Hall flooring options - wood? tiles?

[HailGallaxhar]

We have a large hall that is kind of Y shaped, i.e. it goes off in two directions from the main hall bit, IYSWIM. The house is about 10 years old, quite a lot of glass, and has a rather odd layout.

The hall gives access to:
kitchen
downstairs loo
utility room
study
spare bedroom (we use it as spare but it's officially the master bedroom as it has an ensuite, therefore can't be used as a living room)
stairs

At the moment there is engineered wood, which I like the look of but was damaged beyond repair by the previous owners and we need to replace the lot.

Any ideas?

Would tiles be freezing and unwelcoming, given that the hall gives access to a bedroom? I hate tiles in living rooms. I'm reluctant to do carpet given that that it gets a lot of foot traffic.

[PurpleCrazyHorse]

I like tiles but hate cleaning the grout (use dark colour!). Watch for chipping (I'd want to get natural materials so if they do chip it still looks the same inside).

We have high quality, well laid laminate. Easy to clean, some mild scratches though.

Definitely not carpet unless you have lots of shoe storage near the door and a carpet cleaner

[LadyNellCardross]

Purple could I ask what brand of laminate did you use? I am looking to do the floor in my hall and think it might work.

[HailGallaxhar]

We have some lovely looking laminate called Ostend Oak from B and Q, it looks lovely but does scratch.

I'm wondering about going the oiled wood route, then at least it's easy to sand and re-oil. Perhaps with an area of tiles right by the door to catch the worst of the dirt/wet feet.

[Sandbagsandgladrags]

Have a look at Karndean and Amtico and see if anything appeals - we've just replaced some knackered orange engineered wood with wood-look Karndean, and we also have it in our hallway. It can scratch, but it's been in our hall for two years and looks as good as when it was fitted. It's also warm underfoot. The more textured designs are better at hiding imperfections I believe.

[Chasingsquirrels]

Also consider fitting a coir doormat in a well by the door. I've done this across the whole hall at the entrance (only the width of 2 doors) and then have similar to Kardeen in the rest of the hall.
Works really well, although it's about 6 years old now and the coir could probably do with replacing at some point.

[HailGallaxhar]

That's a good idea about a door mat. We have a runner at the moment but it isn't a particularly neat solution.

Are most people anti-tile then?

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

We have oiled oak flooring with a coir mat inlaid at the door. It works really well and the wood still looks exactly the same as when it was first laid. People always comment on how lovely it is.

You can lift the coir mat out and shake it outside too, which is useful. We've also got a mat inlaid into the oyster slate tiles at the back door, which serves the same purpose and works well. They both look really neat.

[GlassCircles]

If it's a big enough area then something like quarry tiles or slate in the first few feet by the front door would be practical. Oiled engineered oak after that should stand up to a hallway area, it depends how fussy you are about it looking watermarked and not quite perfect.

[GlassCircles]

And yy to the coir mat or similar, they take a lot of the first impact. Ours sits on top of the wood which is fine except that in time the wood underneath looks different, but as it will always be covered by a mat it's ok.

[PurpleCrazyHorse]

Sorry, don't know the brand as it was laid by the old owner, but it looks smart and is a nice natural colour. It's all different grains, so I think it's got a real wood veneer.

I love the inlaid mats though, they look really nice, would have that if we were re-doing.

It does show the mud with the buggy going in/out though, but it steams up well :)

[redcaryellowcar]

We have a similar decision to make although currently have light carpet which looks terrible! I have looked at amtico, but you can't steam clean this? I think tiles might be most easily cleaned, but I share your reservations on coldness.

[Liara]

I would go with stone - something like slate. It is cold but does look very nice.

Tiles with dark grouting are, however, undoubtedly the most practical solution.

[HailGallaxhar]

I love the flooring in this picture. Gutted in fact, that I didn't use it in the kitchen that we've just finished. I don't normally like slate, but this is lovely, I wonder whether it's because it's slightly sheeny.

On the other hand, I do like walking about in bare feet.

Is slate and stone the same temperature as porcelain tiles?

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

Slate and stone are cold, but not if you put underfloor heating beneath them.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

We have solid wood. It is gorgeous but hard to keep clean and gets scratched by people tracking in little stones and suchlike. I have resorted to using a runner and so my lovely floor is covered up anyway.

I really wish I'd gone for tile.

[Tequilamockinbird]

We have a slate-effect tiled Amtico in kitchen and it looks like slate, but is warm underfoot.

I'm debating doing the hall with the same stuff.

[Wombat87]

We have tiles in the kitchen and engineered wood in the hall, living /dining. I'd never have it again. I'd rather oil real wood floors like I do my worktops that put this stuff down again!!!

I've got these tiles in the kitchen and I'd have em again tomorrow. One black dog, one white dog, constantly dirty MrW in the garden. You can tell they need a wash, but you don't look at it and go "shit must clean the floor". Like a dark beige grout - laaaavvly

[Wombat87]

Cor that pic isn't the nicest. They look better in real life!

[Heatherbell1978]

Laminate tiles! We have them in our hall and kitchen. Look like amtico (everyone keeps assuming it is) but no where near as expensive and really easy to clean.

[Boleh]

Wombat what do you dislike about the engineered wood? We have laminate at the moment, wanted to put down real wood but it's been suggested that it shrinks and moves and engineered wood would be better - apparently you should be able to sand and re-finish it a couple of times.

[80sMum]

We have terracotta coloured porcelain tiles on the whole ground floor, except for the sitting room, which is carpeted. There is electric underfloor heating but we hardly ever use it, as it's very expensive to run. We only use it at Christmas!

I do love the titles though. They're so easy to clean.

[Wombat87]

Bo - it's precious. Scratched just by pulling a chair out. I don't even mean dragged, kinda lifted and shuffled, but it's awful.

We have sunlight on some parts most of the day from 12/1 onwards - that part has already faded and discoloured. It wasn't how it was sold to us I guess, it could be normal for engineered wood.

We got ours from home base and some of it was unusable. They were absolute arse holes about it - after it had been laid one of the boards splintered. They wanted me to wait 3 weeks to come and look at it, then they'd decide the best course of action. In the mean time I'm left with a room I'm unable to finish as I hadn't done the hallway, and a massive gash in the middle of my floor.

Perhaps the whole ordeal overall is my reasoning... But I wouldn't do it again. I'm counting down the years till I can rip it up.

[5tardusty]

I'm desperate for tiles in my hallway. I've got a dog so i want matt, textured stone ones that won't show all his little paw prints like the laminate i've got now.

[StepAwayFromTheThesaurus]

We have solid wood and had no problems with shrinking. You do have to let it acclimatise to your house before you lay it though. We don't have problems with scratching or keeping it clean either. It's really easy to look after.

[HailGallaxhar]

Is it oiled or varnished/lacquered StepAway?