Hall floor - Wood or tiles please?

[AllBuggiedOut]

Which do you have, and what are the pros and cons please?

Our house is about 300 years old, in a village. Don't think we can strip the floorboards because it would be very draughty and we couldn't do it over the whole ground floor so we'd end up with different levels. The of the rest of the house needs decorating too, so there's no particular "style" I need to fit in with, other than it does feel like an old house.

Thanks in advance!

For Gods sake don't go with ceramic tiles. They might be hard-wearing and washable but they are bl*y cold, and hard if lo's fall over,and they are like a skating rink when wet. Go for wood instead, or look at Karndean -like lino but in lots of lovely designs, can look like tiles, or wood or metal. I have this in my kitchen (sandstone tiles effect)and bathroom (wood effect) and it's warm, clean, beautful.

Ta - anyone else?

Wood is a much warmer surface and I think it looks more comforting and homely than tile.

I have tiles on my kitchen floor. Really, in the morning, spilt water is ice, it is that cold in winter. It is also slippery. If the floor is still "wet" after mopping, you get dried up footprints from sandals/shoes/slippers. Stains and dust is very visible. If you drop a glass, or an aluminum pot or something, the tile may chip.

If a child falls from a chair, for example, you find yourself in A&E with possible concussion before you know it.

I've wood in my hallway. I really like it. Sweep it clean in winter, or slightly damp microfibre if muddy. No problems slipping so far (it's been in 6 yrs now) or really any probs. We had a door matt fitted into the wood floor, so it is flush just inside it. Works great.

Definitely wood. Tiles are incredibly slippy after mopping, and they're cold and hard.

Also, the dirt gets into the grouting very quickly, and it's a nightmare of a job to keep it clean.

Good point about the grouting, hasn't thought of that. We have ceramic tiles in our kitchen too - and I do hate them for all the reasons pointed out here! I just wondered whether a textured stone-effect tile (something that looks like slate or limestone) might be harder wearing than wood and not too slippery...

It would be harder wearing, I'd imagine. If you can source one where the grouting is very shallow you might be OK.

With regard to the slipperiness when wet, sometimes it's better just to spot clean with a cloth .. and give a full mop only occasionally when everyone's out ... (except the mopper, that is!)

Something tells me you favour the tile/stone option?

Very undecided! I'm worried that an engineered wooden floor will look to "new and shiny" in an old house. (Although I guess the DSs will soon have made enough dents in it to look "distressed"!) And solid wood is probably too expensive. Oh to be rich...

Wood but not oiled finish.

Well, you're right about the cost of a hardwood floor.

In view of the age of the house, if you feel that stone flooring is more in keeping, I'd go for that option. You can always soften it up with a long runner.

As a mum to a ds who split his head open on the stone tiled flooring in the bathroom, I'd choose wood.

Your poor DS, Heated. Did he need stitches?

Is oiled wood a nightmare sj?

His head was glued back together.

Can't believe how much it added to the cost of the bathroom having this ice-skating rink of a floor laid.

Should have opted for lino!

Grouting doesn't get (visibly) dirty if you choose grey grouting. We had black grout with brown ceramic tiles in our last kitchen and I hated it!
Solid wood needn't be that expensive, and looks miles better than laminate. Or as I said before, look at Karndean.

Go for wood (for all the reasons everyones mentioned).

If you're worried about new wood looking out of place in an old house why not buy reclaimed wood.

We've got reclaimed floor boards throughout our downstairs hall and utility room as a lot of the area was extended recently so we need "new" floor. We've also got reclaimed parquet flooring in the bathroom -gorgeous!

Not tiles. We have tiles in our hall and kitchen and they are a nightmare. Everything you drop on them instantly breaks into a thousand pieces (countless mugs, milk bottles, plates in our house), they are very slippery when wet, and it hurts children's heads when they fall over or throw themselves onto the ground in a tantrummy rage.