All About Moldings, Strips and Trims
Transition moldings or strips serve a crucial purpose for a variety of reasons, primarily to cover the expansion gap surrounding the perimeter of the floating floor, which is essential for all click-together floors, including Vinyl Plank, Laminate, Hardwood, Cork, and others. There are several reasons for using these trims, such as (1) terminating one flooring next to another type of flooring, (2) terminating flooring next to walls, fireplaces, and exterior doors, and (3) terminating the floor at a level change, such as a step.
All of these components serve both practical and aesthetic purposes, as they help to ensure a smooth and safe transition between different types of flooring while also providing a finished look to the room.
Here are some examples:
Let's take a closer look at the various kinds of trims, moldings, and strips.
Quarter Round
A Quarter Round, also known as shoe molding or base shoe, is a molding that serves the purpose of hiding the expansion gap between the flooring and the wall. It can also be applied over various baseboards, making it a versatile option.
T-Molding
A T-Molding serves as a connector between two floors of similar height. It is typically used to bridge the gap between a bathroom with ceramic tiles and a bedroom with laminate flooring, for instance, in a doorway.
Slim Trim
The Slim Trim is a versatile 3-in-1 transition strip with a low profile design. It can function as a T-Molding, Reducer, or End Cap/Carpet Transition and is capable of connecting floors of varying heights. With the optional dowel installation hardware, it can even achieve a 19mm reduction from one side to another.
Reducer
A Reducer is a type of transition strip used to smoothly connect two floors of different heights. For instance, it can be used to join a living room with laminate flooring to a kitchen with a sheet vinyl floor, where the latter is lower in height.
End Cap or Carpet Reducer
The End Cap trim is designed to finish the flooring with a vertical face on one side. It serves as an effective transition to carpet, masonry fireplaces, sliding doors, and exterior doors.
Slim Cap End Cap
The Slim Cap trim is a smaller variant of an End Cap that offers a less bulky option, making it a more visually appealing transition against low-pile carpet, for instance.
Overlap Stair Nose
The Overlap Stair Nose molding is designed to create an aesthetically pleasing threshold and offer the necessary overhang for transitioning from one floor level to another, such as stepping into a sunken room or onto a landing.
Versa Edge Stair Nose
The VersaEdge stair nosing is a versatile solution for stair transitions that can accommodate different floor thicknesses and installation methods such as overlap, lock down, and flush mount. It can be applied to stairs, landings, or any other step down situation with ease. There are three versions: 1.5" tall aluminum, 1" tall PVC and 1.52" tall rounded.
4-in-1 Vinyl Multi Function
This particular product is exclusive to Mohawk, Pergo, and Quick-Step brands of Vinyl Plank Flooring. The Vinyl 4-in-1 Multi-Functional Transition is a single vinyl molding that can be used for four different applications: T-Molding, Hard Surface Reducer, Carpet Reducer, and End Molding. This accessory works perfectly with all floating Mohawk and Pergo Vinyl Plank and SPC Rigid Vinyl floors, with a thickness ranging from 2mm to 8mm. You can watch a video here.
5-in-1 Multi Function
This particular product is exclusive to Mohawk, Pergo, and Quick-Step brands of Laminate Flooring. Its distinctive design minimizes waste and comes with a cutting tool for customization. With this product, you can easily create a T-Molding, Reducer, End Cap, or Carpet Transition. Furthermore, if combined with a sub profile, it can also be used as a durable flush-mount stair nosing. You can watch a video here.
Transition Strips Installed
We offer over 24,000 transition molding strips and trims that are custom-made and precisely color-coordinated to match most major flooring brands, such as Karndean, Mannington, Armstrong, Mohawk, Shaw, COREtec, Happy Feet, Forbo, Southwind, and more. Our trim selection includes end caps, t-moldings, stair noses, quarter rounds, reducers, and multi-function options.
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