May I ask what flooring you have in your hall?

[archfiend]

We currently have a very manky carpet put down by previous owners. I hate it and want rid but have no idea what to replace it with (apart from not carpet!).

Previous houses were Victorian and had quarry tile floors, but this house was built in the 70's and I don't think it would work.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

We have a Victorian house with black and white encaustic tiled floor. My friend has a 60s house and has a solid oak floor- looks perfectly in keeping- is timeless really and practical too.

We have a 1950s house - have just removed the previous owners hall carpet and put down engineered oak flooring. Am pleased with it and more practical as no porch and easier to clean than carpet - however, not quite sure what to clean it with properly yet.

Exactly the same as jigglebum - 50's house but revamped, updated and extended 2 years ago by us and we have engineered wide oak planks all of downstairs, incl hall.

I clean ours with a very well wrung out mop with a heavily diluted mix of floor cleaner. I then get down on my hands and knees with a floor cloth for the bits of encrusted Weetabix etc that have been missed.

< Oh the glamorous life I lead>

Engineered Oak here, modern (2005) house.

Oak. Victorian House

Parquet here. It is varnished so you can (lightly) mop it. Wood flooring in the hall is very practical.

Pine floorboards, varnished 6 times, so keeps well. Victorian house.

Thanks! Engineered oak is a definitely a possibility, have just ordered some samples online so will see how it looks.

We have bamboo flooring in our hall which looks lovely. Having said that, it is quite glossy so it does get scratched but still looks great.

Wider and longer boards of the oak are more expensive but do look nicer. DP is a carpenter so excuse the geek comment!

geek comments welcome! I would go for the wider boards anyway I think - the hall isn't huge so I could afford to spend a bit more to get a better finish IYSWIM

Modern house, Karndean flooring in Macrocapra. Hugely practical

quickstep laminate (Oak plank style) been down about 7 years and still looks fine if you can see it through the crap cluttering the hall

Reclaimed floorboards, varnished with a matt/satin varnish. Great looking and very practical (ie.hides a multitude of dirt and marks!).

(house varies from 1850s in parts to 2006 in others)

Been in a couple of houses with an inlaid piece of matting (you know like the mat that sits outside the front door) which i think looks neat and probably gets the worst dirt off shoes before you walk down your oak floored hallway!

Bamboo.

We have the inlaid/recessed mats in footwells by the front and back doors -I highly recommend them if there is any way you can incorporate them in your hall

We have a recessed mat thing in our very small porch. I wondered about Karndean flooring but wasn't sure how tough it was. Think you have pretty much sold me on engineered oak so I will await my samples and look forward to getting rid of the carpet!