I was wondering if it matters which way I lay my flooring ? I want to know if I have to lay my flooring the opposite direction my floor joist are running ? I have 16 inch silent floor joist on 12 inch centers with 3/4 tongue and groove plywood sheeting. I also have 3/8" plywood on top of the 3/4 inch plywood and the 3/8"s sheeting has been run in the opposite direction of the 3/4" and glued down . I'm using 2 inch cleat nails and my flooring is 3/4 inch x 3" red oak . I've ran my kitchen opposite the direction of my floor joist but thought it would be a nice change ( plus a little easier ) to lay it the opposite way in the kitchen .Kitchen layout , hardwood floor runs from left to right in kitchen .Flooring ends at dotted line in dining room and that is where I'd like to do the direction change .


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One more question . It seems to me that the prefinished hardwood does not like to absorb stain . I drilled 3/8" holes in my first row and screwed them into the joist so I had a good solid first row to work off of . is there something I can do to make the plugs I made absorb the stain like heat up the stain or the plugs or rather than make my own plugs should I maybe buy some already made ?
Any help with my questions will be greatly appreciated .
Cheers , Kirk .

try to lay the floor accross the joices not with them. It will help keep the floor from having major dips later on.