I am going to install 2-1/4″ oak strip flooring (unfinished) in a kitchen and also an adjoining room. The kitchen has existing cabinets along two long walls (with a length of 14.5′(wall to wall) and 6′ between cabinet bases. At the one end of the kitchen is the adjoining room (7′ x 7′). The floor joist run the long way in both rooms.
The question is, which way is the best way to run the new floor, the long way (parallel to the joists) or the short way (perpendicular to the joists). I know that structually it is better to nail the new floor to the joists by running the boards in the short direction, but will it still look good. Or is it best, for the final look, to go the long way?
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Generally you aren't nailing to the joists, you are nailing to the subfloor, unless you've got REALLY long nails/staples. If you have proper joist depth and spacing and a decent subfloor, I don't think it matters that much which direction you run the floor in, as long as it looks good. At least that was the gist that I got from my Taunton book on hardwood floors. Visually, it is usually best to run the floor along the long axis. Or, you might consider running it on the diagonal, that's a lot of work but it can look pretty cool when you are done.
nail to subfloor, the long way