Howdy,

I have a transition from hardwood to tile at two bathrooms. The surface of the tile is about 1/4" higher than the surface of the hardwood. First question is, how do I fasten it down? Construction adhesive where it meets both the wood and tile?

Next question - the transition piece I have seems like it should do the trick, but I'm wondering if there is anything I should put underneath it to support its center. Otherwise, the center is just floating over the ~1/2" gap it's hiding.

It seems pretty rugged, but if someone stepped on the transition piece right at the crown of its curvature, I worry that the pressure exerted on its two sides, without support underneath, might cause it to snap and sink into the ~1/2" gap that it's hiding. Maybe I'm overthinking it. What do you guys think? Here is one picture of the flooring and the transition piece placed upside-down. It's Somerset hardwood maple.



And here I've set the pieces up to show the 1/4" height differential. It wouldn't sit like this for the install of course ... it would be flush against the wood and the tile, and ramp slightly upward into the bathroom. Also it's at an angle because I haven't cut it to width yet.



I could put a few 3/4" long plastic washers in the ~1/2" gap to provide support to the flange that runs down the center. Overkill?

Thanks as always!

Attach it to the subfloor. The hardwood floor needs to be able to expand and move under the transition.....so do not attach the transition to the hardwood floor. Rip a piece of wood that will bridge the space between the bottom of the transition's leg and the subfloor. This will provide support to the transition. Pre-drill through the transition, and the piece of wood you put under the leg.....cut the head off a finish nail and use this to drill the hole....nail with same gauge finish nail. Butt the transition's leg against the tile. The edge of the transition that needs to sit on the hardwood will have to be built up....you can't leave it suspended over the hardwood. What you really need here is a custom transition/reducer which has one side thicker than other to accomodate the height difference between the tile and hardwood floor. If you want to use the transition you have rip a piece 1/4" thick and glue to the underside of the transition where it needs to contact the hardwood. Your other choice is a saddle threshold with the side that sits on the tile thinned down by 1/4".

A homemade transition reducer created from a piece of your flooring would work out a little better. Can you return the transition pieces that you have?

Thank you for the detailed response, especially about attaching and supporting it. It all makes sense, I'm glad I asked! I'm pretty much stuck with the transition piece I have - I ordered it from across the country and I'd rather make it work, even if it's not ideal.



I could do that, I have a few pieces of scrap flooring I can use to rip this 1/4" spacer.



Instead of butting the leg against the tile, I could scoot the piece back about 1/2" from the edge of the tile. The result is that the transition is ramped, but in such a way that there is no gap underneath either the tile-edge or the hardwood-edge. This has a few benefits over butting the leg up against the tiles: The transition sits ramped so there is no gaps to fill; it gives a nice clean look; and, it doesn't a have a built-up side that can catch your toes / shoes. Of course, the support piece that sits underneath the transition would have to be tricked out a bit with an angle rip. I might play with that and see how it could work out.

You can simply use some Pl Premium adhesive to glue the T-mold to the tile, weight it down overnight. Or maybe rip the T-mold down at the leg, attach a 1/4 inch piece under it, glue to subfloor and butt it against the tile and use grout caulk to fill in any gaps. Sort of like a mini baby threshold.

If the transition you purchased doesn't work out: Take a piece of your flooring, remove 1/4" from the bottom of the side that will rest on the tile, put a 15 degree chamfer (ramp) on each side of the top so that each side ramps down to the tile or hardwood. Each chamfered edge should ramp down to about 1/4" thick. This is easily done on the table saw and/or router.

I like Stephens idea best. Sometimes you don't have to weigh it down. I've used vertical wedges under the door when shut. Hard to describe but...

Is 1/4" too much for some silicon caulk on the hardwood side? I'm just thinking. I've done that as well, but maybe not 1/4 inch...not sure