Hello, this is Dustin the Home Mender. And today we’re talking transitions, we’ve got a floor that meets a different floor and we need to dress it up, make it pretty, and it’s not going to cost us eighty five dollars to do it. Let’s get to it.
1 Choose the right style .I’ve got two kinds of unfinished red oak transitions here. I’ve got what’s called the T-molding. And a ¼” step transition. When one floor is a little bit taller than the other one, it gets the step transition. When they’re flush, it gets the T-molding,
T molding- These need about a ½ inch space for the T to slip into. That is going to be way easier for us to liquid nail down.
Step transition – works best when the floor height is a quarter inch difference. If its greater, you can use a thin strip of the size needed.
2. Cut the transition to fit. I’ve got my full length cut. If you split a door jamb at the ends of the transition you would cut it to your longest point. Lay the end of your transition on the floor at the door jamb and make a mark where that’s going to slip in, usually about half inch.
Notch that little guy out. Then dry fit it to make sure you will be happy with the cut.
3. Stain the transition. Pick your stain color that matches your floor or other trim in the room. You’re supposed to stir a stain, not shake it. I want the wood grain to really show through so I will lay it on there with a towel, then wipe it all off. Let that cure. Some need 24 hours.
4. Apply polyurethane After you stain, you usually want to polyurethane afterwards. I like the spray Polly, because it’s easier and it looks pretty good, too. A light spray over it and let it dry. I like to do three coats of semigloss poly to give it a nice luster.
5. Glue them down with liquid nails. If you’re on a wood subfloor you can use finishing nails to secure the floor transitions, but i’m on a slab so ill use liquid nail. Put the caulking right on the slot or step part. Be care not to put too much that will mush out from under it. That stuff is tough to clrasn up. A few big blobs and set it into place. Throw some weight on it overnight to hold it, the back legs of a chair work great.
Beautiful. So that’s it. I hope you learned a little bit about transitions and how to get the most out of your wood floor and not use those cheesy fabricated thresholds. . If you do laminate, don’t use the cheesy laminate threshold. They’re just they break in like when you mop them and they get wet and the paper starts to swell it just looks bad. You can get the unfinished oak and stain it yourself and really give it your own feel, your own flair. And that transition looks way better than some store bought. For the Home Mender, I’m Dustin. I hope you learned something today. And if you did, don’t forget to subscribe.