Does it matter which direction you lay laminate flooring?
Discussion
I bought some laminate flooring with the intention of laying it myself at some point. However, the OH thought she would surprise me by getting her brother-in-law to make a start on it today while i was at work.
So i've come home today to find that the hallway has been finished, but........has laid it across the hallway instead of lengthways.
Now everything i read, or have seen on youtube said that the flooring should be laid lengthways towards the light source. So if the front and back rooms are laid in the same way as the hall, that will go against what i've been told as the flooring won't be going towards the windows.
The OH thinks that the hall looks good, but i think it looks like piano keys because it's going across our narrow hallway instead of lengthways.
So it looks like my options are, get the other two rooms done the way I had seen them done online, and then re-do the hallway, or just do the rooms the same way as the hall.
What are your thoughts, and is there any reason why it should be done lengthways towards the windows instead of across?
Thanks
So i've come home today to find that the hallway has been finished, but........has laid it across the hallway instead of lengthways.
Now everything i read, or have seen on youtube said that the flooring should be laid lengthways towards the light source. So if the front and back rooms are laid in the same way as the hall, that will go against what i've been told as the flooring won't be going towards the windows.
The OH thinks that the hall looks good, but i think it looks like piano keys because it's going across our narrow hallway instead of lengthways.
So it looks like my options are, get the other two rooms done the way I had seen them done online, and then re-do the hallway, or just do the rooms the same way as the hall.
What are your thoughts, and is there any reason why it should be done lengthways towards the windows instead of across?
Thanks
If the room is square, lay it facing the biggest window, the main light source. But if the room is rectangle, lay it lengthways, so parallel to the longest wall, if that makes sense. Regardless of light source. Sounds like your hall has been laid wrongly.
It's an optical illusion thing. Laying it lengthways in a room will stretch the room and make it look longer and wider. Laying it widthways makes it look shorter and narrower.
If your wife thinks it looks fine now, it's because she has nothing to compare it too. It'll look much better when laid correctly.
It's an optical illusion thing. Laying it lengthways in a room will stretch the room and make it look longer and wider. Laying it widthways makes it look shorter and narrower.
If your wife thinks it looks fine now, it's because she has nothing to compare it too. It'll look much better when laid correctly.
My hallway is quite long and whilst it's not narrow, it looks narrow because of the length. I laid my flooring left to right rather than length ways. People said I was doing it wrong but once it was finished it looks fine. I'd say I also depends on the finish of the wood. Mine is almost seamless joints so only see the grain.
The real problem now is that by laying it across the room he will have cut a lot more of the planks than he would have done laying in lengthways. So when you take it up and start again, you may find that too many of the planks are now useless to you because they've had the interlocking tongue-and-groove ends cut off.
What a nightmare! If you do it again properly, you'll be committing a real snub against your wife and brother-in-law, who thought they were doing you a big favour. I wouldn't know what to do in your situation.
What a nightmare! If you do it again properly, you'll be committing a real snub against your wife and brother-in-law, who thought they were doing you a big favour. I wouldn't know what to do in your situation.
russ_a said:
The world won't end if you leave it a couple of years and do it again.
I dunno, with christmas coming along and some boozy all day drinking, I predict the OPs dissatisfaction will grow into seething anger and it will erupt into a massive family feud. Everyone will tell each other some home truths and the OP and his Mrs will fall out as she sides with her b
d sideways floor laying brother.It will be really sunny on Christmas day and the floor will just not look right. It's all going to kick off.
el stovey said:
I dunno, with christmas coming along and some boozy all day drinking, I predict the OPs dissatisfaction will grow into seething anger and it will erupt into a massive family feud. Everyone will tell each other some home truths and the OP and his Mrs will fall out as she sides with her bd sideways floor laying brother.
It will be really sunny on Christmas day and the floor will just not look right. It's all going to kick off.
Thanks for giving me a laugh this morning...the worrying thing is with families this could well happen. d sideways floor laying brother.It will be really sunny on Christmas day and the floor will just not look right. It's all going to kick off.
My ex FIL used to like to take over jobs on my behalf and it drove me crackers as he wouldn't do it the way I would (whatever the job was). It got that I would have to plan jobs in secret so that he wouldn't comes round when we were at work and start before I had chance. 
Well i told the OH last night that it needs to be changed. I explained that as i had spent that sort of money on the flooring, i want it done the way i want, and that all the experts online said how it should be done.
So i will do the other two rooms the correct way, then see what i can salvage from the hall for when it gets re-done.
I know they were trying to help and do it as a surprise, but now i need to fork out more money to replace the flooring that has been used!
So i will do the other two rooms the correct way, then see what i can salvage from the hall for when it gets re-done.
I know they were trying to help and do it as a surprise, but now i need to fork out more money to replace the flooring that has been used!
Big Worm 1 said:
but now i need to fork out more money to replace the flooring that has been used!
That's another downside to it.I did my hallway a couple of months ago. Not only does laying the flooring lengthways look better it was a hell of a lot easier as you lay more complete planks.
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