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How to fix gap between floating floorboards and tile?

Hi all,

I have a gap between some floating floors and newly installed powder room tiles. The floating floor originally had 20mm high scotia, which we removed to do the powder room tiles. You can see a bit of the old scotia that I’ve pulled out on the right side of this pic:

The challenge is that I need to cover the gap, smooth the transition between the floors which are different levels, and also make sure I can fix up where the old scotia ends in the left corner, and make the solution work across the bit of skirting on the right.

The tiles are 10mm higher than the floorboards. Total width from left corner to end of the skirting on the right is 1040mm.

Some more detailed pics below:

Left corner, where existing scotia ends:

Right side where scotia was removed:

The gap, which is 35mm at the widest point:

I have some spare floorboards from when it was installed - am I better off just removing the few boards at this end of the room and fitting new ones that have been cut to the new size? That seems a bit beyond my skill level as a complete beginner 🫣

Thanks for any advice!

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Comments

MitchellMc

Hi @sashay,

To start, I wouldn’t worry too much about the scotia and moulding, as we can easily find a solution for that once the main issue, the gap, is sorted. I’d imagine the scotia on the left-hand side will need to be removed and replaced with a new piece that meets neatly against the door surround, rather than stopping short with the 45-degree cut. It’s actually a pretty straightforward fix. On the right-hand side, you’ll probably also want to add a short piece of scotia to cover the ends of the boards and any adhesive that’s visible on the floor.

The main issue to tackle first is that gap and the height difference. Since your tiles sit 10mm higher than the floating floor, you’ll need a suitable transition to bridge the two surfaces neatly. Because the tiles end right at the door jamb and your floorboards stop a bit short, I’d suggest looking at transition or cover strips that are wide enough to cover both the gap and the glue residue.

One option might be to cut the timber boards back slightly beyond the glue marks, and insert a flat timber piece perpendicular to the floorboards to neaten the edge. Alternatively, you could install a cover strip over the top to hide the join and glue. Could you please measure the distance from the tile edge to where a cover strip would fully cover the glue residue? That measurement will help determine the correct width of the transition.

Given that your gap is 35mm at its widest point, you might find a cover strip around 45–50mm wide will work best. A product like the Roberst 15mm Silver Transition Ramp Floating Floor Trim (50mm wide) could be a good option. It’s designed to step down neatly from tile height to floating floor and should cover the entire area cleanly. Let me know what you think, and we can help refine the best approach from there.

Removing boards would be a last resort.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

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