Joining Engineered Wood Floor

[skaboy607]

Hi,

I need to join an existing engineered wood floor to a new one, same depth and make model but 2-3 years apart.

Old floor isn't on any underlay or if it is I can't see it. New floor has a DPM sheet and 3.6mm underlay sat on a concrete slab or at least it will be.

I bought a door threshold strip rather as it avoided needing to join the two pieces this but it doesn't fit below the door. Annoyingly the door is a pocket door which I have no idea how to get out. Even if I were to remove the architrave and door surrounds it doesn't look like it would come out which is v. annoying.

So all I can think of doing is around the threshold remove the insulation and figure a way to join the two sections together. would be simple enough I think if the both pieces were accessible but because the existing is on the floor already I can't think what to do.

Anyone have any experience of this? or better suggestions?

Thank you

 

[blup]

If the old and new engineered boards are identical, they should clip together side to side or end on.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Maybe the edge of the old floor was damaged or has been trimmed for some reason. In such instances a biscuit joiner can be the only viable tool for the job

 

[skaboy607]

If the old and new engineered boards are identical, they should clip together side to side or end on.

Sorry I should have said that the existing board that crosses the door threshold has been trimmed (guess it was the groove side of the board) so it has a flat edge where it met the carpet which was installed previously (now removed for new timber floor).

Maybe the edge of the old floor was damaged or has been trimmed for some reason. In such instances a biscuit joiner can be the only viable tool for the job

Yes, exactly this! And a biscuit joint sounds great but how do I do that easily whilst the floor is on the floor? I started to take a chisel to it to try and make a groove to accept the tongue of the new floor and it was nye on impossible.

Thank you

 

[cdbe]

Get a thinner threshold strip.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Yes, exactly this! And a biscuit joint sounds great but how do I do that easily whilst the floor is on the floor? I started to take a chisel to it to try and make a groove to accept the tongue of the new floor and it was nye on impossible.

It depends on the thickness of the flooring. A biscuit slot is 4mm high and is normally centred in a board of 18mm (or thicker). Registration, however, is best done off the top surface by dint of a swing fence. A problem in tight spaces may be the length of the tool, though

An alternative would be to use a router with a 4mm slotting cutter mounted on an arbor with the depth control bearing mounted above the cutter and the cutter shimmed to sit right at the bottom of the arbor to minimise bottom projection. A fairly standard piece of tooling. I think you'd may be be able to accommodate down to 12 to 14mm thick material this way. I know first hand you can do 18mm thick in situ by positioning the cutter right, having recently used this technique on solid oak flooring

To go below 12mm on an already installed floor you'd need a bottom cleaning slot cutter (or T-slot cutter) such as the Trend 35/10, but with a fence arrangement to suit. I'm sure there are similar cutters out there with a top bearing, but having never needed one I can only speculate. Maybe a trawl of firms specialising in solid wood flooring supplies might turn something up? I am, however, certain that the biscuit slot cutter in a router (actually even a pretty gutless cordless trim router with a plunge base) does work providing the floor is thick enough

Bear in mind that to get clearance it might be necessary to lose a row of existing flooring should it be necessary to gain additional space to accommodate a router, even if it is a small one

Edit: Found the type of undercut cutter I was referring to:

This particular one is a CMT 823, but Trend sell a similar product in both their Professional and CraftPro ranges. They are designed to cut a 1/4in (6.35mm) slot for standard flooring tongues (or 1/4in plywood). Amazon do a cheaper Chinese version by Yonica for one -off jobs