Transitioning between rooms when installing laminate flooring

When you install new flooring in your home, you will be faced with the problem of how to deal with transitioning from room to room at each doorway. There are several options, with the one that best suits your home depending on the types of flooring you are transitioning between and your personal preference.

Continuing the same laminate between rooms

If you are installing the same laminate throughout an entire floor of your home, it will create a cohesive finish and pleasing flow. Depending on your doors and the existing fittings, it may be possible to simply run the laminate between rooms for a neat finish. Treating each doorway as an obstacle − in the same way that you would deal with installing your flooring around a fireplace or other architectural feature − and continuing to lay it in the same arrangement throughout an entire floor provides a clean and professional finish.

Switching between different laminates between rooms

If you are using different laminates in different rooms, you will need to ensure the flooring from each room finishes under the door. You can disguise joins between different types of laminate with a T-strip for a clean and professional finish. The T-strip should ideally sit directly under the closed door so that the finish in each room is clean and neat.

Transitioning from laminate to carpet

If you have laminate in your hallway and carpet in your living room, for example, you will need to find a way to neatly join the two. A transition strip can be used for this purpose. In addition to providing a neat, attractive finish, a transition strip will protect both the edge of your carpet and the edge of your laminate.

As the laminate is likely to be a different thickness to the carpet on the other side of the doorway, you may also find that you need to install a fitting that disguises the height difference between the two types of flooring and prevents members of your household tripping over. You can use a reducer strip for this purpose.

Similar to a T-strip, a reducer looks best when installed directly under the door so that the join between the two types of flooring is hidden when the door is closed. Depending on the relative thickness of your flooring, however, this might not always be possible and you may have to install it on one side of the door to achieve a decent finish.