Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - quarterround in door frames/casings?

I recently installed engineered flooring. There is a half inch gap between the floor and walls as specified in the installation instructions. This gap is also between the floor and inside of door casings.

My question:

Do I / Can I install quarter round in the inside of door casings? If not, what would I use in that area to cover the gap between the flooring and the doo casing?

Thanks for the help.

Did you read in the instructions that came with the engineered flooring?

Especially the part about undercutting the doorcasings, so the flooring slides under them!!

Gobs of caulking or ¼ round trim, looks god awful tacky!!

Yes, I did read the instructions. They are somewhat unclear about what to do at doorways. We did undercut the door casing, but left a gap beteween the actual doorframe and the flooring. We figured we had to maintain the expansion gap everywhere and did not butt up the flooring right to the doorframe. So although the flooring does slide under the casing, there is still a gap between the flooring and the inside of the door frame. I'm not sure how to fill this gap inside the doorway.

I read directions obsessively, but am new to installing flooring.

Thanks.

The expansion gap is for horizontal expansion. When you undercut the door jamb, there is probably at least 1-1/2" of horizontal clearance before you encounter the plate (2"x4" "sole" plate at the bottom of the wall framing). The undercutting of the door jamb is to allow vertical clearance. I set my jamb saw for approximately 1/16" of vertical clearance. Anything more and the gap looks bad and there's not much you can do.

I guess I'm stuck then. Thanks anyway.

Hey, the only way to learn from your mistakes is to make them in the first place. What you misunderstood in the directions is that you needed to undercut both the door casing (trim) and the jam. Can you replace the boards at the doorway? If it's not possible to replace the boards at the door (and undercutting the jam), I think I would cover the gap with 1/4 round. While it might not be perfect, it won't look bad. Just don't invite Perry over! :)

It would be possible to replace the board at the doorway, but it would involve taking up a lot of flooring. I went with the quarter round route. Unfortunately, I had to use 3/4 because of the size of the gap. The doorway in question in a remodeled attic. I think some of the construction (like the doorways) is a little homespun. I'm not sure if the doorways are standard construction. For some reason, at the time, undercutting the doorjambs that much didn't seem like an option. I wish I could post a pic. I thought the quarterround did'nt look too bad. Anyway, thanks for the help.

Ok, I figured out why we didn't undercut the door casing enough and slide the flooring under.

We installed engineered flooring that fits together like laminate. The door was at the opposite end of the room from where we started. When we got to the door, there was no place to slide anything. Also, the boards have to be angled on the end and sides when fit together, so the boards have to be clearanced around the door frames, so they can be pushed down.

I do have enough extra boards to do the job correctly. How could I get around this problem?

Thanks.

When you encounter a door jamb, Sometimes you have to cut the rotating lock off with a razor knife, and glue those planks together. Sometimes assembling t rows, while cutting the lock off the second row back, and gluing.


Planning, planning, planning!! You have to be thinking at least 7 to 10 steps ahead, at all times.

You also have to hole your mouth just right!!

I sympathize with you. I did my laminate floors myself and the same ole stuff about door jamb gaps and how the heck to deal with getting the stuff under the doors when there's that locking system. I sanded down the locking lip such that you didn't have to lift the piece to join it to the next piece. I had to use a hammer to tap them together because I left enough of a lip to make it a tight fit.

I overcut several of my jambs and now have a 1/4 gap between the top of the laminate and the bottom of the jamb. Some were my fault but others were like that when I started.

Directions? Shya! No directions out there could have prepared me for the weird stuff I dealt with. I too read them obsessively. The 12' hallway with *6* doorways (4 inward openers, 2 outward openers, and one door was at the end of the hall) was a bear!!! Oh yeah, and where are the helpful hints for people who need to grid down a high spot in a slab foundation rather than build up the entire surface to match it??

I called the manufacturer (Kahrs) and they told me the exact same thing. You have to cut off part of the locking tab so the boards slide together and glue them instead of angling them to lock together. I am not sure about doing this. Those boards are about 7 feet long and I'm not sure how durable this would be with glued boards in such a high traffic location.

I am definately going to be using a 3 inch sill. I will be undercutting the door frame. I was also going to remove the door casing on the room side to give me enough clearance to angle the board so I can lock them together. The boards would go right up to the door frame but not under it in the areas where they are undercut. I only need to go into the doorway a little bit on that side. On the hallway side, I will slide it under the doorframe normally as it is the first board. It will cover most of the way into the doorway.

I will end up using 3 new boards which is half a box. Luckily, I have an extra box handy. I think it's worth doing right. The rest of the installation looks quite good. But it's the details that make for a professional looking install. I know it would always bug me if I didn't fix it.

BTW, I 'm sure you could fix you overcut doorjambs by gluing in 1/4 inch slivers of wood,..a little putty and paint and who would notice?

Thanks again for the help.

Before Kahrs was a rotating, glueless installation, to sell more floor to unsuspecting DIY'ers, it was a glue together and strap floor, only pro's and the confident DIY'ers would tackle.

The manufacturers came up with glueless locking floors, to sell to the DIY crowd and the boom in DIY home improvement.

Glueless is not as good of an installation as a glued T&G installation.


You might as well remove the whole jamb!!!! You'll see when you get there!!! I bet you cut a lock off and glue it!!!!!!!

You seem to suggest 2 things in your post.

1. Removing the door casings is a lot of trouble. I know it is.

2. I am wrong thinking that cutting off the rotating lock and glueing would make the floor less sturdy.

If you are telling me that there is nothing wrong with cutting off the locks and glueing it...Great! That's much easier for me.

Is cutting and glueing the way to go?

Use a utility razor knife with a new blade and cut the dang lock lip off. Not the whole thing. Just the raised lock on the bottom.

Then good `ol Elmers carpenters glue! They make it dark colored for dark woods, also. Or you can use Titebond T&G glue. Both are PVA. :thumbup:

A timely post indeed for me. I am using a Dupont laminate locking system and am facing the same problem. In hindsight I should have started from the other side of the room which would have eliminated the whole door frame problem.

I too undercut the frame and will be having to fill it in with scraps, silicone caulk and paint.

I am going to re-do mine. I ended up taking up some quarterround and quite a few boards (which actually didn't take that long). I have the boards organized so they go back the same way they came. I will have to replace 3 boards which is half a box (Kahrs flooring is 7 feet long). Luckily I kept an extra box for repairs. It's a shame to waste materials, but it would always bug me if I didn't do it right. This makes the mistake an expensive lesson, but learning something new makes it worth it. Short cuts are long cuts, as they say.

Thanks again for the help.