How To Lay Plywood Flooring On Joists

Wood floor fitting over joists.

How to lay plywood flooring on joists.

To answer directly to the question yes it is entirely possible to install a hardwood directly on top of the joists. However is it possible to install our finish floor directly over the joists without a subfloor in between. Laying your first piece in the outside corner of the floor you want the long dimension of the plywood to lay across six joists with the final edge ending up in the center of the 6th joist. This is the typical structure of a floor.

If the uneven floor is due to floor joists that have warped or twisted over time or were incorrectly installed the only way to level the floor is to remove the subflooring and shim the joists. If you were to run your plywood the opposite direction then the board would only connect 3 joists. Both solid wood and engineered can be. A flooring contractor howard brickman responds.

3 4 inch plywood subfloor preparation. The plywood sheets lay perpendicular to the floor joists. These joists are stronger than comparable solid wood joists provide a 66 larger nailing surface for the plywood. The second floor of this house is built with 2 x 10 wood i joists joists that resemble steel i beams and are 9 5 inches thick 16 on center and spanning 13 5 feet.

If the subfloor is stiff enough there is no reason why solid nail down strip flooring can t be run parallel to the joists. Work in small sections until the entire floor is covered. Regarding my 3 8 exterior grade plywood which i am almost ready to apply for a floating wood floor as my theory went since the grain seems to run lengthwise along the 8 length laying the panels parallel to the joists would allow the cross grain 4 length to span between perpendicular to the joists where the added stiffness is desired. Typical floor joists in residential construction sit on 16 inch centers but depending on the framing the joists might be.