Why do you have to lay Bamboo flooring towards the main incoming light source?

I just bought Solid bamboo flooring for my house. My house is longer then it is wide and we are installing it in an L shaped area that runs the whole width of the house on one end and then down the house pretty much half the width of the house. The directions say to lay it lengthwise towards the main incoming light source. There would be 4 windows and a sliding glass door shining in width wose and only one window length wise. So I think we should install it widthwise (plus it will make the house look wider) but my husband is arguing with me saying we should install it lengthwise, only because thats what they always say (about installing wood floor "install length wise with the room"). I need to convince my husband to install it the way I want, width wise "towards the main incoming lights source" (source's). Does anyone know why they say to install bamboo towards the main incoming light source to help me convince my husband?? HELP! He wont listen to me!

Why do you have to lay Bamboo flooring towards the main incoming light source?
well i am suprized that a real wood floor says to run it with the light normally only your floating floors like laminates say that rule of thumb and most of your manufactureing warrentys says they have to run across the joists in time as you walk across the floor you will get a slight deflection or up and down movement causing your boards to wiggle to each other and will start to wear out your seams as if you took two boards put them together then wiggled them as if they were a hindge. If you run them across the joists you are adding strength to them letting the boards set firmly across the joists keeping most of the movement to a min...
Reply:Actually you can install in any direction. The reason for running it into the light is to add depth. If your reason to run it widthwise is because of window location you must consider... are you planning on your windows to be open the majority of the day to receive the light? You also stated that it is going to be L shaped. Unless your planning to change the direction of the lay/install at the leg of the L to accomodate the desired result your trying to obtain in the one room.. your still getting the the lay length wise in at least one room without the lay direction being changed.



In short... both you and your husband are correct.



Remember... if you are not changing the lay direction... ask yourself which room do you want the the lay to go widthwise
Reply:Unless there is a structural reason to run the floor a certain direction, you can run it any way you desire. Since that makes it an aesthetic decision, you will get differing opinions. My opinion is that the floor should run parallel to the long run and I prefer it all run the same way for continuity.

In my opinion, you want to run it the wrong way.

Consider what would happen if you had only one 4' x 20' hallway to lay. If you run the floor the long way it flows better and makes the hall look wider since there are more boards across the narrow width of the hall. If you ran the floor across the hall it would make the hall look very long and by consequence, make it look narrower. I have seen this in real life and can vouch for the effect.

My recommendation is to open up a few cartons of material and lay them out in each direction if possible then make up your mind. Solid Bamboo should be removed from the cartons and allowed to acclimate anyway, especially if you're gluing it down.

Other things to consider:

It's nice to have the floor "invite" you into the area. It's also preferable to have the direction of the floor carry your eye to an opening or interesting detail rather than a dead end or blank wall. Traditionally wood floor ran the long way in the room because the joists ran the short way and the floor ran perpendicular to them for strength. Furniture orientation and rug placement can make what seems like the "wrong" way look right once it's all arranged. Last but not least, you may agonize over this decision now, but once it's done, unless you do something really awful, you'll probably never give it another thought.
Reply:It really has nothing to do with depth. They tell you to run it that way because the light then runs with the length of the boards and hides the joints. If it were the other way the light would pick up every one of the joints and highlight any of the inconsistencies of the subfloor.



In the long run, you are better off determining which direction your floor joists run and laying the flooring perpendicular to them.



If the floor is laid in the same direction that the floor joists run, over time the sub floor will "scallop" and the bamboo flooring will follow, giving you a "ripple" effect across the entire floor.



Running the floor perpendicular to the joists gives you the best strength and long term performance.