Hi, I am about to start the installation of Hardwood Flooring on my main floor. I have not been able to figure out how to intall the flooring around the stair railings. There was laminate flooring before which was thin enough to slide under the base of where the railing posts attach. The hardwood is much thicker and will be flush with the base of where the railing post attach. Any suggestions on how to finish this where the hardwood meets the railing base? I was planning on using a T molding but I will end up with an unfinished end at the top of the stairs. I have attached a picture of one side of the railing.

you need to cut tight around it......thats what pros do;)

anyway..best point of attack is to make that your starting point...strike lines to continue the floor down the hall strait...
check for square by measuring..may not be perfect...but if good .....start there...otherwise u need a skilled hand to cut around it

I don't do many stairs out here in concrete land But if it were me I'd pull the railing and use the floor for a base.

Thanks for the replies. One important piece of information I forgot to add is it will be engineered hardwood flooring and it will be a floating floor not nailed or glued. Baecause of this I will not be able to cut it in tight to the railing. If possible I would really like to avoid taking everything apart as I am not sure how much of it will came apart without being damaged. Any other thoughts?

i have a suggestion...cut tight around the railing..floating dont make a difference..

and if you are concerned, then you can glue or nail the first course solid

Oh ok, not exactly experienced at this as you can tell. I thought that an expansion gap had to be maintained. I will go with this approach. Thanks.

Why float when you can fasten on a wood substrate? I can see floating on concrete instead og gluing but you might have issues with expansion on a floater.

You can not glue or nail a single course on a floating or it is not a floating floor anymore and it may fail because oit will not be able to move as it should. You will need a cap or expansion space under the rail. I agree the cap will look out of place, but like Stephen said why not fasten the floor if you can.

hate to be a spoiler...but yes you can Mickey...

dont it in borders, header strips...hard to start courses etc...never an issue...it wont stop the floor expanding just as the piece he is butting up to wont..the floor will push the other way..to the tongue...

he is starting off on less than a 6 ft run of rail base...

If it's a floor that can only be floated.....depending on thickness, you can undercut the base plate slightly with an undercut saw,( rent at HD), or use a multifunction tool,( tedius, but not a lot of area). IMO trimming an area like that with some sort of moulding, doesn't look good.

Thanks again for the replies. I chose a floating floor as it is the most forgiving in terms of installation. Based on my experience (a total of one laminate floor installation in my basement) I chose a floating floor over nail/glue because if I mess up it is nothing more than taking it back up and staring over again where as nail/glue would be a different story. Unfortunately undercuting is not an option as it is flush with the railing base right now. I gues my only options to make it look good is to take up the stair railings and build it up some or glue/nail down the floor that are flush with the railing base.

IMO, it's not a problem to tight fit the base plate, leaving a larger space for expansion on the wall opposite or perpendicular to the plate, it's done all the time, and your talking a hallway,( it's not like a large room with a long span). Just use a flexible urethane adhesive, ( so you dont have the up and down movement). such as PL Premium cartridges. Same for the nosing, ( if your not using an "overlap" nosing).

The only time a floating floor will "lock in" is when 2 perpendicular points are tight.

If you choose to but it up tight break the hallway off from all the other rooms so it can expand in the one direction all by itself. And as an installer I wouldn't do it on a job because I don't want to be responsible even if the customer wants it. I try to do things by the book, and you will never find butting up tight in any floating floor manufacturers instructions.

Doing it by the book is great. But there's an array of situations that are open for interpretation. Nothings cut and dry. Something can be done "by the book", and not be right, with all considered, this is when experience comes in. We've all seen installations done "by the book", and the installer held responsible for an installation related issue.

Like James refered to...tight fit at one point won't stop a floor from moving in the other direction.

It's always mentioned by manufacturers as well to install t-mouldings in doorways,under 4', on floating floors. Another good example that's open to interpretation. IMO it depends on layout and adjoining areas. A lot of times it's addequate to undercut jambs deep, and avoid t-mouldings,( from what I can see, this situation isn't one of them), but again...depending on the situation.

So if I am understanding it is ok to nail or glue a course and then float the next course over a pad and not expect any movement in the area were the solid meets the floating. I am sure we all do many things that are not quite by the book but I feel (IMO) this is not one I would want my name on. It will also void any warranty, for what they are worth, of the product.