We've decided to have installed 3/4" hardwood plank flooring (3" width) in our dining room. The subfloor is 3/4" T&G plywood over standard dimensional lumber joists and is accessible from below. In talking with dealers/installers, I've been told a couple times that nailed-down hardwood planks have to be installed perpendicular to the underlying joists in order to insure a strong flat installation. Is this accurate? Our room is roughly 16x10, with one corner angled off a fireplace hearth. The layout of our room is such that laying the planks along the long wall, which runs parallel to the joists would be much more esthetically pleasing. I've laid out a 3x3' sample in both directions. Running the planks along the short side is not visually pleasing, and is coincidentally perpendicular to the flow of traffic. To get to my question: Is there a method of installation that would accommodate laying out the planks parallel to the joists? I hate to think that this project could be scrapped because of this technicality. We've got our hearts set on a solid plank floor system as opposed to a floating laminated or engineered system. Thanks for any help anyone can provide.