I have exactly the same situation. I am installing hardwood in my living room/dining combo and foyer. The joists run parallel to the long wall in the living/dining room and I want to lay the flooring strips parallel to this wall, which would be parallel to the joists.

The two suggested options for accomodating this installation will not work:

Option 1 - Install an additional layer of subflooring.
Problem - My front door will not open due to the raised height of the flooring, and I can't trim the bottom of the door because it is steel-clad.

Option 2 - Install 2x4 blocking between the joists.
Problem - My basement is finished with a drywall ceiling, and there is no access to the joists.

My local flooring dealer recommended a thinner flooring - either 7/16" or 5/16" solid or 5/16" engineered. Are there any disadvantages to using this thinner flooring vs. the 3/4"?

JimK,

You might consider running the flooring at 45 degree to the joists. Just a thought.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've considered doing that but I'm not sure how it will look.

If you install 1/2" plywood over your subfloor, then you could use a thinner floor (5/16") so as not to have door clearance problems. That is what I did. However, I used an unfinished 5/16" strip floor designed to be nailed from the top and sanded in place. The 5/16" floor your probably looking at is T&G prefinished. Bruce Natural Reflections for a solid or Hartco Kingsford Strip for an engineered are both fairly good thinner floors. At least the ones I'm aware of. I'm sure there are others. The downside of a thinner floor is less surface to refinish down the road. But consider this, how many people stay in their homes for 30 yrs? Most floors will give at least one good sanding and that is all you would probably do at any rate.

Thanks for the great info everyone. Knowing the reason why is going to determine what I do with the Rosewood I'm going to be laying down.

C.

We've got a floor with Trusjoist TJ360s spaced at 12". The TJ360 has a 2 5/8" top, so the open area between joists is less than 10". It's covered with 3/4" Advantech. Would it still be necessary to add support between the joists? It's L720 standard for deflection.

This is our own project, so there are no issues of liability. We want to do it right, but don't want to do a lot of unnecessary work if we don't have to.

Thanks, TJ

JimK,

In Florida we run in to this problem in a lot of houses due to almost every house having a concrete slab and a steel hurricane door. We usually put ¾ over the slab which raises the profile quite a bit and on a few doors this creates quite a problem to overcome. Here are a few things that we do to overcome a low metal door profile:

1. Replace the door with a wood door.

2. Install the plywood wood in the entire area with the exception of the door sweep in this area square off the plywood and allow it to drop down (in our case to the slab in your case to the first layer of plywood). In this area install the hardwood and transition up to the higher profile beyond the door sweep. This actually looks really good if done correctly and can create a very custom look. Borders and medallions in this area can really create an impressive entrance and for a small area like this a border has a negligible impact on the price.

3. Break out the engineered and glue, I hate when that happens. Because as my daughter so affectionately calls me I become the glue monster. This stuff has a magnetic polarity for me. Even with the engineered you will still need that extra plywood to firm up the floor. An engineered or a thin solid may fit with the ½ plywood under it.

For TJ,

You have a unique situation. Rarely will trusses be laid up 12" oc. I have to wonder why? But as far as flooring is concerned, in this case, I would say you could safely run your flooring paralell to those trusses. It is important to FLATTEN that subfloor first. Good luck