If you’ve ever faced the problem of an unsuitable surface which does not allow you to install any type of flooring do it and you can’t afford a concrete slab?
Well, in this situation, your only savior is a joist structure which can uphold the flooring and give it a reliable base.
Engineered wood is one of the most commonly used flooring around the USA and it is only wise to lay it over a joist structure for optimum support.
However, not many people know about its benefits and the installation process. But this is where we come to help.
Laying engineered wood flooring on joists is a very easy task when you have the joist structure ready. All you must do is inspect some important factors and then move on towards the installation process which will be very easy and will not take a lot of time.
Keep on reading and you will get to know a lot of important points about the process.
Table of Contents
What Are Floor Joists?
Floor joists are long, strong beams that support the above flooring and give it a suitable platform.
Besides, the joists are responsible for making the floor’s structure and a durable frame on which the flooring will be laid.
Usually, these support floors are made in open areas and do not have a reliable base underneath.
For instance, in situations where you do not have a concrete slab available and you can’t install the floors directly on the surface due to moisture or other problems, the joists come in handy.
They are mostly used in the upper store of a house to provide a decent base for the flooring and prevent direct impact on the first floor’s ceiling.
Another common fact about the flooring joists is that they are parallel and must be placed at equal distances.
Besides, they are responsible for bearing all the load given by the traffic received by the floors.
Hence, they are an integral structural platform that gives the strength and stability of the floor and enables them to perform fully.
While joists are mostly used in flooring, they can also be used for other structural purposes and have major roles in construction due to their strength, reliability, and durability.
Laying Engineered Wood Flooring On Joists | The Complete Process
You can use joists if you have engineered floors and can’t install them directly on the surface.
We’ve got you covered if you already have a joist structure and do not know how to install engineered wood flooring.
The process is not so simple but also not very complex. With a little understanding and some planning beforehand, you will be able to lay down the engineered wood flooring on joists.
Usually, people install engineered wood directly on the surface, concrete, or existing tiled or wooden floors.
While this is also possible and recommended in many situations, you can’t ignore the importance and value of joists, as they will benefit the overall structure by making it more sturdy and stable.
Step 1: Check The Level of The Joist
The joist structure provides stability and sturdiness to the overall platform. But this is not possible if the joists are uneven themselves.
Therefore, it is necessary to check the level of the joists to see if they are even or not.
This can be done very easily using a straight edge or spirit level. This will measure the joists across the room to ensure they are all on the same level.
However, take multiple readings from different angles and areas around the room to ensure that the joists are not uneven from any point in the room.
Moreover, the extra emphasis on this point is for the health of your engineered wood flooring and your safety.
A slanted floor will not be very stable and provoke slipping from one area to another, which will not allow you to settle down properly.
Similarly, structural unevenness in the joists will induce uneven pressure on the floors, which might result in cracking or even breaking of the floorboards.
If not, your planks will lose shape over time as the pressure they receive is not equal on all sides, and the pivot points also vary.
Hence, make sure to check this point thoroughly for the best results.
Step 2: Check For Moisture
The next step in this process is to ensure that the floor joists do not have any moisture. Usually, joists are also made of wood and can retain excessive moisture in some situations.
As the flooring is supposed to be installed on top of them, it is necessary that the floor joists are as dry as recommended.
This would be compulsory as the moisture from the joists can move up to the surface of the engineered floors.
Despite their resistance to humidity and moisture, constant exposure can harm and damage the floors over time.
An easy way is to use a moisture meter and look for ratings under 16 MC (moisture content) for the joists. Once you have these, you can carry on with the process.
However, if the moisture is too high, you need to take a step back from this installation process, as there is a high chance that you will get your boards ruined quickly.
However, if you live in a dry area which does not have as much moisture, you might be getting the wrong readings according to the atmosphere.
Therefore, make sure to factor in the moisture levels of all seasons. It is best to contact a flooring specialist just for advice on this matter.
Step 3: Check Spacing Between The joists
Your joists must be equidistant and not too far apart if you want a good appearance and stability for your flooring.
Even though the engineered wood flooring planks are wider than normal, they still need a stable platform underneath.
Therefore, it is crucial that the joists are not too wide and can provide the optimum support to the planks. The maximum limit of spacing between the planks is 45 cm.
If the joists are further than that, you won’t be able to install the engineered floors on them directly.
