ᐅ Installing hardwood flooring: Which direction should it be laid?

Dear forum,

I want to install ship deck parquet flooring in the living room of a penthouse apartment and have attached two pictures. The living room measures 6x5m (20x16 ft). The windows on the longer 6m (20 ft) side face southwest.

How should the parquet boards run—option 1 or along the long side option 2?

How would you recommend finishing the parquet at the window frame? Should I install a baseboard along the walls as well? Or rather create a silicone joint between the frame and the parquet, or glue in a cork strip?

I was considering Haro FP4000 3-strip oak, 13.5 mm (0.53 inch) thick. Is the quality good?

Thanks in advance, best regards
Frank

Hello Frank,
In my opinion, the direction of the parquet installation is no longer as crucial as it used to be. It’s more a matter of personal preference. Looking at the floor plan, I would choose option 2.
For floor-to-ceiling windows, if you have glued parquet, I would go for cork strips 10mm (0.4 inches) wide; for floating installation, I would recommend a wall edge profile.
If you decide on cork, make sure to seal it as well, otherwise it will become quite unattractive over time.

Sent with my mobile device

Hello,
due to the natural light, I also tend to prefer option 2.
We also have wall closing profiles on the floor-to-ceiling windows. It looks neat and works without any issues.

Hi,
I would prefer layout option 1, as it visually elongates the room a bit. However, this is really a matter of personal taste; technically, as far as I know, it doesn’t make much difference nowadays.
Maybe it’s better to look at the overall floor plan of the level and decide on a consistent installation direction for all rooms. Personally, I find it quite distracting when the parquet flooring runs differently in every room, even if it is optimal for each room according to “light incidence rules.”

I assume you plan to install the flooring as a floating floor?

Most of our neighbors have also installed parquet as floating floors and used only cork for transitions and edges. This doesn’t comply with official installation guidelines, but it seems to work well for them and is less noticeable than aluminum strips.

Best regards,

Andreas

andimann schrieb:
I would now prefer directional option 1, as it visually elongates the room a bit.

That's true. However, in a room measuring 5x6 meters (16x20 feet), I would pay more attention to the natural light.
For a 4x8 meters (13x26 feet) room, I would also have laid it out according to option 1.

Hi,

Jochen104 schrieb:
That’s true. But for a room measuring 5x6m (16x20 feet), I would pay more attention to the natural light direction.

Now I have to ask a basic question: Wasn’t the rule to position the room lengthwise along the main direction of natural light? Since the 6 m (20 feet) side faces southwest, that’s also the main direction of natural light.

Best regards,

Andreas