Hi guys! My wife and I recently purchased a home, and we are trying to do as much renovation work as possible ourselves. One of the things we are doing is installing new gorgeous looking red oak hardwood flooring in mocha finish. I am placing a 2 mm underlayment layer for moisture and acoustic insulation. In doing the initial assessment of the subfloor after removing the existing carpet, underlayment, etc., I spotted a couple issues in our first room. I am listing below what I have noted (good and bad) in hopes that will give you info to help me answer the question: - Subfloor is [i]generally[/i] flat. with a 6 ft level, I noted the room is generally level (under 3/16 in of difference in a 6 ft run). I have sanded some of the high spots and the floor is generally under the 3/16 in tolerance. - In beginning to install the hardwood floor, I am running the boards perpendicular to the joists (parallel to the long dimension of the room. - However, I have noted on the other side of the room the subfloor [i]seems[/i] to be sagging. I am saying it [i]seems[/i] because with the level, the floor appears to be even in both directions at the center of the room, and is quite higher at the edges of the room (1/2 in, maybe 3/4), to the point that the subfloor in the hallway (hallway is parallel to the joists) is sloping (1/2 in to 3/4 in in the short direction, roughly 37 inches span, or 2 degrees in the worst spot). Nothing crazy, but it is not even. A similar thing happens in the closet but in opposite direction. - More on this... in between both walls, there is a guest bathroom. The subfloor within the bathroom is, again, reasonably flat in both directions. There are no signs of rotting of subfloor or structural systems (I have exposed the subfloor in the bathroom and there is no signs of water damage. I am going to remove the bathtub, but again, I haven't seen signs of water damage from the adjacent, exposed areas. - Now some analysis... the way the floor is sagging makes no sense. There is a structural wall underneath, and the floor would be sagging perpendicular to the floor joists. The foundation is fine, since the outside wall (load bearing) and the column supporting the other side are the highest points. I have created a few diagrams describing the situation. I considered evening out all the subfloor to make it perfectly flat. however, evening all the floors out will require redoing the bathroom plumbing, since I would have to raise that floor to match the now elevated subfloor in the hallway. My question is: what do you guys think? Do you think it is acceptable to simply sand a fraction of an inch the higher areas to make the slope more gentle and live with it? Meaning, try to ease the transition so the wood planks fit together and the boards interlock.

So, I installed hardwood flooring (3/4" x 2 1/4") in my kitchen. At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the adjacent room so I ended the floor with one strip running perpendicular to it. I have now decided to install the same flooring in the adjacent room and want to install so the boards run parallel and inline with the kitchen flooring. Should start at the middle and work my way to each edge or just start at the edge and work to the right? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.