That links to their home page. Ahhh, stair-nosing, the bane of my existence! I recently redid a stairway down to the bonus room and garage, pulling out the dirty cream-colored carpeting.

The bonus room was done in a wood-look laminate. Laminates don't have good stair-nose pieces, I found by searching through hell and high-water! The best I found cost about $200 bucks per piece. Gah.

So I chose to put an industrial berber on the carpet.

My suggestion is to peruse the websites of laminate and tile makers and search for their stair-nose pieces. They put pictures of these on their sites. Find the closest color-match and use that. The best type is the "flush" type. Other types bump up on the step - you don't want that bump.
You can also look at real wood stair-nose pieces - since you don't need that much this won't break your budget.

Not much is made for vinyl anymore that looks good. Ceramic edge profiles can be adapted for use with flooring such as Karndean and others; that is what I would do...or I'd design the thing and take it to a metal fabricator...adapting ceramic tile edge profiles is the less expensive option. Search www.schluter.com for ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Is this the link you meant to send us to?

Glenn, Yes  thatÂs exactly the page I thought I was posting. Just this afternoon Expo gave me the name Schluter to research. And IÂm intrigued about a ceramic edge profile. If I were to go over to Daltile, letÂs say, would they know what IÂm talking about? And would I need to bring a sample of the vinyl tile to see its thickness? Do you think a ceramic stair edge, by virtue of its location, will get a lot of chipping? I like the idea very much. And the cost of the vinyl is pricey to begin with, so I really wouldnÂt want to add to that with a custom metal edging, huh?

Gina, I spent the afternoon calling vinyl manufacturers and came up with zippo. None of them made a product for this application and werenÂt able to help me with any suggestions other than rubber or plain metal edging.

I may have to suck it up and select an alternative flooring, but I really like what they call "luxury vinyl tile." ItÂs soft and warm underfoot and isnÂt as prone to water damage as laminate and hardwood, and the better grades are very realistic looking. I feel that these floors will look better in 10 years than laminate (when weÂll likely retire and sell the house) and without the cost of refinishing hardwood (which is also more costly and really out of our ballpark).

Glenn (my husband's name, too), from your sign-in name I assume you're a flooring pro. Do you have any advice for me?

Dal Tile will have chain samples showing all Schluter metals. You do need to take a vinyl tile with you as each trim is available in several different heights.

Jerry - I looked at Schluter's site and since I have a Daltile near me, I hope to get there this weekend to check them out.

I've really felt so stymied trying to come up with a solution to use the flooring I want. I so appreciate the advice I got here. Thank you all.

Yes, flooring is what I do for a living.

The 'linoleum metal edge' manufacturers went out of business many years ago. NY Metal mouldings was one of the leading distributors. Randall Manufacturing out of Newark NJ bought up most of the left over stock and I think some of the manufacturing capabilities, but I am not entirely sure that the later is true. However, I am very surprised that the product has disappeared altogether and left vinyl and linoleum end users without suitable edge products to use, other than those ugly applied-after binder bar things.

I bet 1/8" metal moldings are available in Europe.

The ceramic edge profiles I am talking about are not made of ceramic materials at all, but are 'large' versions of what we had commonly available in aluminum, steel and brass for linoleum and vinyl to finish door and stairnose edges. The reason I suggest them is that you could adapt these extrusions for use in a stepdown, such as you have. You would have to look at what's available and then design the product into your project. It can be as simple as cutting something off the profile to make it work...inseting the profile in your substrate...applying the profile to the 'riser' portion of your stepdown and building up that surface so the vinyl would meet almost flush to the metal. This can take some hard thinking, but it is not impossible to do.

Since almost everything else being manufactured today seems to come from China, why do we not see suitable metal edge profiles coming from there?

I don't attend the Surfaces flooring convention, so I don't know what is being offered as manufactured looking for distribution...there must be some somewhere. All I know is that I have not come across any suppliers recently and the only stuff I do see is my own personal stash for my special flooring needs.

I heard rumours that there is a marketing place in San Francisco (or somewhere in California) called 'linoleumtown'...or something like that. It is a group of stores selling linoleum and other sheet and vinyl products and I bet there'd be a good chance of finding something there.

Good luck.

