Floorboard Woes!

[dammit]

Hi All

Hoping someone can help me. Recently I installed floating timber floorboards (click lock) in our hall/dining/lounge etc. The flooring went in well, and I have finished replacing the skirting boards now and just about done all the door strips where the carpet meets the floorboards in doorways, but I have one last problem I am trying to figure out.

To get the floorboards to fit right we had to cut the bottom bit of the wooden door frames/architraves, so they are now approx. 1cm gap between the bottom of the frame and the cement slab. we also had to cut the floorboard around it so it would click into place, the end result means around every door frame there is about a 1cm gap that the eye can see of concrete slab/underlay where the floorboards havent covered. I really want to cover this up so it looks a bit more professional/nice. Are there any products out there that will do the job for this? Preferably something I can get at bunnings and the like.

Are there any flexible plastic moulding type things that I could cut out to cover the gap? I really have no idea. I have included 2 pics below so you can see what I mean. Ive been wondering what professionals do in this situation... The only thing I can think of is something plastic that will cover it up, or using some of the leftover floorboards cut out little inserts and put them in the gap and superglue it together or something, with that there'd be a small line where the join is and the pattern would be different.

Thanks for your help everyone


I have only done the RHS carpet strip/join in this picture.

[philcav7]

Not trying to be rude, but that's a pretty nasty gap. Why would you leave a gap like that?

If you want it to look professional, do as the the professionals do...don't leave gaps! What was the point of cutting the door frames if you didn't install the floor under it? You took a shortcut and it looks like a shortcut.

Here's how you fix it. Replace that flooring board with a new one. Make sure that the flooring goes UNDER all of the moulding, remove the door trim if you have to and reinstall it after the floor board is properly fitted. This may involve ripping half of your floor apart and putting it back together, but that's how it goes sometimes.

[sol381]

well actually the way the way dammit has layed the floor is correct . a gap of 10mm should be left near all walls for movement. i had exactly the same problem at my unit . i used some metal cover strip, like a c channel that goes under the board and sits tight against the walls. looks good by you have to mitre each one with snips.

[Honorary Bloke]

well actually the way the way dammit has layed the floor is correct . a gap of 10mm should be left near all walls for movement..

Well, actually the way he laid the floor is not correct. Sorry.

The reason for undercutting the jambs is so you can slide the flooring under and still have side clearance for expansion. But it's fiddly to do it and people get in a hurry or they can't figure out how to fit the pieces together and still slide under the jamb (but it can be done and is done every day.) If you are only making 90 degree cuts for each piece, this is what you end up with. The pieces at the jamb need to be scribed to the jamb profile and cut slightly longer to fit under.

When laid, the base moulding covers the expansion gap at the walls and the flooring sits well under the jamb and still has expansion room under there. Covering with a metal c-channel works, but it is a fix and not the way the manufacturer envisioned it to be done.

There is another possible problem, however. If the flooring is to be continued from room to room, as apparently one of the pics shows, there should typically be an expansion gap left between the rooms at the doorway, which is then covered by a small transition piece or threshold, usually available to match from the manufacturer.

[Sorry if my 2,000th post sounds like a grump. It isn't. But the floor is not cut correctly. ]

[sol381]

just had a closer look at the pics and noticed it was wood .Uunlike at my place i have metal jambs going into concrete walls which wasnt possible to cut back. congrats on 2000 posts bloke.

[Honorary Bloke]

just had a closer look at the pics and noticed it was wood .Uunlike at my place i have metal jambs going into concrete walls which wasnt possible to cut back. congrats on 2000 posts bloke.

Yes, with metal jambs and masonry, you have a different kettle of fish. And metal covers against metal jambs look OK, but will look a bit odd against wooden ones.

[dammit]

Hi all. thanks for the feedback - it is much appreciated. The flooring is not to continue into any other rooms. There are 3 doors where this gap problem is apparent. I'm unable to rip up the floorboards and re-do that bit because it would just be way too much work.

When I was laying the floorboards, I tried to slide it under the jambs, and I dont know if its due to having cheaper floating boards that it did not slide well, or my inexperience, but because the angle you have to get it to in order for it to click into (think of like this Previous floorboard is the underscore, the forward slash is the next board ___/ it was impossible to get it to work properly.

because the hallway was only 1 board wide, i could not slide it under the door jamb because that left a gap on the other side which was too small to fit another board.

Anyways, that said, maybe the best method is to cut little pieces of floorboards and 'patch' the little gaps as hopefully it wont be as noticable once that is done. I will know for next time a bit better as to the method. Those 4-5 gaps aside the rest of the flooring looks really good im pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks again.

[Honorary Bloke]

Well, to be more helpful, I agree with cutting small pieces and butting them up to fill the gaps. If, after this is done there remain a few very small spaces, get a "stain stick" type crayon in that colour and fill the small bits. No one will notice, as being up at the edge anyway. We are all our own worst critics when it comes to such projects.

[philcav7]

, but because the angle you have to get it to in order for it to click into (think of like this Previous floorboard is the underscore, the forward slash is the next board ___/ it was impossible to get it to work properly.

This is why the door moulding must be removed sometimes because you can't install it at an angle and slide it under the moulding at the same time. It can get tricky working around doors, especially if they are on different walls of the room.

Cutting a couple small strips would be the best way to go without ripping things up. Also as mentioned above, many of the flooring companies offer color matched sealant or touch up crayons that will blend very well.

[123]

I agree, will look a lot better if you put new boards in a cut it a lot tighter. IF you dont want to go through this you can look at using a flexible caulk in colours (mastik) to go around these area's.

[dammit]

I have cut some bits of floorboard and slotted them into the gaps now and used a light cream coloured putty to hold it all together/get rid of the gaps. turned out quite good - also finished the strips of metal to join the carpet rooms with the floorboard rooms...here are some pics of the end result: