How To Lay Engineered Wood Flooring On Joists

Keep joints that line up at least two rows apart.

How to lay engineered wood flooring on joists. Before starting calculate the width the last row will be. Both solid wood and engineered can be. To answer directly to the question yes it is entirely possible to install a hardwood directly on top of the joists. Wood floor fitting over joists.

The other option assuming you have access to the open joists from below is to install 2x4 blocking between the joists 24 inches on center. Making the right decisions before you lay your flooring particularly in a situation where you re laying flooring directly over joists is always time well spent. This is the typical structure of a floor. Use 1 2 inch spacers to assist in maintaining the 1 2 inch expansion gap between the first row of flooring planks and the wall.

This is to provide the strength and stability needed when installing hardwood flooring directly onto joists. Either solid wood flooring or engineered wood flooring can be laid directly onto joists if the planks are at least 18mm thick. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically. If you can feel some deflection you have two options.

Here s how to install click lock engineered hardwood flooring. Install hardwood floors perpendicular to the floor joists parallel to the longest wall leaving a inch expansion gap around the perimeter. It is also advised that long length boards 6ft or 1 83m are used. If raising the floor height is not a problem you can install a layer of 1 2 inch plywood over the existing 3 4 inch plywood.

A normal 3 4 floor without a subfloor is going to bounce like a rubber ball if you lay directly over the floor joist. Put the first board up against the mason s line with the groove side facing away from the walls. Join the ends of the boards over a floor joist where possible avoiding joints that form an h. If you are planning an engineered wood flooring installation on a ground floor it is important not to install your flooring directly over a ventilated cavity.