Curious as to what flooring is down right now in the respective areas and what the 3-5 year plan for the floors will be. I'm guessing since you just leveled the kitchen that you are working off of subfloor, but what about the dining room? And are you just going to live with a 1 1/4" trip hazard between the two for the next 3+ years?

Hey Lynch Northwest,

Thank you for your reply.

On both sides is going to be 1.5-inch birch. The old birch (dining room side) was .5-inch thick. The new birch (kitchen side) is .75-inch thick.

We're going to put a transition strip at the threshold, which is a bit further "up" the slope, where the two floors are closer to each other in height--maybe a .75 to 1 inch gap.

A little confused here, 1.5" birch or 3/4" birch? And both of these are already installed to the floor? But later you will replace the 1/2" birch in the dining room side with 3/4" birch after leveling?

Sorry for the confusion. I can see why that was a confusing reply.

All the floors are 1.5-inch wide birch.

The old floors (still in dining room) were made of .5-inch thick pieces.

The new floors (about to be laid in kitchen and rest of house) are .75-inch thick planks.

The rest of the height difference between the kitchen and dining room is due to leveling.

In 3-5 years or so, we'd replace the dining room side of the house with 1.5-inch wide and .75-inch thick birch.

--AB

Oh gotcha! Haha. I would go with the second option that you already thought of.

But rather than running a toekick around the corner that has a notch in it that you'll later have to trim back again I would suggest that you install the island as if the dining room floor was already where it will be. And to fill in the gap, install some blocks of wood into the dining room floor flush with the face and side of the bookshelf. Order some extra length of color matching 1x2, and finish nail that 1x2 into the blocks of wood that you have attached to the dining room floor. That way down the road when you go to level the dining room floor, you can rip off the 1x2 without any damage to the bookshelf or island cabinetry, and the blocks will get demo'd along with the floor.

Thank you, Pink_Peony.

It's good advice. But for what it's worth, the countertops are going to be maple and the bookcase (on the sloping floor) is going to be adjusted so that it stands level and gives equal support to the countertop.

We would have to move out the condo (this is a remodel) for about a month to level the floors and can't manage that for various work and personal reasons at the moment, unfortunately. But it sure would make things easier!

Thank you, Lynch Northwest Construction.

I'm going to pass your advice onto the family member who is building the bookshelf and to the construction guys, but it sounds good to me (a relative novice) from where I'm sitting.

To make sure I understand: in your plan, would we (in 3-5 years time) detach the bookshelf, demo the "freestanding" support blocks and finishing pieces along with the floor, level and re-construct the floor, and then reattach the bookshelf "where it was" in the island?

--AB

You could do it in such a way that the bookshelf came out yes, but it depends on how they are planning to build the bookshelf and at what stage. I was imagining that the book shelf would be built and screwed in to the island cabinets, and then an end panel would cover the edge of the bookshelf and island cabinets so that it looked like it was all one piece. But if you attached that end panel with screws from the inside you could still remove it and replace it after the floors are done, so I guess that matter isn't super relevant. More importantly I suppose is how the counter top is being attached and if it's getting adhered to the bookshelf as well as the cabinets. If that's the case, and the counter top is glued to the bookshelf, the remaining option is you leave the bookshelf attached, demo and level the floor and slip the first 6 inches of birch underneath. From your diagram 25" of cabinet will be resting on solid level floor so a 6" bookshelf cantilevering for a few days during the next leveling phase shouldn't be an issue.

Just make sure that right now you have the bookshelf shimmed up to the appropriate height to be level with the kitchen floor.

You're welcome and good luck! :)

Dear Lynch Northwest Construction,

You may be happy to hear that your suggestion was just unanimously approved by bookshelf guy and construction guys. Thanks so much.

--AB

Awesome :) Glad to help.