How To Lay Timber Flooring On Joists

The tongue and groove pine flooring must run perpendicular to the floor joists.

How to lay timber flooring on joists.

Make sure your subfloor is level and. Wood floor fitting over joists to answer directly to the question yes it is entirely possible to install a hardwood directly on top of the joists. 09 timber flooring design guide page 4 introduction scope this publication provides a reference guide for the installation of solid timber strip flooring over bearers and joists timber based sheet flooring products and concrete slabs. Work in small sections until the entire floor is covered.

The most common way to lay install hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall or run in the installation. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically. Keep joints that line up at least two rows apart. Start by removing the baseboards in the room where your install will take place.

Where floor joists are spaced 16 inches on center whether or not a 3 4 inch plywood subfloor is adequate for this type of installation is a judgment call. Cover the floor with an acceptable moisture inhibitor such as 15 to 30 lb. To keep the wide boards from cupping you ll face nail them with cut nails driven through the subfloor and into the joists photo 18. Some plywood subfloors deflect more than others.

Before starting calculate the width the last row will be. Generally floors of this type are of solid timber or a laminated product made from layers of timber. For the best results draw the floor plan to scale and lay out rows of boards fig. Join the ends of the boards over a floor joist where possible avoiding joints that form an h.

Mark the walls to show the location of the floor joists. First renail the existing plywood subfloor so that the old nails are tight and add new nails to achieve a maximum nail spacing of 6 inches. When you re done your floor will be framed and ready for the next phase of construction. Lay down 3 4 in 1 9 cm tongue and groove plywood panels over the joists then use wood glue or panel adhesive and galvanized flooring nails to secure each panel around its edges.