Problem - Laminate and old higher door threshold

Hello,

the following scenario:
we want to lay laminate on old (very ugly painted) floorboards. Sanding is out of the question (over 100 sqm) as it would be too expensive and time-consuming (would have to be done by a company).

The old apartment now has several door thresholds that are noticeably higher than the floorboards laid so far (estimated max. 2 to 2.5 cm).
See photos (unfortunately I don’t have better ones at the moment). Sometimes the thresholds are wider, sometimes narrower. Most of the door thresholds also have a kind of step at the beginning, so they differ in height within themselves. I am not really sure how to deal with the height difference.

wide threshold

narrow threshold


3 scenarios come to mind:

1.) Lay the laminate up to the door and use a suitable transition strip to compensate for the height difference.
QUESTION: Is that even possible with this height difference?
The problem with this option is that the brown ugly threshold remains and is a real eyesore.

2.) Lay the laminate up to the door and use a suitable transition strip to compensate for the height difference.
Beforehand, sand down the threshold to at least have a nice wood tone again. The problem remains that the threshold will still have a different color than the laminate laid in front of the door.

3.) Saw out the threshold and then lay the laminate flush where the threshold used to be. The problem is: the threshold most likely has to stay and even if we were allowed to remove it, I lack the experience for it.

How would you professionally and aesthetically handle such a situation? Do you have any other good ideas? I am semi handy, my father-in-law already plays in the major leagues.

Regardless of the details: I consider laminate on floorboards problematic. The floorboards are quite flexible, as evidenced by the creaking and cracking noises when you walk over them. Some floorboards are also thinner and bend more, others less. Therefore, the floor is not a good substrate for laying laminate, because the laminate will follow the movements of the flexible floorboards, causing gaps to form everywhere in the laminate. You could certainly place some kind of plastic or rigid foam boards in between to somewhat improve the situation, but it’s not ideal and also more expensive.

I would reconsider sanding it. A good wooden floorboard floor is something really special! (it’s a pity that it hardly fits into new buildings and is not suitable for underfloor heating)
You won’t enjoy your laminate for long because of the substrate, and then you’ll be annoyed (and throw it out again...)

If you’re really short on money: just paint over it with a different color. Visually not perfect, but also not much money wasted.

Well, I'm really not in favor of keeping old junk either, I prefer new things. But replacing real wood floorboards with laminate really hurts. In that case, I’d rather pick up the brush.

Well, the problem with the floorboards is: They are painted in an ugly brown and were probably designed that way from the start. That means I don’t know what kind of wood grain to expect when sanding them down. If the boards were designed for painting, there won’t be any nice wood underneath. A nice hardware store guy, who really seemed competent, said that laminate on the floorboards is less of a problem, provided the boards are still intact, which they are. He recommended 5mm impact sound insulation mats as an underlay.

A much bigger issue just opened up for me. If you lay laminate, the current old baseboards would have to be removed and replaced with new ones. The old baseboards (Altberliner veneer, see photo) are higher than any baseboards you can currently find, which are max 6 cm high. Even if there were taller baseboards, according to the hardware store employee, the problem would be that the new baseboard for the laminate wouldn’t sit flush against the wall anymore because the old baseboards were fixed firmly to it, and with a replacement, the new baseboard would always stick out from the wall a little. Allegedly, you can’t properly make that gap look nice. CAN ANYONE CONFIRM THIS?

I’m really at my wit’s end here... If that’s the case, after removing the original baseboards, you’d have to buy new wooden strips, treat them, and screw them to the wall – which I find ugly and am even less willing to do ;-(