Have you heard the saying that a job is not complete until the paperwork is done? Without going into specifics, I believe that saying is correct in many different applications. However, our topic today is in reference to the installation of hard surface flooring in a home so we have a little different finish: the trim and molding in your home.
Your house will have lots of different trim and molding options, like dentil or crown molding at the top of your walls. Or a chair rail three feet from the floor. Depending on the style of the interior of your house you may utilize many different types of trim, with the design and color choices left up to you. Each interior room can feature a different design, and the trim you choose for the walls and floor will affect the view of the room. Straight lines can boost a modern look, while rough pine boards are perfect trim for a Rustic home.
Do You Need Trim In Your Home?
Installation of the hard surface types, whether it be engineered hardwood, solid hardwood, luxury vinyl plank, or ceramic tile, includes several important steps. Removing the old floorcovering is your first step in an occupied home, but won’t be needed on new construction. Floor prep is a necessity on any job, although it is not as important as in the old days when we were installing resilient roll goods in almost every home.
These steps are in addition to the actual install but are pertinent to a well-completed job. So too is the trim, which we will be discussing today.
Two Styles of Molding
Trim and molding comes in many different forms and uses. The separation of uses that we will discuss today are perimeter trims, and transition pieces. While both are important to making the floor in your home look neat and finished, they are 2 very different applications.
Perimeter trims are installed on the wall around the outside edge of your floor, and may include baseboard, quarter round, or shoe mold. Each trim has an intended purpose, though the quarter round and shoe molding might be considered interchangeable.
Baseboard Trim
Baseboards are usually between 3-8 inches high, depending on the height of your ceiling in your home, but can be over 12 inches. Most homes with an 8 foot ceiling will use a 3-5” base on the wall. Some people like to use the 7% rule, which says that your baseboards should be 7% of your wall height. Thus a 10 foot wall, at 120 inches, would look good with an 8” base. Honestly, I think a 6” board would look good, and cost a lot less, but what do I know?
The primary reason for baseboard however is not for looks. Baseboard is the most used trim around the perimeter of your flooring and is there to cover the gap between your flooring and the wall. Some say it is there to cover mistakes, but all hard surface flooring likes a little room to expand. You know….for the same reason I wear elastic pants to a buffet.
Hard surface floors will expand, and if your installer has laid your floor tight to the drywall or plate you are quite likely to have issues.
Different floors have different expansion needs so we won’t get into the amount of gap that is needed in this blog.
When To Use Quarter Round Molding
In some applications there is not enough room for baseboard, like under cabinets. In this case quarter round will be used, unless the flooring has been installed underneath the cabinets. In that case no trim will be necessary.
Quarter round is made to look like a 90 degree wedge from a round piece of wood. This results in a trim with 2 flat sides, each measuring the same, usually ¾”, with a rounded face, Quarter round is used in applications that need that extra space.
Some applications may not have room for baseboard, but do not require a bulky trim like quarter round. In this case shoe molding may be used. This is often seen in front of a bathtub. Shoe molding will be the same height as the quarter round but less than a half inch thick, giving it a much smaller profile.
Should I Use Wood Trim?
All of these perimeter trims are typically made of wood. Pine is a popular species if the trim is being painted, as pine is quite inexpensive and easily worked with.
If you are staining or finishing your moldings to match your floors you might select an Oak trim. Premium Oak trims get expensive very quickly!
The most common finish for perimeter trims is white paint. White provides a nice contrast with your flooring and possibly your wall paint as well, and can really make the colors in a room pop. Sometimes we install a quarter round that matches a floor in front of a painted baseboard. This is done frequently in a remodel, when a floor is installed while the baseboard is already down and minimizes the visual of the second trim.
Don't hesitate to buy trims that are already primed. These wood molding strips will make your job easier, as well as save you money.
The second half of today's blog is about transition strips. When choosing transition strips there is less opportunity for the homeowner to make a choice, as the trims used are specific to the need.
Transition Strips
Keep in mind that almost all styles and types of transition strips perform 2 jobs. The first is to make the transition between 2 hard surface floors look good and make them look less uneven. The second, and equally important, is to keep these transitions between two floors looking good long term! They do that by allowing expansion by being designed for that particular application.
In times gone by expansion was a bigger issue than it is today but we still have to allow for it, especially in floors that are floated, like LVP, laminate and some engineered hardwood floors.
T Molding
One of the most used transitions is the T mold. T mold, shown in the diagram below, is used as a transition and expansion joint between 2 hard surface floors that are the same height, usually between 2 rooms. The floors do not need to be made of the same material, only that their surfaces are on the same level. That is because transitions are attached to the floor, not the flooring. That means that if there is movement due to unequal surfaces, the T mold will break off over time.
Reducer Trim
If the 2 surfaces are not the same height then a reducer will be used. As you can see below the reducer lowers the profile from the higher surface to the lower. Reducers are also used when we transition from an added floor, like hardwood, down to the original level. This is common when vinyl is used beside a different hard surface.
Stairnosing
Stairnoses are also engineered for expansion. They are used at the edge of any step that is going down, whether it is an actual step or maybe just an opening around a stair well.
Stair noses can get expensive, but are absolutely a necessity, especially on the edge of the floor next to that first step. Below you can see an example of a stairnose.
The last piece of trim that we will discuss is the end mold or threshold. This transition is commonly used where a hard surface floor meets carpet, and should always be used when the hard surface is installed using the floating method. For attached installs of material ½ inch or thinner, I have found that a careful stapling of the carpet, doubled over, removes the need for a transition strip.
If you are joining ¾” hardwood to carpet, I have another trick for you. Let me preface this by saying I hate trim on a piece of carpet, and will do whatever it takes to find a better solution. Plus, trims are expensive, unless you go through our huge pile of discounted trims at one of our retail locations.
Before you install that last piece of hardwood in a doorway, which should be running across the opening, run a router bit down the edge of the board that will touch the carpet. Round that edge off about half the thickness, and your carpet will finish to it perfectly, removing the need for a trim.
Today’s blog is a good example of the information that you need when you undertake the huge job of putting new flooring in your home. At ReallyCheapFloors.com we have 2 huge advantages over our competition: we sell flooring for less than they pay for it, and we have been doing this for more than 50 years. Granted, I was only 5 when my parents bought a small flooring business in Western North Carolina (Jason was only 3) but our parents believed in starting us young. Now not only are my parents still active in the business, as well as me and Jason, my nephew and a few cousins are also on hand to help. Each of our locations has at least one person with over 20 years of installation experience on site, and that experience is at your fingertips. This ain’t a box store where the flooring “specialist” was selling cell phones at the mall last month. We are professionals. Let us help you with inspiration. We can help you shop for a style of flooring that is perfect for your home. Or create something outside of your comfort level. Saving you money is just an added bonus!
