Flooring question

[thomasr]

I recently had a contractor put in a tile floor in our laundry room. My house is on a slab. The tile floor butts up against a laminate floor. The contractor did not put the laminate in. Please take a look at the pic and tell me if you see anything I should be concerned about.

 

[T-N-T]

There is a strong chance the grout will crack where it meets the wood. As the wood will change sizes with humidity ever so slightly. The grout will not and will likely crack.

But I'd rather take the chance than have a raised threshold to hurt my bare foot on.

 

[ambush80]

Yes. The grout might crack due to different expansion rates as stated above. If you don't mind the look you could use one of these. Its low, almost flat:

Or I often caulk that location with color matched, sanded caulk. He's some other thresholds: https://www.google.com/webhp?ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=t+threshold End grain, especially on laminate flooring, is susceptible to splintering/de-laminating at high traffic locations which is another good reason to use a low profile transition threshold to protect it.

 

[Artfuldodger]

I'd rather have it flat like Topher said. That's the way I did them in my house and my daughters. My wife thinks every transition should have a raised threshold. We discuss that quite often.

The only thing I see is the grout should have been a wee bit wider between the tile and laminate. It's like he put the tile too close to the wood floor.

I wonder if at that transitional joint if they make a flexible caulk that would match the rest of the grout? To use instead of grout.

 

[snookdoctor]

Let it resolve itself. If it does crack with time, you can remove the grout and replace it with the colored, sanded caulk. It may never come to that, but it would be a simple fix.

 

[ambush80]

I'd rather have it flat like Topher said. That's the way I did them in my house and my daughters. My wife thinks every transition should have a raised threshold. We discuss that quite often.

The only thing I see is the grout should have been a wee bit wider between the tile and laminate. It's like he put the tile too close to the wood floor.

I wonder if at that transitional joint if they make a flexible caulk that would match the rest of the grout? To use instead of grout.

http://floorcareshop.com/flooring-store/prodView.asp?idproduct=295

This stuff has good silicon content, comes in lots of colors and is very flexible. I use it in corners of surrounds and backsplashes or whenever tile meets another material.

 

[thomasr]

Thank you all for the suggestions and comments. I was concerned about the transition area. Just because of the nature of laminate flooring I was thinking a transition strip was the way to go. It's not the greatest laminate and in spots it really "walks". When I expressed my concern he suggested he come back with the sanded caulk that was mentioned before. I just wasn't sure if that was a good fix or just an easy fix. I still think I'd prefer a transition strip but if the sanded caulk is viable fix I can go with that...till it fails. Thanks folks I appreciate it.

 

[Jeff C.]

I've got 3 situations in my home where hardwood meets tile/grout. I built the house and left a solid 3/8-1/2 inch grout joint at the transition. All of them are still intact with no cracks in grout 16 years later. Mine is hardwood, not laminate though. Don't know if that makes a difference or not, but have used the sanded caulk in other situations with good results also. Don't think you have an issue there that can't be resolved easily with minimal effort.

 

[Artfuldodger]

http://floorcareshop.com/flooring-store/prodView.asp?idproduct=295

This stuff has good silicon content, comes in lots of colors and is very flexible. I use it in corners of surrounds and backsplashes or whenever tile meets another material.

I like that and it has sand in it to match sanded grout. Cool!

 

[lbzdually]

Over time the laminate will swell slightly, especially if it is a long run. Think about it this way, if it's a run of 16 pieces of laminate, if each swells just 1/32nd of an inch, then that joint will close up 1/2 an inch. On the other hand if you installed it when the humidity was high, then it could actually shrink. I'd just see how it plays out. Measure the gap down to the mm if you have to and periodically check it.

 

[brownhounds]

This is why I quit doing tile jobs...You never know if grout or tile will crack. Sometimes it does...sometimes it doesn't.... But the homeowners go crazy staring at the little things. It looks like he did you a good job.

I say leave it be. If it cracks, caulk it as suggested. If you put down a threshold, you will likely have to take off the door and cut the bottom of it as well.