Which router bit for this ? & advice on this problem.

[thedoc46]

Hi guys, 

First post here, so let me start off by saying hi to to all the other forum members. !!

Noob woodworker here, but starting to get into it but my knowledge is still very very basic !!! . I'm about to undergo laying my first solid wood flooring. I've gone a bit cheap on the tools (kids to feed!!), and only have a HF table saw, HF miter saw, and jigsaw with various blades. Plus a router attachment to my Black & Decker cordless matrix system. But no router bits. But i've gone semi good on the floor, in that its a solid maple, rather than an engineered flooring.

Basically I'm trying to accomplish the following. Chamfer my solid hardwood flooring so that i can blend it in to my stair case. Being that the solid hardwood is 3/4" it sits a little higher than the stair case trim. Which is going to make things ugly. I've gone thru some trouble of removing all my baseboards, so that i do not have the unsightly look of 1/4 rounds. So would like to avoid a trim of some kind and have it so that everything blends in nicely. 

I'm hoping people with a better idea than me can chime in here. I was thinking about putting a 15% chamfer on the planks, to slightly slope down to the trim. The trim has been routed to a curve, so another option would be to remove that curve? problem is the entire staircase has that curve, so it may look odd. Then chamfer less of the plank... I also went to a showhome by the same builder, but seems to me that they used a thinner plank, as it butts up nicely and looks good.  

Here are some pics to show you what i mean. 

 

 

 

 

Here's a pic from the showhome i mentioned above.

 

 

I just want to end up with a professional looking job, even tho, i'm doing the job myself. 

I'll go to Sherwin Williams and ask them to make a stain for me, whilst i appreciate it won't be 100% accurate, i'm hoping it'll be enough to not drawer any eyes to it, and that it looks pretty good.

I'm also open to any other idea's?  We're not talking about routing and staining a lot of planks here, Just a few to get everything to blend in. 

I'm just lacking any experience to come up with the idea's. 

[drzaius]

It's going to be tough to make this look right. A 15D bevel back from the level of the stair trim might actually draw attention to it because of the wide bevel and the fact that the finish isn't going to be a perfect match.

What about just doing a 3/16" chamfer & then finishing the edge as closely as you can to the factory finish?

I totally get wanting to get rid of the carpet.

[Arch Stanton]

I'd be more inclined to not chamfer it at all and create a trim/transition piece that sits on top of the wood floor instead.  

[swiftyfrommi]

You would have to use a transition other wise you will get gaps when the floor moves

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

[Tom King]

What it the exact rise of the steps coming up to the landing, and what is the rise from the top step of the first run of steps to the top of the wood floor on the landing?  Then, how does the rise from the landing to the next steps up work out in relation to each other?   This needs to be addressed before there is a good answer.

[thedoc46]

Hi,  The stair nose is also 3/4" so it'll just slot in exactly to the new hardwood floor. The riser will be cut to butt in under the stair nose.  None of that should be a problem.  I got stairnoses that are the same height as the wood plank.  

The problem for me is the rounded trim of the staircase sits below the height of the plank, whereas it should be higher, then i'd just butt up against it. (as in the pic from the model home)  My problem is my wood is thicker, and i need to come up with a way to blend everything in. I'd rather not use a transition piece, because i'm not a fan of them. But if i have no choice, then i guess it'll have to do.  

 

[Arch Stanton]

Even where they're the same height, I'd use a transition piece because (as swiftyfrommi said) you'll have gaps (or it will buckle) when the floor moves.

[thedoc46]

I plan of having a gap on all the walls, just not on the staircase. 

[drzaius]

Cut a rabbet on the underside of the flooring so it can overlap the stair trim so wood movement won't show.

[thedoc46]

22 minutes ago, drzaius said:

Cut a rabbet on the underside of the flooring so it can overlap the stair trim so wood movement won't show.

Thanks for taking the time to do that pic.  I think this is probably the best idea, plus it allows for expansion. Just need to get a router table to achieve, which is the one thing i do not have.  I have a table saw, miter saw and a router attachment to my black and decker matrix driver. But it doesn't have any way of making itself attach to a table. 

[drzaius]

Lots of ways to accomplish those cuts. Use a table saw & dado blade to cut the rabbet, and a router with a chamfer bit to do the chamfer on the edge (do the chamfer before the rabbet).

The small amount of new cut that shows shouldn't show too bad if the stain doesn't match exactly.

[wtnhighlander]

If you don't have a dado stack, the rabbet can be made in 2 cuts on the tablesaw, but for sure use a featherboard when making the edge cut. And make it first, so the material is still attached for support.

[thedoc46]

Thanks for all the tips. Due to time constraints during the install, and not wanting to stop and figure out a better way as i was in the middle of installing, i just applied some stain to the ends, and actually its come out pretty good. Not bothering me at least, and that's good. As its the little things that bug you sometimes. 

 

 

 

 

[drzaius]

As long as you're happy, we're happy. It actually looks pretty good. Certainly better than having the carpet.