What Do You Use in the Doorway When Installing Tile Floors?

Transition Strips

• Transition strips provide a smooth transition between different flooring surfaces. Your tile floor has several layers to it, including the tile and bed of mortar the tiles sit on. If your tile floor stops in a door’s threshold, a transition strip spans the width of the doorway. You may find several types of transition strips at your flooring or home improvement store when you buy the tile for your floor. You install the transition strips, as well as the baseboards after you have finished the tile installation process, including giving the grout the manufacturer’s recommended time to fully cure. Some flooring types, such as wood or laminate, must have an expansion space between it and any other surfaces, such as walls or other floors. The transition strip needs to leave enough room for the manufacturer’s recommended expansion space to not cause problems with the flooring.

T Transition Strips

• A T transition strip looks like the letter “T” from the side, with a flat top and a fat center that sits between the two flooring surfaces. The thin lips on the top of the T strip rest on both flooring surfaces. Because of its design, T transition strips must join floors that sit at exactly the same height, no matter the type of material the floors are made of. If one floor sits at even a slightly different level as the other floor, the lips on the T strip can easily break off.

Square Nose Strips

• When your tile floor sits at a lower level than the flooring it meets in a doorway, install a square nose transition strip to cover up the other flooring’s edge. The side of the square nose transition strip that fits over the tile has a low profile that is rounded. On the underside of the transition strip is a large notch that sits in the gap between the two types of flooring, helping lift the other side of the strip to the higher elevation of the other flooring. The transition strip does not fit over the other flooring, and instead just butts up against it at the same level.

Reducer Strips

• Reducer strips provide a transition when the tile flooring sits higher than the other flooring’s surface. A small lip on the higher end of the transition strip fits over the edge of the tile flooring. The majority of the strip sits on top of the lower elevation flooring.