3/4" solid maple flooring is in, questions on doing thresholds

[Brian Runau]

I purchase some 3" 3/4" solid Maple, select grade prefinished flooring from Baird Brothers in OH. Arrived yesterday. A couple questions on the install.

1. For example in this picture below of the transition from the slate foyer to the wood flooring. They plan to install the floor starting on the long wall opposite this transition and opposite the fireplace. I expect they will run a final piece between the last piece of new flooring they put down and the wall at the fireplace. They may have to rip it down in with to be the correct size and I expect they may trim the first piece so the final piece is not too narrow. This final piece that runs along the wall will also run across this foyer opening in the picture. The the transition piece will be put on top transition from that floor to the slate. Is this assumption correct?

I laid the slate in the foyer and did a less that perfect job. Edge is not straight across and height varies across the line of the tile. My plan was to rip a transition piece to a width where the back runs parallel with the line of the wall and extends out over the edge of the slate. Then I was going to do a relief cut on the underneath edge of the transition facing the tile to allow it to not sit down on the highest spot on the tile. I thought to add a little bevel edge on the face facing the slate. I have matching stain. Once installed it would cover the edge of the tile and I could run a bead of caulk across the line between the bottom edge of the transition and the slate.

This transition looks like it is going to come out @ 2-1/2" wide. Is this too small?

Open to suggestion of errors in my thoughts of how the installers do this. I plan to modify the threshold, stain, finish, before they come. Thanks. Brian

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[Bill Howatt]

Why do it before they install? Better to know what you are dealing with rather than assume.
I am no experienced expert on this having only done a couple but it seems like good practice to check the layout so you don't end up with a sliver at the final edge. When I do floor tiles in my hall I cut the first edge's width so it matches the tile width on the opposite wall.
I made walnut transitions and they are 2-1/4" wide and the top edges are rounded. The height should be as low as possible but still have enough meat so the transition doesn't crack.
Would carving out relief for the high tile(s) be better than a full-length relief cut in terms of the transition's strength? If your high tiles are high all along then you may well need caulk to hide the gap if obvious. It is important the transition be well supported so it doesn't wobble or crack.

[Lee Schierer]

I've made a number of transition pieces as you can see below. The key to making these is to make sure the transition piece sets on the sub floor and also touches the flooring or carpet on each side of the transition. You can hide the uneven edge of the tile with no issues. I would suggest hand working the rabbet over the tile by hand to achieve a line to line fit as much as possible. If needed apply a bead of caulk so it is hidden by the transition piece instead of applying a bead after the transition piece is installed. Apply painters tape to the tile and the edge of the transition piece to make clean up easier for any caulk squeeze out. Nail the transition piece down, scrape off the squeeze out and then remove the tape. The caulk under the lip on the tile side of the transition piece will cushion the impacts and prevent the lip from breaking off. The overhangs on each side should not be thinner than 1/4" for durability. Be sure to round the edges.
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[Brian Runau]

Why do it before they install? Better to know what you are dealing with rather than assume.
I am no experienced expert on this having only done a couple but it seems like good practice to check the layout so you don't end up with a sliver at the final edge. When I do floor tiles in my hall I cut the first edge's width so it matches the tile width on the opposite wall.
I made walnut transitions and they are 2-1/4" wide and the top edges are rounded. The height should be as low as possible but still have enough meat so the transition doesn't crack.
Would carving out relief for the high tile(s) be better than a full-length relief cut in terms of the transition's strength? If your high tiles are high all along then you may well need caulk to hide the gap if obvious. It is important the transition be well supported so it doesn't wobble or crack.

Transitions from the factory are 5-1/2 wide, so they need to be curt down and modified. Go from 3/4 to 1/4" which won't work. I thought to modify them ahead of time so I can stain and finish them before the install. Good point about it need support across the width. maybe I could scribe it and only relieve it where it needs it. thanks Brian

[Brian Runau]

I've made a number of transition pieces as you can see below. The key to making these is to make sure the transition piece sets on the sub floor and also touches the flooring or carpet on each side of the transition. You can hide the uneven edge of the tile with no issues. I would suggest hand working the rabbet over the tile by hand to achieve a line to line fit as much as possible. If needed apply a bead of caulk so it is hidden by the transition piece instead of applying a bead after the transition piece is installed. Apply painters tape to the tile and the edge of the transition piece to make clean up easier for any caulk squeeze out. Nail the transition piece down, scrape off the squeeze out and then remove the tape. The caulk under the lip on the tile side of the transition piece will cushion the impacts and prevent the lip from breaking off. The overhangs on each side should not be thinner than 1/4" for durability. Be sure to round the edges.
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Great idea using caulk under the relief cut to support it. Thanks brian

[Jim Becker]

The few times I've done this at a friend's house as well as our previous residence, I created custom thresholds to fit the situation. I prefered wider ones with a wider gap between the two floors to allow for easier fit adjustment with shimming, planing, etc.

[Brian Runau]

The few times I've done this at a friend's house as well as our previous residence, I created custom thresholds to fit the situation. I prefered wider ones with a wider gap between the two floors to allow for easier fit adjustment with shimming, planing, etc.

Jim, ones I purchased are 5-1/2, but would stick into the room causing the floor to be laid around it? Brian

[lou Brava]

Well the best thing about those transitions after it's in nobody is going to notice it ever ! I've done a lot & depends on height difference between floors as to how I shape it. I always try to have no more that 3/8" above the FF and always use a bevel edge on them. I've had floor height differences of 1/2 to 3/4" and actually had to slope the transition piece. 2 1/2" is not to small unless you don't like it, as I said nobody ever notices them. And I'd rather solid shim than caulk but that's just me. Don't worry about it too much I've had to make 2 or 3 of em at 1 opening before I was happy. Trial & error sometimes is the only thing that works.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, ones I purchased are 5-1/2, but would stick into the room causing the floor to be laid around it? Brian
I was fortunate to have "thick walls"; stone in our old property and the transition at my friend's house allowed for a nearly 8" wide threshold. But I agree that it's not desirable for them to go beyond the wall on either side if that can be avoided, at least more than a minimum, decorative amount. I guess what I was trying to say is that if the area within the wall opening can be open all the way to the sub-floor, rather than covered with the new floor, that space gives you working room to shim, shave, whittle and do whatever's necessary to create a custom threshold that accommodates the differences in "level" between the two flooring surfaces. This is a really common challenge in some structures, especially older ones that "evolved" over time.

That said, in your photo above, it's not likely practical to do that. I'd probably use the stone floor as the basis for "level" and build up a custom transition "wedge" that deals with the "variations on level" between the two floors. (I'm using level here as more of a reference to parallel, rather than level in the sense of "level". There's a bit of hand work here, but if the material is good quality, it should be possible to hand plane the filler piece to match the slant of the upper floor first and then fair it down to the lower floor.

[Holmes Anderson]

I have installed that same slate tile pattern and made the same mistake of setting the gaps too wide. There is much more variation in thickness in the slate than the ceramic tiles in some of the other posted photos so the fit relative to a rabbeted and overlaid transition might not be so tight as with ceramic tile. I did something like what you describe in the original post - chamfered transitions with sanded caulk to match the grout color in a gap between the wood and tile matching the grout width.