If you have any kind of wood flooring installed in your home, you probably also have transition molding, which comes in a variety of different types, depending on exactly what it’s being used for. If you’ve never heard of it before, transition molding is a kind of interface from one surface to another that eases the changeover, so that there are no unfinished edges between different types of flooring or between flooring and walls. Transition molding is seldom noticed, but it does serve an essential role in the home by providing that interface between wood surfaces. Here’s why it’s so important to every home.
Functional role of transition molding
In its functional role, transition molding helps to make a smoother transition from, for instance a flat horizontal surface to a vertical surface, or it can also serve as a separator between rooms. When there is a height difference between rooms, transition molding can significantly ease that difference, so that no safety hazard exists when stepping from one room to the other.
Transition molding can also serve as a simple and clean edge to flooring, acting in such cases as a terminator for the flooring. You might also find transition molding in situations where the traffic pattern calls from walking on a hard surface onto one which is carpeted. In such cases, a tripping hazard exists, and transition molding reduces that tripping hazard.
Visual appeal of transition molding
Transition molding is available in a number of different styles, to suit the purposes where it is needed in the home. One of the most common uses for transition molding in the home is in taking your flooring down a ledge, by offering a rounded drop surface, and this type of molding is referred to as stair nosing. This is a very fine and elegant type of molding which brings aesthetic appeal into the room, as well as serving an important functional role.
When transitioning from wood to carpet or tile between flooring surfaces of different heights, the best type of transition molding to use is known as square nosing, a.k.a. end caps. While remaining flush to adjacent floor coverings, end caps overlap the wooden side. When the two surfaces are both hard surfaces and are at the same relative height, it’s possible to use a T-molding, so that there’s room for expansion in a floating installation of wood which has been engineered.
Another common type of transition molding found in most homes is called baseboard molding, and it’s the molding you’ll see at the base of walls. This kind of molding is used to cover over an expansion gap so as to prevent buckling during humid seasons of the year, when flooring might be expected to expand. Baseboard molding is another great example of a highly functional type of transition molding which can also add tremendous visual appeal to any room where it’s installed.
Without transition molding
If you didn’t have transition molding installed in your home, it would of course still be livable, but you’d be missing out on some important functionality, safety, and aesthetic appeal. The transition points between floor surfaces would be very obvious instead of subtly smoothed over, there would be gaps at the base of your walls to accommodate buckling in humid weather, and any changes in height between rooms would be handled in a less appealing manner.
It’s not an exaggeration to say there would even be at least a minor safety issue when transitioning between hard surfaces and softer ones or carpeted surfaces, without transition molding to ease the changeover. So while it’s not often thought of, transition molding does serve an essential role in practically all homes.
Are you ready to get started with your next flooring project? Contact Elegant Hardwood Floors to learn more about our exclusive flooring options. We are an established business that proudly serves residential and commercial customers throughout the Charleston area.
