Hallway flooring

[urbanturban]

Hoping someone can come up with a fab idea.........!

Moved into our new house in January 2012 and the hallway is wooden laminate flooring, all good condition. However the previous owners skimped on underlay/fitting etc and so the flooring kinda 'bounces' and creaks and is generally very loud.

Also, I have two DDs under 4 and another baby due at end September this year, and so, like many parents, I am quite a light sleeper. This means if I go to bed earlier than DH (or get a rare lie-in at the weekends) then the sound of people thundering along the hallway always wakes me !

So-we are thinking of replacing the floor covering in the hall.......think I would like a nice soft carpet but:

1. I know this is not practical with (soon to be) 3 DC under 5/prams/wet feet/muddy feet etc
2. Any heard-wearing carpet we have looked at isn't very bare-feet 'friendly'

So do you think it would be an option to floor the bit just inside the front door in coir/sisal etc and then use a softer carpet for the rest of the hall.........or, if we lifted the laminate and put down some proper underlay, do you think this would make a difference in slightly deadening the noise made?

Thanks in advance.........!

Yes a split hall would work. You would have to do the shoes off rule though and keep buggy on wooden floor! you can also get a rug doctor once a year to clean it. Carpet reduces noise level as well.

I live in Glasgow and have found a wonderful carpet shop that uses off cuts from big carpet companies and recycles second hand carpets. Employs homeless people and teaches them a trade! I got a hall carpet for £37! Shop around!

As a mum of two, soon to be 3, and we've had a carpet in the hall.

Waste of money.

With dc so young and buggies you need something practical you can clean easily etc.

Had a carpet and it was buggered within months. And we're a no shoe house iyswim.

Replace the hall flooring with a good underlay and a dark, decent laminate with a high shine.

I love ours sorry if it's not what you wanted to hear though-we had new plush carpets upstairs at the beginning of he year and I love carpet. Much more homey. But down stairs it's all laminate, rugs and Lino. Just for convenience and cleaning at the mo.

Wentworth I am in Stirling..........where is this fantastic carpet shop that you speak of?!!

Ah Boys that is what I suspected........DH agrees with you that carpet would be a nightmare and within 6 months I would be irritated by the dirty carpet (and he is probably right, dammit! )

We did have laminate in the hall in our old house but it was just a short from vestibule whereas in the new house its a long hall running right through the middle of the house from front to back....

Come winter when it's all raining and everyone's has muddy, wet wellies and wheels you're not going to want to be worrying about who is standing where. Not while your lo are so young IMO

Just one more thing to worry about.

Good luck with baby though!

Hi - its called spruce carpets in Ibrox. It is a social enterprise project and they have a massive choice of carpets.
0141 425 1555.
Close to Ibrox subway.
You can get VERY cheap pieces. I also did an enormous bedroom for £200 including fitting. Allied quoted me £550.
It's so cheap you could change it when v dirty! Ha ha!

We had carpet in our hall. The best thing we ever did was to rip it up and have Amtico put down.

Agree with the other posters I'm afraid. We had a new cream put down in our hallway & stairs when we moved in as there was an awful pink carpet from previous owners. What a big mistake. Even pre- DD it was knackered from it being a high traffic area & we had a large mattered area as you come in the front door but still dirt seems to leap onto the carpet. Will be looking forward to pulling it up & replacing with something a bit more practical. Shame though as like you I think carpet feels like home.

I had carpets downstairs for years and was always shampooing them with my Kirby as the grotty look was not something I liked and we are shoes off at the door house. Now I have Amtico in hall and lounge with a nice large wool rug in the middle. I do miss the lounge carpet feels very cold in the winter. But on the whole I prefer flooring for ease of cleaning with a cat and two dogs.

Polypropylene carpet is astonishingly hard-wearing and stands up to violent cleaning. You can even use bleach but if you have an upright hoover and preferably a wet shampooer that will surely do, as it is non-absorbent sp resists stains.

It is cheaper than a good 80/20 too.

Berber carpet is hard wearing, and bare feet friendly! Only thing is, you must remember to switch the Hoover to the hard floor setting as the beater can grab the loops and unravel them.

Just had our hall done in stranded woven bamboo after researching floorting for what seemed like a century. It is gorgeous and feels warm underfoot even when you are walking around in bare feet, it also cleans very easily and is supposed to be very hardwearing in comparison to wood and laminate. My joiner was so impressed (he said it was very solid and as hard as teak to cut so he needed to get a new blade for his bench saw to even attempt it) that he kept getting random people in to have a look at it! It was about £25 per square metre as well so very reasonable.

We have a huge coir mat in laid just as you come in the door, it was about £50 iirc. Works well.