# Ideas for transition



## vinny186 (Jan 15, 2017)

I cut my floating floor boards to sit flush and level against the transition piece between my first floor and basement steps. What i'm noticing is that about 3-4 boards are lifted slightly, likely due to the shoe molding exerting pressure on the other end of the boards about 3 feet away.

They say you're not supposed to nail down floating floors so is my only option to lay down another transition piece at the seam in order to keep the floor boards from lifting?


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## nealtw (Jan 16, 2017)

Cut a slot in the edge of your transition, drill and pin the floor board ends . That should hold the floor down while allowing it to move. A ship lap joint could have been cut before they were laid but to late now.


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## slownsteady (Jan 16, 2017)

Raise the shoe moulding a fraction of an inch so it is not resting on the floating floor. did you leave an expansion gap on that side of the floor?


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## vinny186 (Jan 16, 2017)

Neal, are you saying to nail thru the floorboard ends into the transition at a steep angle?


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## nealtw (Jan 16, 2017)

No I said pins in a slot but you could also use a biscuit cutter _*with out*_ glues 
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEhZnFquAV8[/ame]


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## vinny186 (Jan 19, 2017)

I like the biscuit idea but there's not enough meat on the tread. Could you please explain the pins in a slot idea?

I left room for expansion but the ends of the floor boards are under the baseboard as well as the molding.


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## nealtw (Jan 19, 2017)

vinny186 said:


> I like the biscuit idea but there's not enough meat on the tread. Could you please explain the pins in a slot idea?
> 
> I left room for expansion but the ends of the floor boards are under the baseboard as well as the molding.



If you don't have room for biscuits you won't have room for my pin idea.

I just shake my head at the thresholds they make for thin floors and some people put them on every step of a staircase.

I don't think you have any other choice than a thicker and deeper threshold with a dado in the back to over lap the floor which will give you a tripping hazard and may put the stairs out of code.


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## nealtw (Jan 19, 2017)

This what I used between, tile and and my fake wood floor.
http://www.kofflersales.com/p/t-molding-adapters.asp


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## bud16415 (Jan 19, 2017)

I just made mine from hardwood and made it flush with no overlap. I left a gap about 1/8&#8221; and filled it with a matching rubbery caulk.


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## vinny186 (Jan 20, 2017)

It's about a 12 foot run so I'll have to make my own threshold out of some 4" wide and less than a half inch thick board. Thanks for the replies and advice!


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## nealtw (Jan 20, 2017)

vinny186 said:


> It's about a 12 foot run so I'll have to make my own threshold out of some 4" wide and less than a half inch thick board. Thanks for the replies and advice!



How thick is you flooring?


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## vinny186 (Jan 21, 2017)

it's 3/8" thick


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## vinny186 (Jan 26, 2017)

Would like some opinions on this idea.

Should I go with a 4" - 5" flat piece of trim to cover the seam or would you go with some thing narrower, like 3" or less? The thinnest piece of trim I found was 5/16 thick and 5 1/2" wide.


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## nealtw (Jan 26, 2017)

I would cover the seam by  1/4" so the wood would be as wide as needed to get what you need for spindles.


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## vinny186 (Jan 26, 2017)

What about this for a transition:


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## vinny186 (Jan 26, 2017)

Btw, the Schluter is 2.5" wide.


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## nealtw (Jan 26, 2017)

If that is vinyl, that is what I would use there is an aluminum strip that goes on the sub floor under the nose so you would have to dado the nose a little.


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## nealtw (Jan 26, 2017)

You can get that down to 1" wide.
But where did you find 2 1/2 " I need some.


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## vinny186 (Jan 26, 2017)

1" would be better. HD 
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Schluter-Reno-T-Satin-Copper-Anodized-Aluminum-17-32-in-x-8-ft-2-1-2-in-Metal-T-Shaped-Tile-Edging-Trim-T9-14AK/202609107?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-D23-Tile%7c&gclid=CjwKEAiA2abEBRCdx7PqqunM1CYSJABf3qvaZl7ZU5j95b4CfHvg3IqRM7qUTSo7OhHtI_S7ASASYxoC2Qzw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds


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## nealtw (Jan 26, 2017)

vinny186 said:


> 1" would be better. HD
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/Schluter-Reno-T-Satin-Copper-Anodized-Aluminum-17-32-in-x-8-ft-2-1-2-in-Metal-T-Shaped-Tile-Edging-Trim-T9-14AK/202609107?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-D23-Tile%7c&gclid=CjwKEAiA2abEBRCdx7PqqunM1CYSJABf3qvaZl7ZU5j95b4CfHvg3IqRM7qUTSo7OhHtI_S7ASASYxoC2Qzw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds



Yeah that's aluminum, I need vinyl.

I have vinyl between tile and laminate, never notice it under foot much better than those big transition.


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## nealtw (Jan 26, 2017)

http://www.kofflersales.com/p/t-molding-adapters.asp


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## vinny186 (Jan 28, 2017)

That looks like the perfect solution for my problem, nice find!

However, I came up with another possible solution which was to rip the bottom of the transition so that I could slide the entire piece closer to the ends of the floor boards in order to overlap. The lip of the transition that will fit over the flooring is about a 1/4 proud so I'd like to router it to curve the edge to make it less of a tripping hazard. 

What router bit would you recommend?


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## bud16415 (Jan 29, 2017)

That style of step was so common 100 years ago. (The sharp turn over the last 4 steps.) I had one just like yours in my old house on my second floor landing and the house has it going to the third floor attic. They don&#8217;t do this any more as it is a dangerous set up at best. You get used to it after a while knowing to use the outside of the steps. I would really try and keep transition to zero tripping hazard if I could. It is not like a regular step if you miss the first one and slip to the second with these things you go all the way to the bottom.


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## nealtw (Jan 29, 2017)

Just a round over bit, Radius to match the height off the floor, if that makes sense.


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