Hardwood Flooring Trim Installation:
Nosings, Reducers & Transistion Mouldings

Hardwood Floor Installation Instructions for installing transition moldings:

Nosings - used at step or railing openings. It is important to know 3 things when purchasing a nosing

• Is the part of the trim that sits on the floor the same thickness as the flooring you are installing? If not it will leave a bump. It can be cut down in thickness, but it is a rather risky job to put the molding on edge to adjust to your needs. If at all possible buy the right nosing to start with.
• How much of the hardwood flooring trim will sit on the floor in your installation? Usually a hardwood floor nosing is made with somewhere between 1 1/2" to 3 1/4" of wood that covers the floor and the rest makes up the lip and overhangs the landing.... does this molding give you enough on the floor for your application?
• most nosings are made with a groove to match with the tongue and groove system of your flooring. Does this fit with your purchase?

Reducers - where flooring is sitting higher then the surrounding floor.

• The first and easiest math to understand is the thickness.. if your existing flooring goes from 3/4" in thickness down to nothing then you need a 3/4" reducer. Purchase according to how much you have to drop from one floor to the next.
• The width is what the do it yourself hardwood flooring installers often forget to consider until the two merging floors are installed. You very rarely get an arrangement of width-thickness options so that's why I continue to advise that you solve these problems first.

T-molding - to cover a joint between 2 floors where they both lie at the same height.

• This molding, when made out of wood is only really good when both floors are at the same level. If you try and tilt the molding in your trim installation, it will not sit flat.
• That being said you can straddle a T-molding across the edges of abutting hardwood flooring during trim installation, to fill the space under the bottom edge if it doesn't reach the subfloor.

....and a whole list of specialty moldings specific to a particular manufacturer so you really have to ask around, keep your fingers crossed and then often concede the fact that during installation you'll need to make some custom modifications during at least one hardwood flooring trim installation.

Further Information:
Hardwood Floor Installation Instructions