Foyer entrance advice needed

i personally prefer tiles in the front hallway....better durability for wet/snow shoes etc.

As the front closet is just at the entrance to the dining room, I would have the tile going up to meet the hardwood in the dining room. People will be coming in from the front door and you will be using the front closet to hang up coats and whatnot so the entire area will be used to put on and remove outside clothing and footwear.

I would though suggest that you reconsider a high gloss white tile. We have high gloss porcelain tiles in our foyer and it is difficult to keep clean. Regardless of how little water I use to mop the floors, they dry streaky. This will be really noticeable on a large 24x24 tile. To keep gloss tiles looking great, you have to mop and then dry them to prevent streaking. It's a PIA.

skeet50 wrote: ↑ As the front closet is just at the entrance to the dining room, I would have the tile going up to meet the hardwood in the dining room. People will be coming in from the front door and you will be using the front closet to hang up coats and whatnot so the entire area will be used to put on and remove outside clothing and footwear.

I would though suggest that you reconsider a high gloss white tile. We have high gloss porcelain tiles in our foyer and it is difficult to keep clean. Regardless of how little water I use to mop the floors, they dry streaky. This will be really noticeable on a large 24x24 tile. To keep gloss tiles looking great, you have to mop and then dry them to prevent streaking. It's a PIA.

Yea for sure, unfortunately we are sold on the gloss and are willing to take on that battle. One person mentioned it didn’t flow with the tile coming up all the way due to the office being in between the two. I don’t see it but had me second guessing.

I have hardwood throughout my house including the front entrance and kitchen. Bathrooms have marble tile.

The front entrance has been fine after 20 years of hardwood. We have a small area rug there.

Our front porch is covered so much of the snow from shoes and boots is brushed off out there, and in the winter months we sometimes put a mat down and use the back door quite a bit which opens to a mudroom with tile.

If it was me, I'd go with hardwood throughout - no tile at the front door.

Tiles in foyer to the dining room.

I too favour the tiles for the entirety of the foyer up to the dining room. Because the coat closet is there, it would make sense that during winter months (or with kids) you may be more likely to be in and out of that closet with shoes and boots on. Further, if you are, you're also more likely to put down rubber matting during the winter, and you don't want that on top of hardwood.

As someone who used to have a home with only the foyer tiled beside the door, it's not practical, especially during the winter. Everyone files in or out of the house at the same time and there is no room for people to take on/off their shoes.

From your floor plan, I can easily see you guys putting a bench beside that door so that you can sit while putting on your shoes/boots, especially if you have kids or seniors, and in the winter to put on winter boots.

I also agree with @skeet50, the white gloss tiles. Textured tiles would be less slippery unless of course you plan to put down floor mats.

I think tiles would stand up better overall with seasonal stuff being tracked in (snow, salt, leaves). I like to use Bijar Rugs (Persian--very dense, wear-like-iron carpets) at my entry points. The colours/sizes/patterns available are beautiful and varied. They are very forgiving: they handle all the crap that comes in from outside and still look great. Not cheap, but care taken they last for generations. (I get mine professionally cleaned every 4 or 5 years).

Bring the tile up to the study entrance wall or somewhere in between there and the entrance. The way you drew it is almost pointless function wise. Give yourself a bit more room for you and other people to be able to take off shoes on tiled area without having to step on hardwood.

Infloor heating where you use most bare feet is a bonus.

OP, in the third pic with what I assume would be the model home, how big are those tiles? Are they 18x18?

If so, then it looks like it's 4 tiles or 72" deep before the opening to the study? 6ft deep is large enough for a tiled area. I would then definitely consider extending the hardwood right up to the study.

On the other hand if those are 12x12 tiles, then 4ft deep is a bit shallow IMO, but still doable, though might be a tight fit. Like I said, if lots of people pile in and out at the same time, it will tight and someone will be bound to step on your hardwood flooring with their shoes/boots.

If it's less than 4ft, don't even consider it.