Glenn, I searched for various combinations to find those stores or that marketing group, to no avail. You really gave me some "heady" information which I appreciate to the extreme, but I think I'm nearing the point of calling "Uncle!" about my flooring choice. I don't think I'm up to the task of such creative problem solving

Maybe you could advise me otherwise? I liked the idea of the Karndean/Amtico vinyl -- warm underfoot, no noise, less worrisome than other materials when it comes to water, and seemingly will hold up really well for the next ten years when it's time for us to sell our home. We have an aging dog whose occasional incontinence is a big concern. Other than the dog, it's now just my husband and I, so I do think we'd be fairly easy on the flooring. I would love hardwood floors or even the new laminates, but the materials and installation on my slab would be very expensive, no? We are NOT DIYers in the least. We've got about 1100 SF to cover on the first floor. I also want to stretch out our modest budget to toss the carpeting on the second floor (800 SF) and replace it with a vinyl. Do you have any suggestions for me? I really feel like my options are closing in on me!

Thank you so much -- all of you.

Floating laminates or those floating engineered hardwoods are not going to be more expensive than one of the good vinyl tile products from either Amtico or Karndean or another. In fact, they'll probably be less expensive initially and easily replaced by the new occupant.

However, be aware that I don't think they are a good choice at all for someone with an aging, occasionally incontinent, dog...or with sloppy children either. Spills or liquid 'substances' need to be wiped from either of those choices quickly to avoid permanent damage. If you're able to be on top of those things, well then floating floors may be the ticket for you. A big 'however' here is that you'll still have the issue of what to do with the nosing of the stepdown. Sure, you can use nosings designed for those materials, but floating 'anything' requires a topset nosing fit and attached so as not to become a hazard by coming loose.

Take your time, step away from the project for awhile, give it a little thought now and then and maybe you'll find the answer you're looking for.

Where are you located?

oofasis, I think Glenn's idea of stepping back and thinking more is right on. Are you aware that your slab has got to almost dead flat to make this type product work and look good. Maybe you do know, but have you done any checking for this flatness issue?

First of all, Jerry and Glenn, I wanna say to both of you: consider yourselves hugged! I'm very grateful for your persistent help and advice. Until posting this thread, the extent of guidance I've received has been from salesmen, and that's been minimal at best.

I believe our slab is flat. When we moved in eight years ago we replaced the carpeting on the first floor with an inexpensive Mohawk laminate. The living room was very uneven and we had to "float" a new floor before installation. We put the laminate everywhere on the first floor except for the entry hall, where we tiled. The tile will be removed when we do all the floors.

No more kids, just the two of us until we retire in about 10 years. And the dog. I would use a slightly less expensive vinyl tile on the second floor, and we'd leave the dog upstairs while we're at work, so opportunities for doggy accidents on the first floor will be minimal.

Some (naive?) thoughts on costs: I thought install of floating laminate or engineered wood on slab was more expensive. True, I've found retail prices of the vinyl to be comparable to some hardwoods and laminates, but I can get the vinyl online at almost half the retail and I don't think I'd have the same worries about receiving "seconds" or inferior quality as I've read about with woods. Also, with laminates I have the concern about how they'd hold up over the long haul with no way of refinishing them when selling the house. Not even sure if all engineered woods can be refinished. I've been told the vinyl will still look good in 10 years.

Am I outta the ballpark in my thinking? I want a floor that will look good today and in the future. And I have a budget of about $8000 to do about 1900 SF. Am I nuts?

Installers don't think like salesmen oofasis. We're usually trying to figure out if something is suitable and will function correctly.

You say you have laminate and tile down right now? I'm assuming the existing floors are run underneath the door jambs and casing? Is so... when you remove all that and install a floor that is only 3mm or 4mm thick. there will be a sizable gap there unless you re-trim.

I like LVT, but there are several issues to consider when installing this on a remodel.

Jerry and Glenn -
Today I felt like Homer Simpson. The solution to my problem has literally been under my nose the entire time. I was in my kitchen this morning whining to my builder about my futile search for a material to use with the Karndean at the floor's edge at the step down. He asked what I'm using now (remember, I've had cheap vinyl planks on the floor for about 8 years now), so I pointed to it. It's REAL WOOD BULL NOSING, and it's been in place everywhere where there's a step down. He looked at me like I'm an idiot (she blushes, tail between her legs...) and asked, Well, why don't you use the same thing, stain it to match the vinyl planks you want? DUH!!!! I've linked to a pic of the kind of piece we've got there now. And yes, it's a tad bit higher where it meets the vinyl -- but nothing that has ever for a second even bothered us.

What do you think???

Here is a link that might be useful: bull nosing or step down

"(remember, I've had cheap vinyl planks on the floor for about 8 years now)"

I thought you had laminate and tile already down, sorry :)

A new, stained wood nosing can be made to work.

Oops, my bad. Yes, I do have laminate planks glued down. Very, very thin planks.