Floor Joists Front To Back

If your home is more than 20 years old your floor joists are most likely solid wood 2x8s 2x10s or 2x12s.

Floor joists front to back.

You can notch and bore joists without sacrificing critical strength but you must follow the rules. The direction of the joists can either be party wall to party wall or front to back. On first floors it seems that it might depend on downstairs openings windows and doors. Most of the time the standard way to install hardwood in this area is perpendicular to the door.

The floor joists under the wood floor hold the sub floor in place. If you are installing hardwood in the front room of your house you should take into consideration where the front door is located. The joists were trimmed around fireplaces and stair openings as shown in the graphic. In a semi it seems obvious that ground floor suspended floors should have joists running back to front so that most of the air bricks can be at front and back.

The floor was normally covered with square edged softwood boards and finished with a lath and plaster ceiling usually 3 coats of lime plaster. Floor joists installed on second or third or higher levels double as ceiling joists for the level below. While personal preference is a factor the direction in which you run hardwood flooring boards is governed by visual and structural guidelines. In buildings with basements the first level of floor joists serves the same purpose.

The correct direction for laying hardwood floors. The notching and boring rules of thumb for solid lumber are shown in fig. Therefore you should consider. This size is no longer acceptable when framing a structure.