# How should I lay the floor(direction).



## Codewiz (Jan 19, 2005)

I am trying to decide on how to lay my flooring(laminate or bamboo). My living room and dining room are basically one large room that is 18'x32'. If I lay it longways against the 32' wall it will make laying the floor down the hall look bad. 

Should I start on the long wall anyways and change the direction of the wood down the hall or just start on the 18' wall and lay it. The sun comes in the windows in the livingroom and through the padio door in the livingroom.

My other concern is if I lay it against the 18' wall, then when I get to the hallway entrance to the bedrooms I will have a weird ending. Two of the bedroom doors make a V. So would I cut a triangle piece out of the wood for the last piece?

Here is a drawing not to scale of course. It gives a good idea. Everything shown is to have flooring installed.


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## DecksEtc (Oct 27, 2004)

"If I lay it longways against the 32' wall it will make laying the floor down the hall look bad."

Tell me, why do you think it will look bad? If you lay the flooring properly it shouldn't matter. If it were me, I wouldn't change the direction of the flooring for the hallway - if you did you'd have to put something down for the threshold. You can't worry about the "weird endings" as you call them. The direction of the flooring won't change the fact that you'll have to cut some pieces that aren't 100% straight.

That's just my opinion/advice. I'm sure some of the flooring experts will be here to offer their opinions soon.

Good luck!


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

Lay the floor parallel with the fireplace which is the same direction as the hallway.

Mark


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## Codewiz (Jan 19, 2005)

"Tell me, why do you think it will look bad?"

Because the planks going down the hallway will be 3 feet wide. 3 foot planks running down the hallway will look bad.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

I'm a licensed Real Estate Broker as well as contractor. They will not look bad or hurt you at all on resale. In fact running the length instead of the width will be better for resale. 

In fact I can't recall a hallway ever having short runs of hardwood flooring down a hallway. You want your floors to FLOW not be some perpindicular stubby 3' sections.

My personal home is in a historic district and valued close to $500,000 and the floors run with the hallway, not against it.

It's hard to make out your picture, but I think you and I are on the same page, now that I go back and look at your drawing. 

Run your flooring with the hallway and that also goes back into the livingroom. Therefore they are parallel with the fireplace wall so to speak.

Pond


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## Codewiz (Jan 19, 2005)

pondman said:


> I'm a licensed Real Estate Broker as well as contractor. They will not look bad or hurt you at all on resale. In fact running the length instead of the width will be better for resale.
> 
> In fact I can't recall a hallway ever having short runs of hardwood flooring down a hallway. You want your floors to FLOW not be some perpindicular stubby 3' sections.
> 
> ...


Yeah, that is what I was trying to say. Having the planks run against the hallway instead of running with the hallway will look choppy. I just didn't know if starting on the short wall(fireplace) was a mistake since it goes against what is recommended.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

You always try to lay the flooring with the light that comes from your largest window(s). Laying it crossways in a hall will make the hall appear wider.
Lemme see if Mike taught me right.








Mike, it came out kinda leetel.
Anyway bust out your magnifying glass and take a look. This is an entryway/reception area, it flows from the front door/sidelight and plantation shutters (facing east) all of the way through the house to a florida room (west facing) with an entire wall of the same shutters.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

Teetor,

Can't see your picture there. But if you are saying lay hardwoods because of the way light enters the room and to lay perpendicular to hall width, then I will have to diasagree.

Hardwoods should FLOW. Just as a rug to protect them is a runner (longways).


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Pond, All I know is what I am told. I work for and with most of the top interior designers in my area, over the years some of their knowledge has rubbed off.
Mike, how come my picture isn't working? I can see it.


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## Codewiz (Jan 19, 2005)

Teetorbilt said:


> Pond, All I know is what I am told. I work for and with most of the top interior designers in my area, over the years some of their knowledge has rubbed off.
> Mike, how come my picture isn't working? I can see it.


Ok both of you are confusing me 

Which one do each of your agree with.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

I would go the long way, looks much better.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

Wide layout, and I'll explain.

1. Entry room is large enough for floor to go either way.

2. Hall off main entry room should flow.

3. With placement of furniture, (couch in front of fireplace, chair, etc.)
the floor will flow left to right with the room as it should.

This is from our designers. Thanks for the image so I could send it to them and ask for an explanation as to why they would do it that way.

I'm with you, never would I have a hallway going on a short run off the main room.

Cherfully,  

Pond


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Lay it at 45 deg. and everone will be happy.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

What about doing some inlay. Say 45 it on all corners, work your way in and then finish off with gorgous granit or marble.

Now that's the ticket! :Thumbs:


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## Codewiz (Jan 19, 2005)

Pondman, that totally makes sense to me.

Here is another picture with our funiture layout. The red blobs are our couches. The largest one faces the wall without the fireplace. The entertainment center is blue in the picture.

