Thread: Cover plate for gap between floating floor and door jamb

I am a chippy by trade, and cant suggest an easy fix, but if someone left my job like that I'd be after blood. That's bloody disgraceful, probably not what you want to hear but whoever did that is no tradesman.

Originally Posted by shedbound

I am a chippy by trade, and cant suggest an easy fix, but if someone left my job like that I'd be after blood. That's bloody disgraceful, probably not what you want to hear but whoever did that is no tradesman.

Totally agree!

Originally Posted by cfv

I have an engineered timber floating floor installed incorrectly with gaps between the
floating floor and the door jambs. See picture. I know the correct way to install is to
cut into the door jamb and lay the boards into the gap.


WP_20150315_002.jpg

I am asking for ideas on how to fix this using a cover plate or bead (that fits
under the door when closed). As some of the gaps are more than 10mm silicon or other filler
will be unsightly.


One idea that I have been trying and struggling with because of poor carpentry skills
is to cut out a cover plate:
- take the profile of the door jamb
- cut out the profile on a piece of matching engineered timber leaving the outer side straight
- mill off most of the supporting cross ply leaving the 4mm top layer of hardwood
- use silicon or wood glue to fix in place

I just cannot get the profile cut accurately due to tools and poor skills and the
4mm top layer plus 1mm of remaining softwood crossply cracks or breaks easily on the grain.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have enquired with 5 carpenters so far all who
have turned down the job.

Buy yourself a multi tool, cut out the jamb and architrave flush with floor, cut your engineered floor square to the joining edge, cut a piece from your off cuts to suit with a join in line with the jamb rebate and slide in (silicon underneath to help hold in place)

It's never going to look any good unless you undercut the frame and replace the boards

Tools

Originally Posted by rwbuild

Buy yourself a multi tool, cut out the jamb and architrave flush with floor, cut your engineered floor square to the joining edge, cut a piece from your off cuts to suit with a join in line with the jamb rebate and slide in (silicon underneath to help hold in place)

Thanks. That is something I will try. The actual best appears to be to pull up the boards at the door and relay. As they are T&G and I think glued that is bigger job.

If there is room under the door for a thin cover plate, a moulding template would give you the profile required. As stated by others, the normal method is to undercut the jamb and architrave then run the flooring underneath.

what about a 1mm brass plate square, cut out the jam face and screw that down to the floor in each corner.
Nice feature against the dark timber.
it can come out inch and half from the wall.

Terribly shoddy job.
All I can suggest is a very thin moulding that will fit under the door that needs the profile accurately cut.
You would need one of those profile gauges to get the correct outline and jigsaw it to shape.

Any recommendations for steel door frames instead of wood?

That is terrible, looks like the 1st year apprentice was left on the job by himself with no idea of how to go about fitting the floor around door openings.
I'm with rw on this fix, cut the btm off the jamb and architrave and slip a piece of floor in under, might have to take a little more off just to allow the new piece to slip under.



Pete

If this was a "professional" installation has the company been informed and recalled to fix it?

One would think it it was April 1 except it is no joke.

As others have said, an undercut and fill is possibly the easiest but messiest time consuming fix. If possible, I would be looking to remove the closest board and replacing it doing the fitting properly as it should have been done in he first place either using a profile gauge or the undercut method.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but any fix of the current situation using any form of patch will always be visible.

Disgraceful is putting it politely.

One possible solution is to make up suitably sized architrave blocks to cover the gaps by themselves, replacing the bottom section of the existing architrave. You'd probably need to make them "wraparound" to also cover the gap on the jamb face - which is where it would look messy - but it is completely doable.

Using simple, unadorned blocks you shouldn't need the corresponding upper blocks (which normally go on each side of the lintel/header)... unless that style takes your fancy.

Something similar to the one shown here, at the junction between the arc & skirting perhaps?

Guys, im guessing the OP has laid them him/herself

2 fixes.

1. Redo. Probably the best but most painful. Everytime you look at a "coverplate" will be a reminder...i couldn't live with it, you may be able to

2. Rehang the doors to an oversized jamb. eg use architrave to move out the jamb to cover the gaps = recutting doors to fit

The more i think about it 1 is the only way...2 is prob just as much work witrh no guarantee it will look any good

Thanks all for the feedback.

- Lifting floorboards - not really an option because the boards were glued and the two affected doorways are at 90 degrees to each other, so the long boards in one doorway would need to be lifted.
- Profile cover plate - originally tried this, used a profile gauge, but had difficulty cutting the profile due to wrong tools and no real skill on 3mm veneer. A brass cover plat sounds interesting and maybe more manageable for me.
- I will try the puzzle approach - undercut door jambs as they should have been done in the first place and cut a piece of board to fit. People are right that I will notice it all the time, but I reckon others won't.