How To Install Wood Floor Trusses

Make sure you ve got the right amount of flooring for your space.

How to install wood floor trusses.

When learning how to install hardwood flooring there are a few tips to keep in mind. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically. In other words a 40 span floor truss would be about 40 inches in depth. Truss installation isn t difficult.

Start the installation at the longest unobstructed wall. Remove the shoe molding and snap a chalk line 3 8 out from the baseboard this allows for expansion in the hot humid weather and contraction in the colder drier weather of the hardwood flooring. When possible begin installation from the straightest longest wall and install the flooring perpendicular to the floor joists. Floor trusses weigh less than floor joists and some builders prefer them because the open truss design makes it simple to install wiring plumbing and ductwork.

The most common way to lay install hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall or run in the installation. Plan on the thickness of the floor being roughly equal in inches to the span in feet. Truss system fewer pieces to handle and reduced installation time wide 3 1 2 nailing surface for easy floor deck application eliminate notching and boring joists for electrical wiring and plumbing floor trusses offer better availability and less in place cost than 2x8 or 2x10 joists factory manufactured components. In fact floor trusses are lighter and easier to maneuver than solid heavy joists.

In my own home we have floor trusses which clearspan 48 feet.