Laminate Flooring installed parallel direction of natural light?
 

We are planning to install laminate flooring in our kitchen made by a
company called Kaindl. They say to install the flooring in the same
direction to the natural light. We are going to install the snap+silent
laminate in our kitchen.

A install guy at Home Depot says that the flooring should be installed
perpendicular to the natural light coming into the room, otherwise if you
install it parallel to natural light you get a "bowling alley" effect...
The instructions state "Snap+ silent panels should always be installed in
the direction of the main light source".

(http://www.kaindl.com/en/shift/snap_...us_silent.shtm
l) ...

Install it parallel, not perpendicular??... what do we do?

anyone?

Howie

Howie wrote:

We are planning to install laminate flooring in our kitchen made by a
company called Kaindl. They say to install the flooring in the same
direction to the natural light. We are going to install the snap+silent
laminate in our kitchen.

A install guy at Home Depot says that the flooring should be installed
perpendicular to the natural light coming into the room, otherwise if you
install it parallel to natural light you get a "bowling alley" effect...
The instructions state "Snap+ silent panels should always be installed in
the direction of the main light source".

(http://www.kaindl.com/en/shift/snap_...us_silent.shtm
l) ...

Install it parallel, not perpendicular??... what do we do?

anyone?

Howie

My opinion: go with the manufacturer's instructions -- parallel to the
direction of the light. That should make the seams less noticeable, just
like it does with carpet seams. For example:

http://www.georgiafloors.com/techtips/carpetseam.htm

"Howie" wrote in message
...
We are planning to install laminate flooring in our kitchen made by a
company called Kaindl. They say to install the flooring in the same
direction to the natural light. We are going to install the snap+silent
laminate in our kitchen.

A install guy at Home Depot says that the flooring should be installed
perpendicular to the natural light coming into the room, otherwise if you
install it parallel to natural light you get a "bowling alley" effect...
The instructions state "Snap+ silent panels should always be installed in
the direction of the main light source".

(http://www.kaindl.com/en/shift/snap_...us_silent.shtm
l) ...

Install it parallel, not perpendicular??... what do we do?

There are other considerations, IMO. As far as the natural lighting, I'd
agree with the manufacturer over the HD guy that may have just started last
week. Part of the day natural lighting will be a factor. The rest of the
day, room lighting will be the only light. Consider the room layout in the
equation. Most cases, the boards running the long length look better than
running the short length.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
m...

"Howie" wrote in message
...
We are planning to install laminate flooring in our kitchen made by a
company called Kaindl. They say to install the flooring in the same
direction to the natural light. We are going to install the snap+silent
laminate in our kitchen.

A install guy at Home Depot says that the flooring should be installed
perpendicular to the natural light coming into the room, otherwise if
you
install it parallel to natural light you get a "bowling alley" effect...
The instructions state "Snap+ silent panels should always be installed
in
the direction of the main light source".


(http://www.kaindl.com/en/shift/snap_...us_silent.shtm
l) ...

Install it parallel, not perpendicular??... what do we do?

There are other considerations, IMO. As far as the natural lighting, I'd
agree with the manufacturer over the HD guy that may have just started
last
week. Part of the day natural lighting will be a factor. The rest of the
day, room lighting will be the only light. Consider the room layout in the
equation. Most cases, the boards running the long length look better than
running the short length.



There must be a good reason for the manufacturer stating to run the floor
parallel...

"Howie" wrote in message

There must be a good reason for the manufacturer stating to run the floor
parallel...

Yes. Appearance due to the natural lighting. The manufacturer, however,
does not know the layout of your room. Some will look plain stupid running
in the "wrong" direction. If you have two windows in a room on different
walls and the sun comes up right on the corner, how would you run the
flooring? One way can make the room look larger, the other can make it look
like a ladder is laying on the floor.

Smart people would take some of the flooring and lay it out on top of what
is there. Then they would turn it to see if it makes a difference, then
choose what is best for THEIR situation.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

I've laid laminate in a kitchen and a hallway the surrounded a
stairwell. I agree with the previous poster.......parallel to the
light but more importantly........make it run with the long
wall.....much easier.

Howie wrote:
We are planning to install laminate flooring in our kitchen made by a
company called Kaindl. They say to install the flooring in the same
direction to the natural light. We are going to install the snap+silent
laminate in our kitchen.

A install guy at Home Depot says that the flooring should be installed
perpendicular to the natural light coming into the room, otherwise if you
install it parallel to natural light you get a "bowling alley" effect...
The instructions state "Snap+ silent panels should always be installed in
the direction of the main light source".

(http://www.kaindl.com/en/shift/snap_...us_silent.shtm
l) ...

Install it parallel, not perpendicular??... what do we do?

anyone?

Howie


Don't have a clue what bowling alley effect is.
But as a general rule install it parallel with the
light direction just like you do with carpet nap,
unless there is some over-riding consideration.
With wood floor it will tend to make the joints
less visible. Over-riding considerations are the
general shape of the room, required cutouts, and
multiple light sources.

If you had a squarish room then the light consideration is important but if
the room is long it should be installed parrallel to the long wall.


"Howie" wrote in message
...
We are planning to install laminate flooring in our kitchen made by a
company called Kaindl. They say to install the flooring in the same
direction to the natural light. We are going to install the snap+silent
laminate in our kitchen.

A install guy at Home Depot says that the flooring should be installed
perpendicular to the natural light coming into the room, otherwise if you
install it parallel to natural light you get a "bowling alley" effect...
The instructions state "Snap+ silent panels should always be installed in
the direction of the main light source".

(http://www.kaindl.com/en/shift/snap_...us_silent.shtm
l) ...

Install it parallel, not perpendicular??... what do we do?

anyone?

Howie