Hi everyone. I am getting ready to install the floating floor, it's engineered wood plank 3 inches in width.

before doing so i have a question about a transitioning piece between the new wood floor and the existing slate floor. Here is where it may get complicated. The slate floor is curvy. I want to keep this design. This is the current slate situation.

https://filebox.vt.edu/t/trnguye2/HGTV/Xtile.jpg

what i like to do is have the floor curve along with the slate outline....what i prefer is a trim or molding piece that will curve with the slate floor. maybe this picture will help. This transition piece is important b/c i want a 1/4" gap around the perimeter of the floor to allow for some movement. Maybe this picture will help.

https://filebox.vt.edu/t/trnguye2/HGTV/FloorFinal.JPG

Does anyone know if there is a kind of transition strip that's flexible or some other method of finishing off the cut edge as i bumped it up to the curve slate floor. There must be a clean way to do this, as I'm sure it's not that uncommon to have a curved transition.

Thanks
N0-PR0

There are three ways you can accomplish the task of a curved threshold.

The first and easiest is to get a Polystyrene molding product and install it. These are flexible and will curve to the transition. The drawback is that they are extremely soft and have to be finished in excess of 7 coats to have any durability on a floor.

The second is to use traditional molding and cut relief cuts along it width wise 1 about ever 4 to 6 inches these cut leave about ½ to ¼ of an inch of material above them on the surface. The tighter the curve the more relief’s you need. To install you start nailing or gluing / clamping and bending as you go. Wedges can be employed on particularly tough spots.

The third way I know of is to rough cut every board to shape with a jig or scroll saw and install them. Then using the tile as a guide, come back with a flush trim bit on a router to clean them up and finally a roman ogue bit to put an edge on the boards. It is the most time consuming but also the most custom.

KLS...awesome. i was hoping for one solution but 3..that's great!

Unless there are easier options for weekend warriors like me, I think i am going to choose option #3. It sounds like the final result would be nice.

The only dilema here is i dont have wood work experience but i think i know what you are saying. What is a roman ogue bit? I tried googling it but coudn't find anything wood working related.

That is because I spelled it wrong it is Roman Ogee you can use any number of edge finishing bits to give it a nice look. I prefer the Roman Ogee but you can use a round over (bull nose) or a multitude of bits.

What you do is use a flush trim bit and run it along the tile which will serve as your template. It will cut out the rough cut wood to match the pattern of the tile. After which use one of these to put a nice edge on it. After that go back and fill in the area where the flush trim ran with tile grout.

kls...i think i have it. now i'm excited to start on the floor. i have had my wood in the house for over 5 months now No worries with aclimation.

now onto the prep work...need to read some of Ken's stuff now.

i wish we have good installers in VA.

now i'll pick up a router...just to let you know...the only router i have ever touch are cisco routers...so we shall see.

MUCH THANKS KLS

Hey No pro,
Don't forget to coat the exposed wood end grain you'll have with this method with a decent durable finish.

Moisture creeping into that end grain in a high traffic area that close to exterior door can give you trouble in a season or two.

You may also (remember the expansion gap you wanted that is now going un-covered by a trim piece) want to find a sanded siliconized caulk to match the grout you've used on the slate to totally finish off the transition and keep that 1/4" gap you want.

You can find that grout alot of times at Lowes with thier ceramic tile in a Mapei brand. It is sanded to look and feel like grout, siliconized to give and stretch with wood movement, and does a decent job of keeping moisture out from under the wood in that exterior adjacent high traffic spot.

Hope that makes sense and helps too.

PS ... If Lowes doesnt have it in the color you want, you can take some of the powdered grout to a local Columbia Paint Center where they can use your grout to make the calking in that exact color ... but they are proud of that ability and can cost about 4-5 times as much as the off the shelf stuff at the box stores.

William ... a real tile store will have colored grout caulk. Dal-Tile has branches around the country, and they have both sanded and unsanded in all Custom-brand grout colors. It's about $4-$5 a tube.