Hello,

I've never installed a hardwood floor before, so need a little advice. First, the house is 95 years old and the subfloor is pine strips approximately 2 to 2-1/4" wide boards. Directly beneath this floor is a basement with concrete walls and floor. The pine strips (subfloor) are laid directly across the floor joists and no vapor barrier was used. The pine floors have gaps in them where they have shrunk over time, but appear to be solid and level.

What I'd like to do is lay new, prefinished hardwood planks (3-1/4" wide boards) over the existing pine strips. Due to the dimensions of the room (12 x 24) and the flow of the house, it will look best if the new hardwood planks are run in the same direction as the subfloor, so I'd like an opinion on doing it this way, rather than laying the new floor perpendicular to the subfloor strips.

Next, I've looked at several brands. I've been told that Bruce is the best by one flooring dealer only to have that disputed by another. The dealer that didn't like Bruce recommended a brand called Zickgraf. I've never heard of Zickgraf, but he told me it had a better, harder finish (Diamondized finish) than Bruce, has a better warranty (20 years vs. 15 years), and it was a little cheaper per sq. foot than Bruce. (By the way, I was looking at the Bruce Dundee Planks). I'm looking for some opinions on different brands and how they compare to Bruce.

Finally, my 3rd and last question is....Do I really need to leave a 3/4" gap between my 3/4" solid planks and all vertical obstructions? When I was speaking to an installer at the flooring store, he said he never leaves a gap bigger than 1/2". However, I've found that most manufacturers recommend 3/4" which will be hard to hide with quarter round molding.

Thanks for your help!

G-Dub

It is not recommended to run the new flooring over the old flooring in the same direction.

Thank you for the reply. I know it's not the best idea to run the planks in the same direction as the subfloor. I was hoping that by using 3-1/4" wide planks, the wider boards (wider than the 2-1/4" subfloor boards) would help. Since I haven't laid the floor yet, I have the option of going either direction. However, the room will look so much better running if I run the new floor in the same direction. What problems might I run into if I lay the top floor in the same direction as the subfloor....given that the top floor planks are wider?

Thanks,
Garry

Problems will be excessive floor expension and contraction and gapping. Plus noise. Install some 3/8" (1/2" prefered) plywood over the existing pine subfloor strips. Then you can install the new floor going in the same direction. The plywood will stabilize the subfloor. This is per NOFMA/NWFA recommendations.

Thanks, Gary. As much as it kills me to do this, I think I'm going to have to lay the new floor in the opposite direction.....perpendicular to the subfloor. Since I will already be raising the floor by 3/4" with the new floor, adding 1/2" plywood (or even 3/8") is not an option. I'm already pushing the limits by raising the floor by 3/4".

Would using engineered flooring have the same problems of excessive expansion, contraction, gaps, and noise if I ran the planks in the same direction as the subfloor? Pretty much the only reason I've avoided considering the engineered flooring is the thin wear layer, but with today's 20+ year finishes, I probably won't even own the house long enough to refinish the floors.

Thanks,
Garry