How do I fix these unsightly floor and molding GAPS?

4 years ago

I have a couple problems I am hoping someone can advise me on. As you can see from the pics, I have problems with two things:

1.) Gaps in my flooring, which are there because of the hot/cold and resulting expansion/contraction of my floating floor.

Upon remodeling my house, there was a smaller gap built into the floor because the workers knew that the floor would expand/contract, but it seems to have generally stayed in the same place for the past year.

We have some of these gaps on both sides of our kitchen island and I did have some flooring contractors come in recently, but they were not confident in doing the job (aka taking the floor up and re-laying it; I do have some floor leftover), because they didn't think they could fix it.

Naturally, I thought of a simpler solution, like putting something like grout on the floor to more seamlessly fill the gaps? Would that work or would it crack over time?

2.) Holes and gaps in the trim and molding. This is equally if not more bothersome and is the result of inexperienced contractors, obviously.

How can I fix these without hiring folks to return and bungle the job again? Is there a paste or something I can get to re-shape over the molding?

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Comment (1)

SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
Sigh....another floating floor install that did NOT have the baseboards removed.

The 'gap' in the middle of the floor is the bungled attempt to install an 'in-field' expansion gap. What the installer DIDN'T realize (like WOW...as in OMG) s/he NEEDED to drop in a T-MOLDING in that gap. That's how you HIDE an expansion gap. You don't just leave it there gathering junk. You COVER IT with a t-molding! Zoinks!

The easiest fix in the MIDDLE of the floor is the T-molding. The SAME STUFF used at doorways. Geeze Louise. Who WERE these people?

OK. Please send photos of the whole room where the gaps are sitting in the floor. The close ups do NOT give us the full picture.

At the walls the easiest thing = more trim. As in shoe molding or quarter round painted to match your existing trim.

What type of flooring is this? Laminate or engineered hardwood or vinyl?

How long are the longest continuous runs (large rooms + hallways)? Are there t-moldings in the doorways (ie. into bedrooms with the same flooring? or through pinch points into the kitchen for example)?

Who was responsible for purchasing the flooring? The trim required to finish the job? Did the job entail removing baseboards and reinstalling them?
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