My foyer with closet is 9ft deep, and I use about 6ft of it to move around with kids and family in the morning. We definitely fill that space easily when we all come in, or when guests come over. No one is going stand outside, especially in the winter, waiting for the person in front of them to take off their shoes.

Seems to be near consensus here, I'd leave the tile covering all the foyer as many pointed out the closet in there, so there will be traffic. My 2nd preference would be all wood (if anticipate less traffic or messier traffic diverted via garage entrance, or use of rugs) since it will be the most nice-looking and by far 3rd place is that partial tile layout, that's just not good aesthetically or practical imho. Have the tile as big as possible to reduce grout lines.

Forgot to mention, if you do decide on tiles, consider installing them on a 45 degree angle (this probably looks better with 18" tiles). This "fools the eye" and creates the appearance of greater width in this space. It would make this foyer/hall look less like a bowling alley. It would increase the cost slightly (more wasted tile).

For a thread based entirely on opinion, I have hardwood, no issues.

I'd go with pic #2 with the small mat size tile area and the rest of the lower area in hardwood. Either that or all hardwood with a throw rug at the door.

I know the closet is further down the hall, but noone is going to walk to the closet wearing there dirty boots or shoes. They will all be left at the door.

We have the same layout and have tiles all the way thru. You probably have to go all tiles or all hardwood to get a nice look. We prefer tiles as its easier to clean and maintain. Streaking is not as big a problem as its made out to be and we have gloss finish tiles. And we have a dog who comes in with wet snow at least 3 times a day. Pre covid we also had friends over quite often and 15-20 people coming in for dinner. We put a weather proof area rug down at the front door over the tiles, a wall mirror and bench with storage opposite the closet. Most practical to sit and remove/put boots on. The area rug dries quickly as there is a vent near the front door too. We have a rug outside the front door too. Every 2-3 weeks we run a steam mop over the tiles - these steam cleaners are approx $40-60 and cleans the tiles in 5-10 mins. Vacuum the house every week. Otherwise a simple wet paper towel wipe for spot cleaning and use a dry one to dry it up. No biggie.
Also as another poster suggested, we have our tiles at a 45 angle so it does not look like a long corridor.

All hardwood is the way to go for a modern look.

Wood look tiles. Problem solved! We considered these types of tiles at our front door as well, but decided on stone tiles instead and have hardwood surrounding an area around the front door.

irie17 wrote: ↑ In the process of picking options for our new home. My wife and I are conflicted on whether to keep our tile (big 24x24 white gloss) extended to the dinning room or bring our hardwood all the way down with a smaller tile section. Any advice would be great ! (Pics below)

We had the same decision to make, ended up with tiles all the way to dinette and kitchen area due to the concern of high traffic area and easy to get wet floor in kitchen area. Our entire house including second floor is all hardwood floor except the area mentioned above.

The major issue of using tiles is that it is inevitably they could crack some where sooner or later especially for the bigger tile. And it is hard to replace provided you have/can find matching tiles.....

exrcoupe wrote: ↑ Wood look tiles. Problem solved! We considered these types of tiles at our front door as well, but decided on stone tiles instead and have hardwood surrounding an area around the front door.

It looks great. Where did you get his wood look tiles ? and how much per sq ft ? I am thinking eventually to replace the tiles from foyer to kitchen with this. However, there are two concerns: 1) Our kitchen cabinets are all dark expresso color, so the kitchen might look too dark with dark cabinets along with dark tiles, 2) I am not sure how easy to replace the tiles underneath the existing kitchen counter top. Do they have to remove all counter to do so ?

Thanks

Ceramic Tiles are easier to maintain and clean.

For most who live in Canada with the winter .... unless if you have a BLOODY THICK MAT THAT SOAKS UP THE SNOW YOU BRING INSIDE THE HOUSE ... it would be detrimental to wood flooring. ABSOLUTELY NOBODY would mop up the water that seeps through the mat underneath.

Hardwood may look good but to maintain in the entrance area would not be great.

Besides ... it gives definition and separation of areas.