In this situation, you will need to take some extra measures to be able to lay down the engineered wood flooring on the joists. There are two ways you can make this possible:
- The first is to use a sheet of chipboard or plywood on top. This would give optimum support and a stable layer on top of the joists to install the planks. The minimum and maximum thickness of the sheet is ½” thick and preferably 5/8 of an inch thick.
- The other way is to use noggins or braces. These are extra blocks of wood and steel pieces, respectively, which can share the load of the joists and give the planks a stable platform at optimum spacings. These methods can be used separately or simultaneously depending upon the nature and extent of traffic expected on your engineered wood floors.
Both of these methods work wonders and are equally beneficial. You can use any of them to support your engineered hardwood floors if you think the joists are too far away.
Besides, many people administer these methods simultaneously to get the strongest support and a reliable base for their engineered wood flooring.
However, this is mostly done in commercial setups or places where the traffic is expected to be too high. It would be best if you decided this according to your circumstances.
Step 4: Get An Underlayment Or A Plywood Sheet
Beneath the planks, you need something to provide insulation and maintain the room’s temperature. Wood is a good conductor and a very poor insulator.
Due to this reason, your room’s temperature may be affected by external factors such as heat from the garage parallel to the room, any heat from the basement, or similar circumstances.
Another reason is that the floors need a certain amount of footfall according to the type and amount of traffic and the furnishings that will be moved into the room.
For this reason, the floors need to be thick enough to bear all this so the planks do not immediately give in to the harsh treatment.
Therefore, the floors must have a suitable thickness to withstand all these factors. A common recommendation is to keep the flooring less than 18 cm thick if it is intended to go directly on the joists structure.
This refers to the combined thickness, including the underlayment or the plywood sheet.
Moreover, getting one of these two will protect the joist structure from getting damaged, as water spillages will not be passed on to the subfloor.
Hence the moisture content of that area will not increase, leading to a maintainable moisture level and controlled environment.
Another fun fact about having one of these two layers is that they allow for better sound absorption.
As mentioned earlier, the cost structure is usually used on upper-story houses or floors, which means that many voices and sounds can be passed on to the lower levels.
One of these will prevent this from happening, so you do not have to worry about unnecessary voices going downstairs.
Also Read: Pros And Cons Of Engineered Wood Flooring: Is It Worth It?
Step 5: Install The Planks
Now that all the necessary steps have been done, it is time that you lay down the engineered wood flooring on the joist structure.
To do so, you must first lay out the planks according to the desired arrangement on the floors.
Start placing them row by row, and make sure you leave ample spacing between them to allow for seasonal expansion of the wood.
The recommended amount of spacing will depend upon the environmental conditions of your area and the type of wood being used.
Once this is done, you can move towards fastening the floors and securing them on the joist structure.
Step 6: Secret Nailing/Screwing
Once the planks have been laid, it is time to fix them into their places so you can have solid flooring.
As the engineered wood is placed on joists, you can’t glue it down or use the floating floor method.
Doing so will give you a sensation similar to walking on a boat in high waters, as the boards will not be stable.
Therefore, it is best that you nail or screw them down. Whether you use nails or screws depends on your preference and the manufacturer’s recommendation, as there is no one-size-fits-all formula here.
Get the right length and type of nails/screws per the manufacturer’s recommendation and fix the planks into the joist structure.
Repeat the same for each plank and make sure that there is not more than 30 cm spacing between the nails or screws.
Once the installation has been completed, it is now time to hide the nails or screws that you had used earlier.
This is necessary otherwise the nails or screws might degrade the appearance of the engineered wood floors. The popped heads or different colors are a deterrent to the floor’s beauty.
Therefore, no matter which time of flooring you are getting, you can get the plugs of that wood type which will be used to cover the holes for nails or screws.
If you can’t find them in the market, you can cut them out from the extra planks that you have so the color and design match.
Measure the width of the hole and cut a piece of wood accordingly. Then, measure the depth and cut the piece of wood again so it loses the extra depth.
Then you can use wood glue to attach it to the cavity to cover it up and get a neat look on your floors.
Final Words
If you also have a joist structure ready but you don’t know how to install the flooring on top of it, this article will certainly benefit you greatly.
With the most precise methods and attention to the smallest details, we have crafted this guide for you so you can benefit from it to the fullest.
Let us know if you follow this method and share the results that you had from it.
John Henry is a passionate co-creator of FlooringFlow.com. a website dedicated to answer all of your flooring related questions. After taking the challenges of flooring DIYs while learning skills for years, John is now ready to share his knowledge related to floor remodeling and projects with you.