I am still a little concerned about the corner near the entryway into the two bedrooms at the end of the hallway. It is circled in red. The piece of wood would end up being like half a foot wide and made into a triangle.

I really appreciate everyone's advice on this.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

Is this just a corner where two walls meet next to the bedroom entry?

Is this new construction or an existing home?

I have had this type of situation befor on a very large remodel and addition project. 
If it is new construction that is not yet finished I would square that area off.

If the home is already finished and you are just installing floor, go ahead. In the end it will not be all that bad as it seems on paper. In those situations a simple plant in the corner will work for decoration. The real fun will be the installer getting in that corner.

Because I do large remodel projects with angles and octagons as foyers for master suites, I have run into many different angle combinations, and how to best incorporate transtions between walls and rooms. 

Even if it is old construction you can subdue the "V" area by adding a short wall and rock it. That way you will have an almost "L" shape return. This is especially easy if you have no crown moulding to worry with.

With all said though I would not worry about the little "V" section.

Pond


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## DecksEtc (Oct 27, 2004)

The corner by the bedrooms that you're concerned about is going to be a small piece regardless of how you lay the laminate - it all depends on how it lines up by the time you get to that point. I'm assuming you are going to start in the living/dinng room so it will be hard to plan out how the last part will end up. Someone like Florcraft or the other Flooring guys may have some tricks they use that can help you out.


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## Codewiz (Jan 19, 2005)

Awesome guys. Thanks alot. Yeah this is a house I just moved into this past December. We purchased a new washer and dryer. On New Years Day, the washer overflowed and dumped 50 gallons of water in our carpet. This house had carpet in near perfect condition. Everyone told my wife and I that we couldn't get the water out without mildew. Well they were wrong, it just took a lot of work and time. We spent a good 2 days working on the carpet. We knew we had the carpet pad dry because it crinkles now when you walk on it.

After some haggling GE reimbursed us a decent amount of money to go towards recarpeting. Since we eventually wanted to do wood floors(or laminate), we decided now was a good a time as any.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

Enjoy and best of luck..............

Pond


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Code, DO NOT LISTEN TOTHE PONDMAN!!! He is a BB scab, I have posted this under it's own title. I know this guy from other BB's. He gets his jolly's from disrupting sites and brags about it on other sites. Sorry that it took me so long to recognise the moron.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

Teetor,

Step away from the bar. You have had way too much to drink. I'll call you a cab.
Let's go home and sleep it off. Tommarrow is another day.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Goodbye pawned, oops, pond.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

Teetor check your mail.............

I'm going nowhere, martha Vineyard is snowed in. The Mrs. wants to come to Florida. Thought we might catch up with each other and have a beer?


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

I'm not going anywhere, staying warm.


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## pondman (Dec 29, 2004)

Saw you read some material that came your way. Hope all is OK big guy.


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## kesac (Feb 5, 2005)

*Do what you like.*

Run the floor in the room one way, and down the hall, the other if you would like. My living room is 30x24, and we ran the floor parrallel to the 30. The hall is also running the same direction, and is about 42" wide, but it looks just fine. That hall is not very long, because we took out most of that wall to give us another entry to the kitchen, which is now all bamboo too, and running parralell to the living room. It looks good enough to stop people in their tracks when the come in the house.
Play with it. If we had turned ours the other way, it would be about 50+x30, when you include the kitchen, so we are technically going parallel to the short wall, but it looks very good and even a little bit dramatic.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

The human eye reacts the same. Most people know about clothes, horizontal stripes make you appear wider and vertical stripes make you look thinner. The same basic theory applies to your house.
Want to know the truth? Take some photos and trot them down to your local Interior DESIGNER, NOT decorator. Big difference. Most will give you a free opinion.
Mine tell me that 90 deg. intersections are bad, lengthwise down a narrow corridor is bad and anything that breaks the 'flow' is bad. 
Go try a few and get back to us


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## toddy (Mar 5, 2005)

Lay The Floor On A 45 Degree


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## Marco (Mar 9, 2005)

Guess its a little late here but rule-of-thumb always lays the floor long way of the room. Thats in the Manual. The big room is more important than the hallway, that direction is your choice. If planned right, you can change direction at the hall without a T-mold.


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## Codewiz (Jan 19, 2005)

Marco said:


> Guess its a little late here but rule-of-thumb always lays the floor long way of the room. Thats in the Manual. The big room is more important than the hallway, that direction is your choice. If planned right, you can change direction at the hall without a T-mold.


In the end we decided not to run it down the hallway. We decided that we wanted carpet between the bedroom and bathrooms.

So we are laying it with the longest wall  I appreciate all the help.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Marco, you are correct in the directional change but it is difficult to pull off as all of the expansion/contraction has to be allowed for at the far end of the hallway or a gap will occur at the intersection. Careful attention must be paid to the entryways to the hallway. Always glue the main room panels 3-4 out in front of the hallway to spread the load, the intersection MUST be glued as well.


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