What is the best way to bridge a huge gap between hardwood and tile?

Question

I removed a load bearing wall between a small kitchen and tiny dining room. My problem is that I have a giant gap to fill in where the old wall was. The house was built in 1950 and sits above a crawl space. As depicted there is no underlayment where the original oak flooring is installed. The original framing was all "true 2x4" so new lumber doesn't quite do the trick.

The tiled area is about 3/8 higher than the wood and after filling the gap it will need a reducing transition installed. I do have 6" accent tile to cover the gap once the 1"deep x 4.5 wide gap has been filled in. The wood floor was resurfaced 4 years ago and the ends are all different lengths adjoining the gap.

I do have a table saw buried in the garage behind everything and no I couldn't cut a straight line with a circular saw if my life depended on it. At the moment the ends are not finished but merely four 2x4s stacked upright screwed together supporting the beam. I have a preexisting passageway 30" wide at one end that I intend to cover over with the trim tile so it is consistent over the length of the opening. Additional photos would have simplified my explanation but I was only able to upload 1 photo.

For a temporary measure I used a 1x4 to prevent turned ankles but now that the kitchen portion is tiled I need to come up with a permanent fix to level it out with the kitchen. I've got 21 linear feet to cover.

I've considered plywood + hardy backer + mortar / Masonite and fill to tile level with Quickcrete using foam rope against the hardwood side.

Answer 1

Updated based on revisions to the question.

The way I see it you have two options, neither of which is nearly as complicated as your proposed solution.

1. Install a tile accent row with a beveled or bullnose edge or reducing edger (metal trim). This could be from leftover original tile or something else. 1/2" cement board on the subfloor boards will be enough of a filler to bring the new tile level with the existing. Grout to the existing tile.

____  _______________
____||_______________\ ________________
____||________________|__________________
 ^             ^             ^
existing   new backer    existing wood
  tile      & tile           floor

2. Install a hardwood strip with a beveled edge, stained to match the existing floor. This could be ripped from a 1x6, then set in construction adhesive and attached with a few finish nails. Optionally rabbet a small distance to overlay the existing wood floor, creating a clean transition line and covering any rough edges. Keep this minimal to keep it robust. I picture it like so:

____  __________________
____||                __\________________
____||________________|__________________
 ^             ^             ^
existing    transition    existing wood
  tile        strip         floor

If you have more specific questions about either approach, go ahead and ask.

Answer 2

I think the solution can be even easier. Most hardware stores will carry uneven transition pieces. They're almost always wood and often are available in a variety of colored stains to match the wood floor. They are beveled in the front, so you don't have any tripping hazard, and they can be easily negotiated by wheeled devices (walkers, etc)

You'll probably want to put some wood between this and the tile (it won't bridge a 4" gap) but if you construction adhesive the wood and the transition down in the gap it should work just fine (make sure your adhesive works with metal if you choose not to screw/nail it down).

Answer 3

I wanted to mention one thorny detail in addition to the other answer. The edge of the hardwood, presumably where it was under the baseboard molding and or drywall, looks quite different from the rest of the wood. This might be because the floor was once refinished by sanding and this section was left out.

Also, good chance that the board ends don't line up perfectly. (Which might be one reason to go with a tile transition instead of wood which would need to fit very tightly).

I see two reasonable ways to deal with this:

1. Sand it down smooth with the surrounding wood, and then stain to match as best as possible. If you use a wood strip to fill the gap then this might be a good choice, since you'll have to stain that as well. But I think there is a risk that sanding will tend to feather out into the surrounding flooring and make it into a bigger project. Also matching stain can be hard within the same board and variation would be noticeable; whereas variation across the seam to the new board would probably look ok. Finally you would also need to apply clear finish to the sanded area, another difficult thing to look right.

2. Cut off another 1/2 to 1" of the old flooring. If this cut is done very straight and cleanly I think it could look excellent, especially if tight to a new wood transition strip. Also, the photo doesn't show the ends of the area, but likely you will have additional molding which would mean you have some flexibility where the exact line of this cut needs to be. To make the cut, you could use a circular saw plunge cut with a straightedge or track for most of it, and then chisels or an oscillating multi tool for the rest. (You could even use the oscillating tool for the whole thing, it's just slow). That's how I've done this in the past.

Based on the info in the question, #2 would be my choice.