How to Lay Floating Hardwood Flooring in a Doorway

Lay the hardwood flooring over the floor’s surface in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer until you reach the doorway. If the floor on the opposite side of the doorway also uses hardwood flooring, lay the flooring on that side of the doorway as well before installing the flooring in the doorway.

Install all pieces of hardwood flooring along the wall next to the doorway prior to installation of the doorway. To cut hardwood flooring pieces to size for installation along walls, measure the space that remains between the edge of the last full hardwood plank put into place and the wall. Subtract 1/2 inch to make space for the flooring spacers along the wall. Lay the hardwood flooring pieces and at least two flooring spacers in place along the wall.

Measure the space left along the wall until you reach the doorway when you reach a point along the wall where a full-size flooring plank won’t fit against the wall without overlapping the doorway. If you have a 4-foot plank, for example, and 2 feet of space left along the wall, half of the hardwood plank must be cut to fit along the wall and the other half must be cut to fit in the doorway.

Measure the same distance across the hardwood plank as the distance left along the wall and mark the plank. In the case of a 4-foot plank with 2 feet of wall space left, for example, measure 2 feet across the hardwood plank and make a mark. Now, measure the space left between the last full hardwood plank and the wall, just as you did for the other wall planks.

Subtract ½ inch from the measurement you made between the last full plank and wall, transfer this measurement to the piece of hardwood that you have already marked for the doorway, and cut the plank down to size for the wall. Cut only the side of the plank that will sit against the wall, though, leaving the other half of the plank intact.

Put the hardwood plank down into its spot on the floor so that the half of the plank that remains full-size sits in the doorway. Measure the doorway to find the halfway mark in the width of the doorway and mark the hardwood flooring at this point. Then, measure an additional ½ inch from the mark and mark the hardwood again.

Remove the hardwood plank from the floor and cut the plank down at the second mark that you made, so that the hardwood flooring plank will cover half of the doorway, minus ½ inch. Cut all other hardwood planks that you need to cover the doorway on that side in the same manner. Then, move to the opposite side of the doorway, cutting all planks to size in the same way until hardwood planks meet in the doorway with 1 inch of space between the edges.

Measure the width of the doorway and cut a piece of T-molding trim down to this size. Apply a small amount of adhesive to the bottom side of the T-molding trim and press it into place between the edges where the hardwood flooring meets in the doorway.