Hi all!

I'm going to be installing pre-finished 3" American Cherry over 5/8" plywood subfloor with 16" OC joists. I would LIKE to run the boards lengthwise down the hallway, but that will be running them WITH the joists rather than against. Sooo... which option would you suggest:

1) Install the boards perpendicular to the joists, but across the width of the hallway. (which might look strange - the "ladder effect")

2) Beef up the hallway joists with blocks in between the joists, then install the planks lengthwise down the hallway. (more work, more difficult, but might look better.)

3) Throw caution to the wind and just install the boards lengthwise down the hallway without the joist modifications.

Thanks!!
-brian-

I wouldn't install the flooring the short way.... it will look "stupid". If possible, add blocking between the joists. This is the correct way to do it and no one here is gonna tell you to do it wrong. If you choose not to do it right, then it will be because you made that choice. Don't ask us to take the responsibility for suggesting all will be ok.

Gary,

What if he ran the boards on an angle? I guess he would have more waste?

Yes, one could run the flooring on a 45. I'd lay some boards out first to see if it looks good to you. There will be more cutting, hence, abit more waste. Also the walls will get in the way more when nailing so it takes longer. But it is an option if you like the way it looks.

The "hallway" is a bit wider and shorter than your 'typical' hallway (if there is such a thing). So I'm not sure it would look stupid if the boards are running across the hallway. I would NEVER do option #3 listed above, nor would I expect anyone here to recommend that. I was trying to be funny. I'm just not looking forward to crawling under the house and installing blocks.

As for installing at a 45-degree... I think that may be a bit much for my first job. And I don't think it would look as good in this situation.

Really, I was just hoping to get some feedback from folks who have installed hallways, and might have examples of various configurations/installatioins. As you know, every house is different, and every hardwood installation comes with it's own individual challenges, I'm sure! Can you think of any situation (i.e. pictures!) where you installed the boards sideways in a hallway/entryway??

This particular hallway has a door to a half-bathroom in the middle on one side, and a large closet on the other side for a side-by-side washer & dryer. The hardwoods will go up to the front edge of the W&D, but not under them. The hallway comes off the kitchen, runs about 10 feet long, and ends at the entryway of the front door of the house. And it's about 5 feet wide. So it's really just an extension of the entryway.

Anyways... Thanks so much for your feedback!!
-brian-

I don't have pictures, but I did what you are describing today.... 9 years ago, I installed some Kahrs 3 strip floating floor in a home built in a new subdivision. I did a kitchen, dining room, and entry hall. I ran it down the entry, so when you walked in, you would look down the length of the boards. (This was a FLOATING FLOOR, so direction on the joists wasn't critical) There was a hallway that ran off the entry that was carpeted. Today, I installed the same floor in that hall, running the short way, as she wanted it all going the same direction. It is a busy floor. Kahrs is beautiful, bet this product doesn't have a filet more then 18" long. So it looks great, and she was quite pleased. More good news....After reading about the decline in the quality of what were once high quality floors, I'm happy to say, that Kahrs is STILL made in Sweden, STILL has a sawn face veneer, and still has a high quality fit, and finish, with no bevel.

I'm on one now, in the shape of a T& L put together An L with the top of the T .

It will have boards running the short way as you come up the stairs, butted into the stairnose, as the landing and the other staircase is like that(3 story home)

It is how the joist are running, that dictates the direction of the flooring, unless you have more in the budget to do what is needed for it to run the other direction.

Check out the book titled HARDWOOD FLOORS, by Don Bollinger (1990 Tauton Press Inc. ISBN 0-942391-62-4) for an example of this. The accompanying video is pretty good, too. He lays 3/4" oak strip flooring in his own living room, kitchen, and down a hallway, and he chooses to accept the "ladder effect" rather than raise the height of the hallway due to the direction of the joists (he doesn't mention reinforcing them as an option, so maybe it isn't in his case). I think it looked nice, especially since it was consistent with all of the other rooms.

I found both the video and the book in our local library, so hopefully that's an option for you, too, if you're interested.

BEFORE








AFTER







Other end of the hall

Perry:

Send me the pics

Thanks to all - especially for the pics! I will post pictures of the hallway when finished...

-brian-

OOps, those were not the hallway pictures...

darnit... now I'm anxious to see the pictures, and they *still* didn't come through!

I guess you have to be a register member of that site to view the pictures, using IE.

Lets see what I can do...

Thanks Floorguy!! It looks like a *very* similar arrangement as mine. (Laundry on one side, bathroom on the other.) And we ended up doing it quite similar as you. I'll post pictures soon...

Thanks to everyone for their input - it was SO helpful!
-brian-