Coretec trims

[highup]

I was asked to fix a trim that had come loose. It's a T molding between tile and Coretec. Installer glued the upper lip of the T-mold to the tile with a small bead of silicone and it's coming loose.
I had the shop order anther piece of trim and here's my plan. I'm gonna build a little wedge out of wood to mount the track. Only trick I see is making the wedge the right height so the track inserts deep enough to do it's job. I can drive paneling nails down inside the center rails of the track to hold it in place.
Coretec has a T-mold and a reducer style that use tracks. The tracks have zero provisions for unusual height differences. The reducer style sets too tall for this transition height change and the T-mold sets at an angle, which isn't ideal either. Still, it will probably work better than the silicone goobers that are holding the trim in place right now. Maybe I can add some silicone "goobers" on the tile side for some additional stability.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Can you do it with a wood shingle for the ramp?

Daris

 

[Ernesto]

Pull apart the floor about six or ten feet back and patch it at a gradient per the mans specs, Then it will fit flat.

 

[highup]

Can you do it with a wood shingle for the ramp?

Daris

Pull apart the floor about six or ten feet back and patch it at a gradient per the mans specs, Then it will fit flat.

I'd have to disassemble a 12' by 20'+ room and there's a hallway that begins 4 or 5 feet away from the edge. The planks run perpendicular to the trim. That said, I'd have to ramp up to a hallway doorway that has a bedroom, so the bedroom would also have to be raised to the level of the kitchen tile area....................... so it ain't gonna happen. It's getting the T-molding.
Tile edge isn't cut straight, so I can't butt a different type of molding to the tile.
Ideally, I suppose, they could have layed 3/8 inch underlayment in the entire upstairs of the home. That would have made the top stair 3/8 of an inch taller than the rest. This job, I suppose could have been ramped up another 1/8 or possibly 3/16 which would have helped. Too late for that now.

 

[highup]

My drawing isn't to scale. The tile is 5/8, or possibly 11/16th tall. The coretec is 1/4" Ish? . Couldn't tell because the current T molding is mostly adhered and I didn't want to pull it loose until a new trim was ordered. It's come loose in the place where they walk.
This isn't remotely to scale either, but maybe it makes my description or excuses easier to understand.

 

[Don Monfils]

Recently I had an issue with a coretec stair nose falling off. I called there tec # and asked how they recommended there stair nose be adhered. They said to rough up the back side of the stair nose ( which I have done, even though I have never seen that in their installation instructions) then she said to use PL Premium ( urethane construction adhesive) in an "S" pattern,
and to apply weight for 48 hours And that Painters tape will not work.
Also I mentioned if the planks are installed parallel to the stair nose the planks can sometimes be lifted and and disengage.
She said the last row , regardless of the direction should be glued with their adhesive. I asked about the floating floor being locked down in that area and she said the floor is stable and the expansion is just for expansion of the homes walls .
I have nailed down a 3/4" scrap strip of the flooring at the stair nose and left a slight expansion with the floor, thinking the stair nose would not lift.
Also I mentioned how a lot of times we go from LVP to ceramic or other flooring with a slightly different height. I have had good luck using a "T" molding with a heavy bead of silicone.She said if you can not use their track they recommend another a different type of transition,what ... metal??
Just thought I would pass this along

 

[highup]

Recently I had an issue with a coretec stair nose falling off. I called there tec # and asked how they recommended there stair nose be adhered. They said to rough up the back side of the stair nose ( which I have done, even though I have never seen that in their installation instructions) then she said to use PL Premium ( urethane construction adhesive) in an "S" pattern,
and to apply weight for 48 hours And that Painters tape will not work.
Also I mentioned if the planks are installed parallel to the stair nose the planks can sometimes be lifted and and disengage.
She said the last row , regardless of the direction should be glued with their adhesive. I asked about the floating floor being locked down in that area and she said the floor is stable and the expansion is just for expansion of the homes walls .
I have nailed down a 3/4" scrap strip of the flooring at the stair nose and left a slight expansion with the floor, thinking the stair nose would not lift.
Also I mentioned how a lot of times we go from LVP to ceramic or other flooring with a slightly different height. I have had good luck using a "T" molding with a heavy bead of silicone.She said if you can not use their track they recommend another a different type of transition,what ... metal??
Just thought I would pass this along

You're talking about filling the gap between the two different materials and shoving the T-mold into the silicone, right?

On the nose, the gap you mentioned is sorta like this drawing?

I've only done a couple of Cortec installs and a few other transition fixes. I've always sanded the material too. On my first job, I even drilled 1/8" holes into the floor side of the threshold trim and used urethane adhesive to hold it down.
I may have been doing this all wrong with the threshold trims. Are you supposed to adhere the lip edge of the trim directly to the Coretec or only to the floor? I don't recall the instructions being very descriptive on the "how to" part of installing the trims that are glued down.
I thought the trim lip was like other laminate type floors and is made the way it is to allow the flooring to expand or contract under the molding.... meaning the molding is only attached to the floor, not to the flooring itself.

