# Advice on where to start laying wood floor



## vinny186 (Nov 22, 2016)

Most recommend to lay flooring parallel to an outside wall which is not what the previous installer of the old floor did. They had it running parallel to an inside wall (a wall that separates my unit from my neighbor's).  

As I see it, the only problem i'll have with starting parallel to the outside wall is where the floor ends by the steps leading to the basement. As you can see from the pic, the last board will have to be perfectly square where it meets up with the trim piece in the pic.

OTOH, if i start at the inside wall, the boards (engineered click flooring) will all run in one direction except for a small 4x4 area which will require going in the other direction. This would be my preferred option assuming I'll be able to connect the boards going in the "wrong direction."


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## nealtw (Nov 22, 2016)

When you say change to other direction , do you mean change the board direction or just work backwards to the instructions.


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## Sparky617 (Nov 23, 2016)

I would start in the most visible location with full pieces and if I have to trim one down put it in the location that will have furniture on part of it.  

When building a deck you start at the outside and work your way in, so if you have to rip one board down it is against the house.


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## vinny186 (Nov 23, 2016)

When I say "change directions" I mean instead of laying the boards from left to right, going from right to left for about 3 feet.


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## nealtw (Nov 23, 2016)

I don't know how it would be to install them backwards but I don't understand the problem either.
Draw your straight line where you want it and measure over and start from that 3 ft section. The most you could be out is a fraction of an inch and if you have left proper spacing at the wall and it is floating it could be moved to straight to the line when you get there. Then if that forces you into a wall, you could always remove a little drywall to allow the floor to move.


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## slownsteady (Nov 24, 2016)

There are a bunch of videos on Youtube and Mfr's sites about installing click flooring. I would check with their advice first.


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