I'm currently installing 2 1/4" unfinished white and red oak in my living room *and then throughout my house* and I'm not sure what to do about the step down into the living room from the hallway. There's also steps from the foyer and kitchen but I'll worry about those when I get to those areas. I have also removed all the baseboards from the living room to avoid having to use corner round and hope I don't end up having to use it.



This will be my first hardwood floor installation and everything seems to be going very well but want to do it right and have a few questions about my options and which one would look the best.

1. First option, I'll be replacing the baseboards with thicker and possibly taller ones and could continue to run the baseboards where there use to be carpet on the drywall step riser. I'd need to cut the bottom portion of the door casing so the moulding would fit but that shouldn't be a problem. I'd also install an Oak landing tread at the top of the step and continue the flooring out from there into the hallway. I'd also patch/repair the drywall riser and paint it to match the color of the walls since I'll be repainting the living room anyway.



2. Second option, install the Oak landing tread at the top of the step and glue extra scrap pieces of the hardwood vertically up to the tread basically making a riser out of left over pieces of the flooring.



Questions!!

A. The dimensions of the landing tread are 1 1/16" x 5 1/4", since this will be thicker than my 3/4" floor what could I do about the height difference without having to use a reducer.

B. I've put a 1/2" gap around the perimeter of the floor for expansion and since the baseboards are already removed I'd like to replace them with thicker and taller baseboards. Do they make baseboards that are thick enough to cover this gap so I wouldn't need to use corner round and with the size of the room about 14' x 17' how tall should I go?

C. If I went with option 2 would I need to replace the door casing to match the added thickness of the hardwood riser?

D. I'm finishing up the floor in the living room and getting down to the last 6 rows. I can't get the nailer in between the wall and the floor and was wondering what the best method was to get these last 6 rows down without making it look too bad. I also noticed that there will be an inch and half gap between the last row and the wall, should I rip a scrap piece of wood to an inch and leave the 1/2" gap for expansion?






Thanks!!

WELL . . . .none of the above, sorry . I couldn't find an option I liked. That what so nice about opinions...
opinion: (F) . . . undercut door casing to floor level, install landing tread with bullnose 1" beyond door

casing on each side. Allow space to install a riser board under the tread, the length should be the same
as the (width) of your door casing. Allow your base to but on each side, into the riser board.
AAhh that's better . . . I hope? dan@ pro