 

[Don Monfils]

Yes, that's the way I have done the T molding where I couldn't use their track ( not approved by core tec)

On the stair nose , yes also . This is how I have done it in the past. That's a nice illustration, better then my explanation.
For now on I will just fully glue the last board(s) at a stair nose.
View attachment ImageUploadedByFlooring Forum1502529753.014471.jpg
I wasn't talking about installing core tec on steps , just where a floor or a landing meets a stairway . ( if that makes sense.)

 

[highup]

I knew you were talking about a single edge trim. I've done what I showed in my little sketch using wood as the piece to glue too in different scenarios, sometimes even making it possible to use clamp down metal onto materials like this, but you need to have the height dead on so it still allows movement but without showing a gap between the clampdown and the other finished surface that it overlaps.
I never knew this particular installation PDF existed. Funny how the side by side images are Cortec versus other types of flooring are totally different. In the upper page of the PDF, look at the stair nose and how it's supposed to be glued to the existing nose......... the profile showing where the glue is put onto the nose doesn't even slightly resemble the actual Cortec nose shape. The Cortec nose shape leaves a huge gap in most instances. Using that gluing method, a tube of adhesive would only do a few steps.
https://www.rubberflooringinc.com/Assets/pdf/installation/coretec-one-moldings-installation.pdf
...and their mention of using finish nails or adhesive on the baby threshold? Finish nails would look like crap on that molding.

Here's that Hillway molding tape mentioned in the PDF.
http://www.1877floorguy.com/hilway-direct-molding-tape.html

 

[Nick]

That Boa tape was the strongest tape i ever used ..

 

[Ernesto]

I use Mannington MSS 20 to glue any vinyl plank together. Stair nosing should use the track with glue.
Vinyl plank does not really move, its the house. Especially wood framed structures.

 

[highup]

I use Mannington MSS 20 to glue any vinyl plank together. Stair nosing should use the track with glue.
Vinyl plank does not really move, its the house. Especially wood framed structures.

Describe "track with glue" to us who live in the world of wood frame home construction.

 

[Don Monfils]

The core tec stair nose doesn't have a track.

 

[Ernesto]

The core tec stair nose doesn't have a track.

Didn't know that. Should make it easier.

 

[highup]

Installed the trim piece yesterday and worked like a charm. If I run into another situation like this, now I know a procedure that will work.
The plastic trim would be to flimsy to modify. If you cut the sides or 'wings' off of it, it wouldn't have any strength.
My fix was to use some standard aluminum T track. I ran it through my table saw to remove the flat part that's normally used to nail it down. To fasten this narrow section down, I pre drilled holes into the center of the channel and drove in 1" paneling nails with a nail set.
There's a small wedge under the metal to raise the track to the right height for the grippers on the T-mold. That took a couple of tries.
The metal T track is narrower than the plastic track that comes with the Cortec, so without modification, the Cortec T will not snap into it. To make it fit, I removed about 90% of the fin from one side of the Cortec insert with a jig on my table saw. Removing most of one side of the fin doesn't appear to hurt the T molding's holding power because the metal track has pretty sharp edges and they grip like gangbusters. I suppose if you accidentally cut too much off the fin, a little adhesive in the track would secure it for eternity.
Anyhow, it worked like a charm and customer was impressed........ but not enough to feed me. (not everyone knows the routine)

 

[Ernesto]

That looks great, how about a pic?

I do cut or add to legs of transition strips all the time. The last LVT i did (9"× 6') said to just glue it too ceramic tile there was a drop down angle.
Thats what i did, plus weight it down..

 

[highup]

I don't have a photo from the actual job, but tonight I did a mock-up to take to the store tomorrow so they know what I did. I want the other installers to see this so they can "think outside the box" next job they come across a transition issue similar to this one.
I especially want the shop to see this to understand that they need to add $100 or more when a transition like this will obviously need to be delt with. The shops measure the jobs, so they need to foresee this being an issue at install time.
No installer wants to do some fancy custom work for free, and every job will need a special/custom sized shim.
I'm not sure yet, but don't think the angle is absolutely necessary. If it is, it doesn't need to be all that close to perfection..... just a little tilt.
One other notation on the correct amount to remove from the fin on the T-mold with your table saw. If you accidentally trim it a wee bit on the loose side, you can very gently pinch the aluminum channel with some needle nose pliers to tighten it up in a bunch of places. If it's really sloppy I suppose glue can be added to the channel.
I'll have someone take a close up photo of my mock-up.

 

[Don Monfils]

I learned something new today.
We often run into sliding closet doors that have the divider bracket , that screws through the floor.
I was under the impression that with core-tec being a floating floor, you could not screw through the flooring and into the subfloor.
I was told today from core-tec tech. that you can spot glue the flooring ( 12" area under the bracket) and then screw them down , without an issue. He said you could use their cork adhesive, a premium multipurpose adhesive, or PL premium
I have tried using hot glue to glue the brackets to the flooring ( pain in the ass)

 

[highup]

You're talking about the doors with the small guide centered in the opening, not the full width track, right?
Use a 3/8 Forstner bit to drill through the Cortec, then pre-drill a hole for the screw. No need to tighten the screw much, just barely seat it.

 

[Don Monfils]

Yes

That's a good idea also 👍🏿