Laying of Laminate Flooring on a Long Narrow Room

Narrow Rooms

• Long, narrow rooms will look nicer with the laminate planks laid the length of the room. Although the planks will give the room more length in appearance, it won’t make the room look smaller in width as it would if you laid the planks the width of the room. You will make fewer cuts if you lay the flooring the length of the room rather than the width.

Perpendicular

• Established flooring manufacturers such as Armstrong suggest you lay laminate flooring planks perpendicular to the floor joists. Sometimes this isn’t possible, especially in rooms narrow enough to have few full exposed joists to work with. Although surface planking will have more stability when laid perpendicular to the floor joists, laying the planks the length of the room will provide a nicer, more symmetrical look.

Lighting

• While laying laminate the length of a long, narrow room is a traditional means of flooring a long narrow room, consider the light source before committing yourself. Find Any Floor suggests laying the planks the length of the light source. For example, if the light coming in the window shines across the width of the floor, you should lay the laminate widthwise in the room. This will make the seams blend in better when the light shines in the window.

Adjoining Rooms

• If you have adjoining rooms that have laminate flooring, you need to lay the laminate the same way as in the adjoining room. If you have carpeting, it will not matter; but laying laminate planks lengthwise in one room and the width of another adjoining room will cause your rooms to flow together awkwardly.