into account with your measurements and starting baseline you hopefully won't wind up with any really short strips when you reach the 3 walls.

Thanks, JIMMIEM.

Follow-up question now. The room butts up to the entrance hall on one side, which has a tile floor. The tile is only 1/2" tall so there is a 1/4" difference between the 3/4" hardwood and the tile. Would you use a T mold to transition this or just cut down a reducer to where it would match the 1/2" level of the tile?

Thanks again,

Jacob

I had the same situation. 3/4" X 2 1/4" t&g red oak. I'm assuming your flooring boards are parallel to the tile. My flooring manufacturer's instructions called for a 1/2" to 3/4" expansion gap for obstructions parallel to the flooring boards. Yours? If you use a reducer with the tile side bottom shaved down by 1/4" you should leave whatever expansion gap your manufacturer requires and make sure there is enough wood thickness left to prevent splitting when you walk on it. I made my own T molding transition/reducer from a piece of my flooring. I cut the T on the bottom of the board and left the side resting on the tile 1/4" thicker than the side resting on the hardwood. I also made sure there was room for the flooring to expand under the transition/reducer. I chamfered both edges of the transition reducer.
Unless you can get something already milled to your specs you're probably going to have to do some of the milling yourself. Plus species and color considerations.

You could also make your own reducer from a piece of flooring but it may be a little thin after you remove 1/2".