Laminate Floor Molding Types

Point blank: you need moldings, trim, and transition strips to finish your new flooring. A floor without moldings is like a painting without a frame... The look is unfinished and unpolished. 

There are various laminate floor moldings available. Your use of laminate floor moldings will ultimately make your home more beautiful. The best thing about laminate floor moldings is that you can enhance your home's flooring and overall beauty at very little cost. With the use of the right laminate floor moldings, and your own creativity, your home will definitely look amazing. 

How Do You Know What Type of Molding to Use? 

When choosing the right laminate flooring molding, know that molding types don't vary too much in price. What you'll need to assess, however, is the area in which you are installing the molding. Ask yourself: "What existing molding was installed?", "Are the surface areas between rooms of the same height?" and "What look am I going for?" Then, educate yourself on the different types of moldings:

T-Moldings

Shaped like a T, T-moldings are used to create a smooth transition between two rooms and doorways -- ultimately any area where the floors are identical in surface height. They're often used between two laminate floors or when going from laminate to tile. The body of the T is between the two floors, while the floors on each side support the crossbar. Learn how to install T-molding here.

Reducer Moldings

If you need to bridge floors of differing heights buy a reducer molding. This is recommended only for flooring with slight differences in height, such as from a laminate floor to vinyl, low-pile carpeting or low-profile ceramic tiles. If you must create a transition between your laminate floor to thick carpeting or tile, your best bet would be to use end molding or carpet reducer molding instead. Learn how to install a reducer molding here.

Baseboard Moldings

To bridge your floor to the vertical surface of the wall (and stylishly hide expansion gaps) you can use baseboard moldings. The most common baseboard molding is usually referred to as baseboard, or “wall base.” These often come in dramatic, matching colors and styles to match or enhance your flooring. Alternatively, you can use quarter round molding, which is a simple, low profile rounded molding. Some people will combine wall base with quarter round to create an aesthetically pleasing effect along walls. Finally, there are base shoe moldings - a baseboard molding with a lower profile. Learn how to install a baseboard molding. Learn how to install baseboard molding here.

Stair Nose Moldings

You've picked out your moldings for your doorways, room-to-room transitions and near-wall expansion gaps. All that's left is the stairs. Stair Nose moldings perfectly transition between the rise of a step and the tread. They're available in two styles - overlap, which is a rounded overlap from the tread over the rise, and flush stair nose, which is a smooth transition without any overlap. Learn how to install stair nose molding here.

Now that you've picked out the perfect laminate floor moldings for your home you can complete your new flooring installation in style!