# Threshold Plate-to-Floor Gap Solution?



## Lovegasoline (Sep 27, 2009)

There's a large threshold plate at the entrance of a room that has a large gap where it meets the floor. 
Looks like it's had some shoddy work in the past.

Any suggestions, esp. quick and dirty ones.


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

If a rubber mallet will not knock it down then use Bondo. Yes, the automobile product.

George


----------



## Lovegasoline (Sep 27, 2009)

The threshold plate is secure and will not lower or fit better and is correctly oriented to the bottom edge of the door.
The problem is (as is usually the case here) chump rebuild of the joists followed by a poor job of laying floor by chump flooring guys. The result is the floor is likely a little lower than it originally was and now a gap shows on the room side of the threshold plate.

The question is an aesthetic one: how to disguise this? How to conceal, camouflage, patch, putty, caulk, epoxy, wood strip, or by other contrivance make this disappear?


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It looks like someone caulked it with clear silicone caulk. Caulk would work pretty good but I would find some color caulk that matched the flooring. If none is available you can remove the plunger of a tube of caulk and remove the caulk with a cake spatula. Then the color of the caulk can be modified with a universal tinting color and put back in the tube once you have washed it out. 

If that is silicone caulk it would have to be scraped clean in order to put anything back.


----------



## Lovegasoline (Sep 27, 2009)

The gap needs to be filled with a hue and tone matching the threshold plate ... the threshold plate is stained and is darker in tone and a different hue than the floor (not sure if it shows well in the pics). The floor is unstained. 

I'll take your tea into consideration. My original thought was to buy brown caulk and although it would blend in better than black - the latter of which is now there in the form of a shadow filling the gap - I'd like to do better on the color matching.


----------



## JohnGi (May 9, 2019)

For solid support of a loose threshold, I've used the low expansion foam made for window installation. Set some weight on the threshold and use a long applicator tube to squirt it in as far under the threshold as you can. Mask the adjacent floor and cut it clean with a utility knife after it cures. It will expand to fill any cavities and harden firm enough so the threshold will stand up to traffic.


----------



## Lovegasoline (Sep 27, 2009)

JohnGi said:


> For solid support of a loose threshold, I've used the low expansion foam made for window installation. Set some weight on the threshold and use a long applicator tube to squirt it in as far under the threshold as you can. Mask the adjacent floor and cut it clean with a utility knife after it cures. It will expand to fill any cavities and harden firm enough so the threshold will stand up to traffic.


This threshold is like the rock of Gibraltar, only one with a gap at its base.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Another option might be to make another threshold that is a little wider and replace the one you have. The one you have looks like it needs refinishing anyway.


----------



## Lovegasoline (Sep 27, 2009)

^ that could be a project for another time. I need to do something quick and dirty now.
This threshold is pretty beefy and it's the widest one in this place ...it's in good shape except for the one edge. The flooring in that room is ugly, grain deprived, with an ugly finish job, poorly done in every way imaginable (even laid in the wrong direction, and doesn't match the rest of the place. Lol, the threshold - even with its defect - is the nicest part of it.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

No filler or caulk for me. I would scrape out and level the edge back to the bare wood. Then rip a thin strip of matching wood ... Oak? ... to slide under the gap and glue it in. Resand and use a card scraper to remove any old finish and level the glue joint. It will be invisible and strong enough to hold up for "ever" ?

Quick and dirty will get that result, not a nice finished result. You can use a vibratory multi-tool to make a clean edge vertically for a good glue joint because it will be difficult to saw that unless you a good with a small circular saw. I have a 3.5" bladed one:








WEN 5 Amp 3-1/2 in. Plunge Cut Compact Circular Saw with Laser, Carrying Case and 3-Blades 3620 - The Home Depot


Remember when you could make cuts quickly and easily. The WEN 5 Amp Plunge Cut 3-1/2 in. Mini Circular Saw provides versatile and powerful performance all in the palm of your hand. Perfect for wood flooring,



www.homedepot.com





As a the owner of a older home, you will just have to break down and get some basic tools you need for routine maintenance. The multi-tool is one of those:





