Vinyl Plank Transition Strips: Which One Goes Where (T-Molding, Reducer, End Cap, Stair Nose)

A click-together vinyl plank floor floats: it is not fastened to the slab, so it needs a small gap at its edges to move with temperature. Transition strips cover those edges where the floor meets another surface, a door threshold or a change in height.

Shaped like a T. It joins two floors of about the same height, for example vinyl plank to tile, or vinyl plank to vinyl plank across a doorway when a long run needs an expansion break.

A ramp from a higher floor down to a lower one, such as vinyl plank down to sealed concrete or a thin vinyl sheet floor. It removes the trip edge.

Finishes the vinyl edge against something that cannot have a molding over it: a sliding glass door track, a fireplace hearth, or the edge of carpet.

Caps the front edge of a step or a step-down. Flush stair nose sits level with the plank; overlap stair nose sits over it. See our guide to vinyl plank on stairs.

Along the walls, quarter round or shoe molding covers the expansion gap. When baseboards stay in place, shoe molding along the bottom gives a clean edge without prying off the baseboards. Either way, it is nailed to the baseboard or wall, never to the floor.

Transitions are part of every 254 Floors installation. Our own crews install vinyl plank for $1.75 per sq ft over a sound, level slab, with color-matched transitions where the floor meets other surfaces.