What to do with laminate at the stairs


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Old 03-07-18, 11:04 AM
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What to do with laminate at the stairs

Greetings,
Hopefully someone can help. My son is installing laminate flooring directly on the subfloor. It originally had carpet. When the house was built, the previous owner planned to use hardwoods later on. Consequently, the very top of the stairs (casing) is 3/4 higher that the subfloor. The new laminate, with the additional pad only leaves about 1/8 inch between the top of the laminate and the top of the stair casing. The floor is down and there is not enough gap to put a threshold in and besides it would be too thick. My son wants to lay a bead of caulk but I hesitate. The gap is only 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. I know that the floor needs to float. His argument is that the other end is free to move.

Can anyone bail me out with an idea?

Dave
 
  #2  
Old 03-07-18, 02:51 PM
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Give more details, I am confused between height measurements and gap measurements.

Are you saying that the difference in height of the two floors is 1/8" or that the gap between the nosing and flooring is 1/8"?
 
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Old 03-07-18, 06:24 PM
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Thanks for the speedy reply CZIZZI. Actually both are about 1/8 inches. I have attached pictures showing the floor to stair joint.
 
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Old 03-08-18, 04:54 PM
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I'd leave it as is. Put a piece of glass bead molding to cover up the gap between the laminate and the stair nosing. Glass bead molding is a very small corner cove molding that should work in your situation. Nail the molding to the stair nosing not the laminate. Make sure there is sufficient coverage for expansion on the opposite side of the laminate. Worse case is that the seam at the stair molding may show from time to time.
 
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Old 03-09-18, 01:15 AM
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Prior to installation would have been the time to address, a trim piece around the opening with a cutout so the laminate could slip under and you would have been done.

Edges look pretty clean, maybe just leave it alone, right now you are focused on it, with time you wont even see it!
 
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Old 03-09-18, 07:17 AM
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Hi guys,

I am not really good at this matter but last time I had to install laminate flooring, I occasionally found this blog post, it was useful https://www.hirerush.com/blog/how-to...minate-floors/
Later, as some additional questions occurred I turned to this website https://www.hirerush.com/ again and found some hands-on man who saved me some time by doing all the job.

Hope, this will be useful for you as well.

Regards,

Melissa
 
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Old 03-09-18, 07:29 AM
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Thanks Melissa, I will check out the info.
 
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Old 03-09-18, 07:32 AM
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Marq1, I could not agree more. Where were you when I started Seriously, I wish my son had thought the project through before he started. I am now left with the clean up.
 
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Old 03-09-18, 07:35 AM
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I like this

CZIZZI, I like this solution. I cannot find this in 1/8th in size. Any idea where I can get it that small?
 
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Old 03-09-18, 12:57 PM
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Check with a qualified lumber yard. They can order you whatever you need if it is not in stock. Remember, big box stores carry what sells, not necessarily what you need.

If a smidgen thick, break out the sander and hone it to the correct dimensions before you stain to match the rest of what you have.
 
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Old 03-09-18, 03:13 PM
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Where were you when I started

We were all here just waiting for the questions!
 
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Old 03-09-18, 03:41 PM
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Marq1, I guess I should have had my son come to the site for planning advice. To his credit, it was three rooms with an L shaped hallway. Not easy!

Thanks Marq1. I really do appreciate the answer.
 
 

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