Hardwood Floor Edging

Hardwood floors, when installed in a room, must have an edging around the ends to give them a finished look. The edging is generally made of wood as well, and selected in a color that closely matches the flooring. If you select unfinished wooden edging, stain it to match before installing. Putting the edging in place is not difficult, especially compared to putting in the flooring, and is easily done with a few tools.

• 1

  Measure the opening where the hardwood flooring is to stop, using a tape measure. Install hardwood flooring up to the point where there is one last piece needed at the stopping point.

• 2

  Cut a reducer strip to the length needed, using a circular saw. The strip has one rounded down side that should face out from the rest of the hardwood flooring and will slant down to bring the flooring down to the level of the rest of the house.

• 3

  Place the strip in the last wood slot and slip it into the grove of the board before it. Nail it down to the floor, and countersink the nails as you should have done to all the other boards. Use a metal pin to aid in tapping the nail in slightly below the wood.

• 4

  Cover the nail holes with wood putty to hide them.

• 5

  Cut and fit quarter-round stripping around the room and nail it into the baseboard to hide the wood floor edges. If you removed the baseboard for installation, nail it, or replacement baseboards, back in place over the flooring to hide the edges. Fill seams between baseboards and quarter round with wood putty, then stain or paint.