How to Install Wood Floor Transition Pieces

Leave enough space between the two areas of flooring where you would like to use a transition piece. For most transition pieces, 1 inch of space between the edges of the floors provides enough room for installation. If you do not have enough space in the seam, trim back the edges of a hard floor using a circular saw set to the same depth as the flooring or a soft floor, like carpet, by cutting it with a utility knife.

Measure the length of the seam where the two flooring surfaces meet. Get a transition piece of this length if possible, such as in doorways and narrow hallways. If the seam goes across a long floor surface, more than one piece of trim must be used to cover the seam.

Transfer the measurement of the seam onto the wood floor transition piece and cut the piece down to size with a coping saw. If the seam stretches longer than one transition piece, lay pieces side by side so that the ends rest flush against each other, until you get to the area of the seam where a full piece of trim won’t fit. Measure the remaining space and cut the last piece down to size.

Remove the cut transition pieces from the seam. Cut tracks for the transition pieces down to the size of the seam and place the tracks down into the space between the floors, securing the tracks to the floor with the provided screws. Alternately, spread approximately 1/2 inch of adhesive on the floor surface on either side of the seam.

Press the transition piece down into the track until it locks into place or down into the floor seam so that the top edges push down into the adhesive. Wipe any adhesive that squeezes out from beneath the piece off the floor immediately with a dry rag. Hold the transition place in the adhesive for five minutes until it takes a firm hold.