One of the most important decisions you need to make when you are considering a new flooring is how your flooring will converge in doorways, or other room divides, and around the room sides and edges.
Our advice is don’t leave this until the last minute, but make it part of your initial purchase decision, as otherwise you may experience problems and not get the polished look you were hoping for.
Door and skirting board thresholds usually need to be fitted with special purpose mouldings, usually made from a hardwood like Oak, or metal, which give a clean finish to your flooring.
What you use to connect your new flooring to existing flooring in doorways, and to the walls, will affect the overall look of your entire room and floor. You can choose from the following mouldings:
1) Skirting boards – these cover the base of the wall and fit flush to your flooring. They are available in a wide choice of material and style to give your room the desired look.
2) Beading – you can choose from different styles of beading depending on what look you prefer.
3) Ramps and reducers – if your new flooring is at a slightly different level to existing flooring at door thresholds you will need to use ramps or reducers, which are available in different sizes, to suit the overlap between different floor types, like wood to carpet etc.
4) T-bars – for internal door thresholds where both flooring covers are the same height.
5) L-sections and L-beads – for external door thresholds where you need a clean cut-off edge.
6) Flat thresholds – for door and skirting thresholds where there are no height issues between flooring materials.
7) Nosings – to tidy up any visible flooring ends, like on stairs and external thresholds.
When you are choosing your threshold mouldings do also consider practicality and safety, as well as design. High T-bars for example won’t be appropriate in high activity doorways as they will be a trip hazard – especially if you have any young or old residents in the house.
