Hi my name is Mike. I have never put down a wood floor and have a few questions. Sorry ahead of time if some of these topics have already been covered in other forums. Heres what i have, I recently ( past 3 years and still going) put an addition on our house making our living room and kitchen larger. Old area is built with 2x8 floor joice with evry other one doubled with 1x6 t&g floor boards. The new area is also 2x8 with every other one doubled coverd with 3/4 T&G plywood all areas are 16" OC. The floor joices in the new part are perpendicular to the old area. This new area to be coverd is about 15% of the whole job. The house was built in 1956. I will be tearing up old red oak in the living room which is 1 1/4" x 3/8 face nailed running parallel with floor joist but perpendicular with T&G floor boards. I originally planned on running the new oak the same direction as the old. As I read i'm not sure any more which direction to run these boards? Either way will be ok just not sure which is best. The two areas are connected by two doorways. Is there any benifit to start at the doorways and work into each room? Who makes a quality pre finished red oak? 1/4 sawn oak? Does all prefinished oak have the bevel at each seam? Thanks

Generally, solid lumber subfloors are quite stiff and do not have the deflection problems panel subfloors can have. Most of the time, solid board subfloors are run diagonally across the joists, allowing hardwood installers the option of running perpendicular to the joists. Sometimes, in very old homes, the subfloor planks will be installed at right angles to the joists. In that case, the hardwood installer can do one of three things:

1) Run the hardwood at right angles to the subfloor and parallel to the joists
2) Run the hardwood on a diagonal to the subflooring and the joists
3) install some plywood over the subfloor to tie everything together and stiffen the subfloor structure

It is a judgment call, with the installer relying on his years of experience to guide him.

There are many fine pre-finished flooring companies with some making square-edged, pre-finished solid 3/4' oak flooring. Expect to pay 5 to 9 dollars a square ft for a fair to very good grade of 3/4' pre-finished oak flooring.