Floor Joists Front To Back

You can notch and bore joists without sacrificing critical strength but you must follow the rules.

Floor joists front to back.

This size is no longer acceptable when framing a structure. If your home is more than 20 years old your floor joists are most likely solid wood 2x8s 2x10s or 2x12s. Therefore you should consider. The floor was normally covered with square edged softwood boards and finished with a lath and plaster ceiling usually 3 coats of lime plaster.

While personal preference is a factor the direction in which you run hardwood flooring boards is governed by visual and structural guidelines. Follow the rules to keep your floor solid. The direction of the joists can either be party wall to party wall or front to back. The joists were trimmed around fireplaces and stair openings as shown in the graphic.

In the past 2x4s or 2x6s were sometimes used as floor joists. 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. In buildings with basements the first level of floor joists serves the same purpose. I suppose there are some general rules about joist layout.

Most of the time the standard way to install hardwood in this area is perpendicular to the door. Floor joists installed on second or third or higher levels double as ceiling joists for the level below. On first floors it seems that it might depend on downstairs openings windows and doors. The correct direction for laying hardwood floors.