Best flooring for hallway

OhPinchy

I renovating the house I've just bought and am ready to pour concrete to level the floors and will then be ready to lay the flooring but am trying to figure out what is the best material to put in the hallway and utility room.

Originally planned going with solid walnut throughout downstairs but am now considering putting tiles in the hallway and the utility room that it leads directly into. Back door is in utility and we dont have rear access (well we do put through a laneway) so I can see the wheely bin being brought through the utility to hallway to front door and maybe bikes aswell.

I think a durable material is needed for these rooms – leakages in washing machine in utility may damage a wooden floor.

Girlfriend is not pushed on the idea of tiles as she says the hallway wont be very welcoming. I reckon it could work out nice enough- anyone have any experience with a tiled hallway?

Any other materials that you’d recommend like slate or something?

Also anyone know of a good spot to pick up tiles at a decent price?

Fredser

Hi
If it's going to be a dirty area (mucky bikes,bins etc) then i would go for tiles for ease of washing - you can't soak a wood-floor.

I have a tiled hall that worked out well.

For ceramic tiles RIGHT PRICE TILES are the most reasonable followed by tilemarket and then Lucretia tiles in Lucan.

Don't go near Nationwide Tiles!

F

MorningStar

Tiles in the utility room is a really good idea. It is an even better idea to put in an extra drain in the floor if you can do it easily too.
The hall may appear cold and also you won't change it very eaily. It ties you into a particular look for a long time too. If you have no side entrance I would go with tiles. THe amount of things that would be brought through the house make tiles a lot more practicle.

Dr. Loon

We put tiles (albeit) very expensive ones in our hallway. It's pretty much going to be the most used area in your house, so it's good to have something durable and easy to clean there. The tiles we got look kind of like slate, very oriental looking, and they are really really nice.

I'd well recommend paying for a nice tile in the hall, as it's a small space (usually). We could afford to spend that little bit more on a quality tile there. I'm glad we didn't put wooden flooring down now, as it would probably be wrecked.

Lex Luthor

my Dad & sister both told me they were putting in tils in their hallways and I thought it would look cold and un-inviting, but not a chance. Dad even went and continued tiles into his lounge/dining area and it looks fine.
He broke up the tile pattern a little in the hall and it made it look less clinical.

As for utility room....tiles for me are the only option.

patrido

my cousin has tiles in his hallway (as well as most of downstairs) and I think it looks fantastic. It makes it look like and feel like a more upmarket house, and much more "continental".

Macy

B&Q worth a look for tiles as well.

OhPinchy

some good points there alright and I'll look into the extra drain in utility room cos it sounds like a good idea.

To those who have seen tiles in a hallway - what style and colour have they generally been?

Girlfriend likes the idea of red on the walls in the hall (I'd be interested in views on this), the floors in adjoining rooms would be walnut - any ideas on what styles and colours might work for us? For some reason I'm picturing bright enough tiles - maybe something beige/cream.

jayc

As stated by all so far, tiles will be the easiest for cleaning. My sister in law has walnut flooring in the hallway and it shows up every bit of dirt. They only moved into their house 2 months ago and she wishes she never put it down.

In terms of tiles, we are currently getting tiles for our new house and it's fair to say that I've seen enough tiles at this stage to last me a life time. Initially looked at Porcelain as the polished ones look great in a hall however a few points
a) They are a lot more expensive
b) As they are polished any water splashes will make them lethal
c) Your tiler charges a good bit extra (we were told about 30%) as they need to use a wet saw to cut and they are more difficult to work with as they are normallt thicker and harder than ceramic ones.
d) Cheaper procelain tiles are avaiable form some suppliers but these are normally from China and you need to seal them between laying and grouting using a brush on adheive which is an extra cost and hassle.

You can get unpolished porcelain which is cheaper, doesn't have the slip issues and doesn't require sealing, however to the untrained eye its hard to tell the differnce between these and ceramic and so its difficult to know if they are worth the price. However they do come in nicer shapes i.e 60cmx30cm, 50cmx30cm which may look better in a hall where as ceramic tiles are normally square.

As for colour schemes try these links for ideas

http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/colour_index.shtml

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/templates/contentlookup.jsp?content=/bq_advice/decorate_it/

Remember paint can be easily changed as can accesories such as rugs etc in your hall, but if you get a mad shade of tile that will date in a few years or a big design as the feature it is much more difficult and expensive to change this!

For the record I bought my tiles in Tubs and Tiles down here in the West. Had looked at Right Price Tiles, Tile Warehouse, Tile Savers and other local shops. Found T&T the best to deal with and the more you buy, the more they can cut you a deal.

The Rooster

Friend of mine put in a polished marble type tile and it looks fantastic - he has underfloor heating which means it is not cold.
Amtico(.com) is another option - more expensive but very durable (20 year guarantee I think), easy to maintain, yet not as "hard" as a tile.

Lex Luthor

OhPinchy wrote:

To those who have seen tiles in a hallway - what style and colour have they generally been?

Girlfriend likes the idea of red on the walls in the hall (I'd be interested in views on this), the floors in adjoining rooms would be walnut - any ideas on what styles and colours might work for us? For some reason I'm picturing bright enough tiles - maybe something beige/cream.

both my dad & sister went for regular 13" square ceramic tiles....sisters were a green/brown and dads were a cream/beige type. Nothing spectacular...usual what you see in any of teh big tile shops.

As for red in the hall? We did the mad thing when we moved into our house years ago and put a dulux colour called faded rose on the bottom 1/3rd and the top 2/3rds over the dado rail was white....didn't last too long...most houses these days have small halls so we have changed it to a more netral liquer/cream colour and got rid of the carpet and put oak floor and it makes the place feel twice as big & bright.