Laminate transition / reducer: where to buy?

[mart242]

Home depot sells them but it's 20$ for a 3' long section, "fast trim" or whatever they call it (it does reducer, transition, ... depending on how you assemble it).

The 3' sections are a PITA and will look ugly where I need more than 3' long (reducer)

Is there something cheaper elsewhere? Ikea? Rona? Home depot used to carry that stuff in bulk where you'd buy what you needed but they don't anymore :|

[WalnutCrunch]

Try flooring stores. They usually have a lot of different types and lots of different colours. I had a problem finding an equalizer to go between tile and oak hardwood (over 1/2" height difference) and ended up finding an oak strip at a local plywood store.

Edit: HD and Rona should also have a decent selection of the regular stuff (not that fast trim stuff), assuming your laminate is a popular colour and you're not dealing with a weird height difference. In some HD's, they're not immediately close to the laminate aisle. Ask or look around. They're about $6-7 for a 3 footer.

[mart242]

My local home depot doesn't. I've asked :(

[lapse]

I purchased a 8 foot run of transition from RONA for about $20.

[CSK'sMom]

Hubby gets all his at Rona these days. Our local carry lengths up to 15 feet IIRC and are quite a bit cheaper than anywhere else (including the pro supply)...

[Drthorne]

Mart, buy some solid matching hardwood at Home Depot or Rona and make your own with your table saw... stain and finish it to match. Costs about $3-4 per 3ft strip
here's a couple I just did
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/drthorne/IMG_0560_edited.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b370/drthorne/IMG_0562.jpg

[lapse]

Drthorne,

Care to explain in detail how you used your table saw to produce such a nice transition?

Bevel cut and a lot of sanding?

I've re-finished my basement, stairs, kitchen, etc., and all that's missing are the transitions and custom noses for my stairs.

For my basement I went to Rona and purchased transitions that luckily fit the differing floor heights I had. I'm not so lucky for the transition/reduction between my newly tiled kitchen and existing hardwood in my living room.

[Drthorne]

yes, a fine tooth blade on my table saw set for a 10degree bevel cut and I used a router to round over the corners. wasn't too much sanding. I basically copied the pattern from the stuff at Home Depot with some custom modifications to suite my floor heights

[lapse]

Cool! Thanks for the advice!

[mart242]

yes, a fine tooth blade on my table saw set for a 10degree bevel cut and I used a router to round over the corners. wasn't too much sanding. I basically copied the pattern from the stuff at Home Depot with some custom modifications to suite my floor heights

Brilliant. All I would have to do is buy a router... I did not buy it when on sale at home depot 2 weeks ago, I was waiting for a use for one. I guess I should have bought it! :-0

So once beveled and routed, all what's needed is to stain & varnish?

How did you fasten them to the floor? The home depot ones have little "tracks" that you screw in the subfloor and then "click" the transition / reducer

[Drthorne]

I just face nailed mine, a nail on each end and one in the middle for a door and put some wood filler over the nail heads. for the stain I just got the all-in-one stain-polyurethane finish at Home Depot

[lapse]

I think CT has a router on sale this week!

[mart242]

I figures out a cheaper way to do it:
- 20$ transition from home depot (Rona had nothing that matched in color)
- Nothing else for the rest. It's for the storage area / workshop of the basement so just a clean cut looks pretty good.

Single plank laminate flooring is nice... but much longer to install. So many boards to clip together!

(note: I'll still get a router at some point though! :cheesygri Just another tool to add!)