Flooring Transitions Through a Doorway
Laying the board underneath the jambs will hide the gaps between the edges of the door and door frame. To do this, you'll first have to cut the bottoms of the jambs with a jigsaw (or handsaw), just enough to slide a piece of flooring under. Then notch around the edging.
Spread a bead of silicone caulk in the gap between laminate flooring and the threshold of an exterior door. Run your finger over the caulk to tool it the same way you would tool caulk along the edge of trim or along a window.
Here is where you should place transition strips in a doorway: Transition strips should be placed in the center of the door opening where the opening is the smallest. In this placement, the transition strip will not impact the door's ability to close regardless of which way the door swings.
Transition strips for laminate flooring
They ensure a smooth transition between different floors, from a room to another, or inside a room if different floors are used.
Transitioning to a Different Laminate Floor
You simply change the boards in the middle of the doorway and continue the installation in the other room with the new flooring. The transition line looks best when it's under the closed door or lined up with the front edge.
Anytime you install laminate flooring in a bath, laundry room or kitchen, you should use AC3-rated flooring, leave 1/4-in. expansion gaps at the walls and fixtures, and then fill the gaps at flooring ends with 100 percent silicone caulk.
Between two rooms utilizing the same flooring material. While you may be able to get away without a transition strip in these spaces, using one can better allow for expansion and contraction over time. This is particularly important with wood plank, vinyl plank or tile materials.
Transition strips are especially important when you are going from one thickness of floor covering to another. It's common to have an area that has thick carpet that transitions to concrete or carpet that transitions to another hard surface like wood, laminate or linoleum.
Flush transition moldings are commonly used to complement nailed down or glued down wood floors. Floating floors however, require over-lap transition moldings to be used.
Lifting of the laminate floor is due to acclimation issues. To fix it, remove the baseboards to relieve the pressure. Gently tap boards back together and move along the floor patiently until the gaps are filled. Boards that have lifted and warped should also be replaced.
Choose the Best Possible Direction:
The best direction is based on the shape of your house. There is no right direction, but the more accepted rule is that the floor direction should run parallel to the longer walls, but long hallways are exempt from this rule.
A seam binder is installed by simply positioning the strip over the seam, then driving screws through pre-drilled pilot holes in the strip to secure it to the subfloor in the gap between the floors. Because it is attached to neither floor, each floor can expand and contract without cracking the transition strip.
The installation starts in the corner of the house and proceeds through the first room until the edge of the flooring extends beyond the walls. It then continues straight into the adjoining rooms unless you change direction with a transition.
Seam Binders prevent carpet edges from fraying, vinyl floor seams from curling and creates a smooth transition between different flooring surfaces. Seam Binders are easily secured to wood and concrete floors with provided Screw Nails. For installation on concrete floors use Wooden Pegs (sold separately).
You should not change the direction of hardwood flooring between rooms—the reason why is that it causes visual disharmony. Placing hardwood flooring in the same direction that follows your space is best.