Search Results for wen oscillating multi-tool at The Home Depot


Search Results for wen oscillating multi-tool at The Home Depot



www.homedepot.com


----------



## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

just leave it alone for now. anything quick and dirty will look quick and dirty.
best solution is to cut it out and make a better one that blends the 2 floor levels together
i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that was and exterior door at one time
no interior door would have a threshold like that


----------



## Lovegasoline (Sep 27, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> I would scrape out and level the edge back to the bare wood. Then rip a thin strip of matching wood ... Oak? ... to slide under the gap and glue it in. Resand and use a card scraper to remove any old finish and level the glue joint. It will be invisible and strong enough to hold up for "ever" ?
> 
> You can use a vibratory multi-tool to make a clean edge vertically for a good glue joint because it will be difficult to saw that unless you a good with a small circular saw.


woodnthings, 
I'm unclear on the nature of the cuts and scraping you're suggesting ... I'm scratching my head. I can't tell if you are suggesting working on it in situ or removing it? 
(FYI I have an old Harbor Freight Multitool single speed corded which is my most disliked power tool, obnoxious noise and vibration is hand damaging. I've been meaning to upgrade to a tool with more composure last year, but my research on a suitable replacement stalled).


"I would scrape out and level the edge back to the bare wood". 

Leave it in place and do the work?
Scrape the vertical edge that has wood filler until it is clean?
Or scrape the bottom of the threshold at the edge to slip a strip underneath?
What you are suggesting a small circular saw or multitool for? I can't discern what sort of cut you are referring to?

The damaged edge has chips (some filled with light color putty!) and a small section broken off.
Approx. 1/4" would need to be removed from the damaged edge to remove the defects.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

The reason I was suggesting a multi-tool was because I didn't think you wanted to remove it ...:"quick and dirty".
Cutting the offending edge off while it's in place would require as straight an edge as possible to glue another strip to.
It would not be as easy if you can remove it.
If you can remove it, that's a whole new ball game. Make a new one, OR buy a new one and cut to fit....Done!
You can destroy the original if that's required in removing it.
It's taking longer to explain it by far than it would take me to do it.


----------



## Lovegasoline (Sep 27, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> The reason I was suggesting a multi-tool was because I didn't think you wanted to remove it ...:"quick and dirty".
> Cutting the offending edge off while it's in place would require as straight an edge as possible to glue another strip to.
> It would not be as easy if you can remove it.
> If you can remove it, that's a whole new ball game. Make a new one, OR buy a new one and cut to fit....Done!
> ...


----------



## Lovegasoline (Sep 27, 2009)

Ok, I thought that was what you were referring to.

If stepping up to that level of repair, I'd be more inclined to put some tape and thin chipboard on the floor and use the floor as a fence along with either a block plane or my #78 Rabbet plane on their sides as I think I'd get a straighter edge for glue up than I'd be able to manage with a multitool (the threshold's gap would give the necessary clearance for the block plane, although the rabbet plane wouldn't need it). The only oak I have is some red oak flooring and I'd have to match the stain - which is possible - doing just the repair area could be quick and dirty ... actually easier than tinting caulk and retubing it.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

A mulit-tool will make a plunge cut in a restricted area where a circular saw can't:


----------



## Nowthatumentionit (Aug 8, 2020)

woodnthings said:


> No filler or caulk for me. I would scrape out and level the edge back to the bare wood. Then rip a thin strip of matching wood ... Oak? ... to slide under the gap and glue it in. Resand and use a card scraper to remove any old finish and level the glue joint. It will be invisible and strong enough to hold up for "ever" ?
> 
> Quick and dirty will get that result, not a nice finished result. You can use a vibratory multi-tool to make a clean edge vertically for a good glue joint because it will be difficult to saw that unless you a good with a small circular saw. I have a 3.5" bladed one:
> 
> ...


Between the 2 tools, you are right on. I'm with Ken Burns on stuff like this when he says you can't know where you're heading till you know where you've been. That is among the worst scenarios I've ever seen for a transition. It's got to go plain and simple so you can fab what should have been fabbed and put there way back when.

Not only is it shoddy looking up against an even shoddier looking floor, It's a dreadful trip hazard. I'm always amazed at how much better a fix can be when you take the time to cut out the cancer at its source.


----------

