Hello,
We are installing tile in the entry way and engineered wood floor in the adjacent room and hallways. We would prefer not to use transition and butt the wood floor against the tile. Is this recommended? If so, can I lay down the wood right up against the tile or should I leave a gap and fill with grout or other material?
tia,
-larry
Your wood floor will need to expand and contract. That is why transition pieces are used.
And for aesthetics, the transition molding makes a nice frame for the tile.
willshak sent this message::
So is there no way around this? Is it not a good idea to leave an expansion just on the other end? We were going to float the floor. If we nailed down the floor, won't that keep the floor from expanding? We live in California, a friend told me that he's never noticed his wood floor expand/contract.
You can do whatever you want, it's your house. Northern California or Southern California? The name of the state does not matter, on the east coast, that would be from New York to South Carolina. Here in NY, I put down a floating floor in a sunroom. It looked great after I put it down in the Fall. Next Summer, I noticed that there were ripples in the flooring near the outside wall. It turns out that I had cheated and didn't allow the full 1/4" spacing at the ouside walls that they recommended. Fortunately, I was able to remove the moulding and cut some of the planking on the outside wall.
This best advise I can give you is to read the manufacturer's instructions. They do know something about their product and how it behaves.
Consider: If the wood bit next to the immovable tile has to expand it has to push the entire floor instead of the board in the middle having to push just half the floor. Now your floor may be samll enough that inherent compression of the wood could accomodate the "push," but why take a chance?
Don't nail wood designed to "float." Don't float wood that's designed to be nailed. At least that's what I've been told.
HeyBub sent this message::
Thanks for all the advice. I think leaving room for expansion is the right way to go. The 2 surfaces might not end up even anyway so I'll need a transition.
I used the color of the grout and found a close match of Caulking to fill in the gap. Been 3 yrs and all is good.
A good tile shop should have caulk that matches the grout they sell.
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