Asked on Mar 31, 2020

How do i fill a gap between flooring and bottom stairs?

Danielle Jones
by Danielle Jones

We purchased a new to us home that is actually 45 years old. The downstairs flooring was replaced with a wood type flooring. They had really old carpet on the stairs. The stairs were beautiful, so we decided we wanted to pull up the carpet. However they did a bad job between the floor and the stairs. Any suggestions to fill this gap? I can fit my index finger in the largest part of the gap

  20 answers
  • Megan Megan on Mar 31, 2020

    I wonder if there are some similar in color flooring remnants that you could cut to fit in the space?

  • Em Em on Mar 31, 2020

    Use trim called quarter round. Can be purchased at any Lowe's or Home Depot. Super easy to cut and install with either very small finishing nails or Loctite construction glue.

    It comes in white plastic type material or wooden in different thicknesses. Measure on step and times it by the number of steps to get the total amount you need.

  • Dianacirce70 Dianacirce70 on Mar 31, 2020

    I would use a piece of quarter round if its thick enough, or some other piece of wood cut to fit. You can check the home stores in their wood or trim section to find the piece that would cover that for you

  • Agnes Chrzanowska Agnes Chrzanowska on Mar 31, 2020

    I wood use wood filler only but keep in mind wood will need to have a room to stretch with humidity .

  • I would add a wood moulding strip to cover the gap. There are tons of different wood trim styles and they're easy to install.

  • Kmdreamer Kmdreamer on Mar 31, 2020

    Put caulking there or you could put wood fill but I would use caulking and paint it wood look color to match the plods

  • Tinyshoes Tinyshoes on Mar 31, 2020

    Danielle....I would use wood filler but try to get a good match with floor

  • Barb Barb on Mar 31, 2020

    shoe molding then stain to match??

  • William William on Mar 31, 2020

    Just add a strip of molding to cover the gap. All types of quarter round, shoe molding, base molding available. Find something you like. Some is finished wood tone and unfinished you can stain. Home Depot, Menard's, or Lowes

    • Yes, there are lots of options, note how wide the gap is that you are trying to hide and you just need to purchase something that thick and how ever many feet wide that your stair treads are. Stain or paint to blend in with your current colors.

  • Jan Clark Jan Clark on Mar 31, 2020

    This was done on purpose in a proper floor installation. You must leave room for expansion and contraction. Once your stair treads are finished, buy some quarter round molding and paint or stain it to your liking. Finishing nails or caulk to keep it in place.

  • Ken Erickson Ken Erickson on Mar 31, 2020

    Putting some type of base or quarter round will cover the gap. Try to match your room's baseboard if possible. Leave a slight gap above the floor since the flooring needs to expand and contract.

  • Lindsay Aratari Lindsay Aratari on Mar 31, 2020

    I would do a quarter round that matches

  • Kmdreamer Kmdreamer on Mar 31, 2020

    All you need is a piece of the floor tile and cut it to fit in the space and glue

  • Kathy Gunter Law Kathy Gunter Law on Mar 31, 2020

    I would put a piece of baseboard and shoe molding there.

  • Annie Annie on Mar 31, 2020

    Just cover it with trim, just get trim wide enough to cover. And if you do the trim all around the room, it will really finish the look of the room.

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Apr 01, 2020

    Hi there,

    Buy a timber or plastic trim sold by DIY stores in suitable colours.

  • Janice Janice on Apr 01, 2020

    Maybe remove the current quarter round with a larger one or a threshold bar.

  • Dee Dee on Apr 01, 2020

    If you use wood filler it may be hard to stain and match the flooring, besides it can crack. Measure the width of the boo boo then go to Lowes, Home Depot and look at the different moldings. They sell already stained molding at Floor and Decor. You can either use a nail gun or glue it to the stair with construction glue.


  • A larger piece of quarter round trim should fix that right up.

  • Tom Tom on Apr 22, 2020

    What did you wind up using? Can you post a photo? I have the same problem.