Total nubie here and I will REALLY appreciate some solid guidance. Done a lot of laminate flooring in the past but this will be my first hardwood; 2 1/4 red oak over OSB subfloor. Working with a 14' x 32' living room. Half of it (14' x 16’) was done in butterscotch 2 1/4 red oak 22 years ago which I’m now trying to match and extend across the whole 32’. The new flooring will replace old carpet that had covered the other 16’ half of the long room. My question is how to join the new section to the old. The existing floor terminates in a straight line perpendicular to the long axis of the room with the 2 ¼ strips end grooves running full length of that edge (see photos).

(Been trying here but can't figure out how to attach images here. Do I need administrator permission? Help?)

What I would like to do is join that existing edge with four perpendicular strips joining into the existing groove as a “transition belt” and then continue with the new parallel-running floor tongue ends into the perpendicular "transition belt" groove. My question is will that allow for expansion/contraction over the whole 32' span or do I need to create an expansion gap with T-molding over it? I would strongly prefer to create a smooth floor without any transition molding if there's any way possible.

I know what you mean about pics. You can link them from a site that supports pics like Flickr or something.

Thank you, Stephen!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52277073320_233189c273_c.jpg

Here's the edge of the existing floor I need to attach to with new flooring

Hi Stephen,
Really appreciate your knowledge and expertise. Does my post and what I'm trying to explain here make any sense?

-Craig Mathews, Nashville

Oh you mean a header strip perpendicular to the existing floor?
No gap just nail it right against the existing floor.

Great! That's what I was hoping to do. Didn't know the terminology but "header board" sounds about right. A perpendicular separation kind of like this: ====ll====?