You can lay your flooring either horizontally or vertically. Vertically will elongate a room and works great if pointing towards a window, as it will follow the natural light. Laying laminate flooring horizontally will can make a small room appear larger.
In what direction should you lay a laminate floor? In most cases, you should lay your laminate flooring parallel to the longest side of the room or your home. This will create a more natural flow and will accentuate the length of the room better.
The most common way to lay hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists, this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it aesthetically provides the best result.
Laminate flooring should be staggered by 6 inches or more. If the seams are too close together, then the floor cannot “breathe” properly, and the seams can break down. To prevent this, cut the first board in a row to a length that staggers the seams by 6 inches or more.
Whenever you are placing wood flooring in a hallway or any long and narrow area, it should run in the direction away from the doorway.
Planks are always installed from left to right. It is not at all difficult to lay Pergo laminate flooring, but before you start you should make sure you have prepared everything correctly. Now carefully follow the installation instructions.
Laminate flooring manufacturers often require their floors to be staggered anywhere between 6 to 12 inches, some manufacturers even want more.
The best direction is based on the shape of your house. There is no right direction, but the more accepted rule is that the floor direction should run parallel to the longer walls, but long hallways are exempt from this rule.
We recommend cutting off the tongue on this first row to avoid any problem with the expansion gap. Insert the second plank into the first at an angle pressing the short ends together; then press it down. Repeat the same procedure down the row.
Why Do I Need to Use Transition Strips? Transition strips serve two main purposes in a residential or commercial space. First, they're put in place to make navigating from room to room easier. They also provide a visual break between rooms and flooring materials that might otherwise be jarring and less than attractive.
When placing wood floors in multiple rooms and a connecting hallway, the boards should all be directed away from the main entrance to the hall, and adjoining rooms should continue in that same direction.
Hallway Plank Direction
As a rule, laminate flooring looks best when it runs in the same direction as the long walls in a hallway. The sight lines of the floor and walls match, making the hallway appear longer and more spacious.
When laying laminate flooring it is essential that you leave at least a 10-12mm expansion gap around the perimeter of the floor.
Always start hardwood flooring along the most prominent and noticeable wall in the room. This way, if the room is out of square, the crooked cut will be hidden under the cabinet's toe kick. In order to keep the floor straight and square, start laying the laminate away from the wall because the wall may not be straight.
We recommend starting in the left corner of the longest wall in the room and to install the planks in the same direction as the main light source (e.g. the main window). Planks are always installed from left to right.
You should not change the direction of hardwood flooring between rooms—the reason why is that it causes visual disharmony. Placing hardwood flooring in the same direction that follows your space is best.
Flooring is typically installed in the same direction of your leading source of natural light, and the same goes for luxury vinyl. If you have large windows in a living room or an entryway that allows a flood of natural light, then run your planks in the same direction.
If you don't stagger the flooring by more than 6 inches on every row, it will be unstable and may lead to damage later on. But on the other hand, a lot of flooring installers get a little too strict when they stagger their flooring.