The tile you linked looked very 70's to me. You don't like slate?

How about this? They have a 4" hex. Its simulated encaustic.
They could have thought of a better name though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Olde English Tiles USA

palimpsest, thanks for sharing a great resource, both the Olde English Tiles and their sister site American Restoration Tile.

Honeychurch, you mentioned the age of your home, but not the style. That might help steer you in a general direction. Are you trying to be true to the style or just the era?

I agree with sabjimata, I definitely get a 70's early 80's vibe from the tile picture, although it could be different in person.

Kathe

I'm in the same boat you are - 1915 Craftsman home, porch addition - old encaustic tile existing on floor which can't be removed due to cost, etc.

I just called Olde English tile to get an estimate to recreate the look of my current floor. OMFG. $24 a square foot, will come out to about $5000, and that is without shipping to NJ.

NOT going to happen!

You can certainly use small hex in a kitchen. YOu sent a link to a hex and dot, which can read more modern.

The choice of grout can also make the hex read differentlly.

What I like most about hex is it's a bargain. I used Daltile 1 1/4 honed hex in a third fl bath. South Cypress floors sells it for $5.43 sq ft.

We put wide pine planks over wood floors in parts of house (1870) and installed radiant heat. It works fine. No cracking problems.

Slate or marble (or look-alikes) tile would be a period finish that can stand sub-floor heat.

It would also look nice with the color scheme you have selected.

Eandhl's post is exciting! If you can have that radiant heat without a problem, my vote would be for you to go with the pine planks installed over your current floor. Second choice would be to go with slate. Of course hex tile can be used in a kitchen! AFAIK there's no design law against doing that even though I personally can't warm to the idea. The bathroom floors in my old house (1909) -- like so many old houses in NYC -- are all hex tile and ]m not able to disengage from that association to see it "working in a kitchen.

why not consider cork. it has been use for centuries and is just making a 'comeback"
It wears well, feels great underfoot, is warm and can have radiant heating and the colours and designs are great.
i got mine through Duro designs ( who will send you great samples) and love love love it! So does everyone who sees it and invariably take off their shoes to stand on it

this is before the finish was applied. also the photo is lighter than i have. My choice was Baltico in Autumn brown

Here is a link that might be useful: cork floors

I've always been intrigued by the idea of hex floors in a period kitchen. I've seen some that make me go weak in the knees. Here are a few photos I've clipped.

Great pics, nutherokie!

Is linoleum usable with radiant heat? It's period appropriate, eco-friendly and comes in tons of colors and patterns. It's also durable and reasonably priced.

Thank you everyone for all the fast, informative responses!

Sabjimata--Eek! wasn't looking for 70s at all, just liked the color as an alternative to white. I'll have to see it in person. I do like slate--found this slate floor which might work, comes in other colors too. But again--too 70s?

Palimpsest, I had come across that site in my searches, and feared the price. Pretty tile, though!

Kathec, our house is probably what would be considered a Victorian farmhouse--not very ornate, but still has original doors and hinges, an arched double front door, front porch, etc. Most of the woodwork/trim has been painted white by previous owners. We are certainly not trying to recreate a period kitchen, but want it to look like it "belongs" to the house, if that makes sense.

Sivyaleah, you confirmed my fears about the price. Ouch.

Mtnrdredux, thanks for the info on the hex tile. One concern has that most places seem to only have white and black, and with 3 boys and a big dog, I have concerns about pure white...have read about people using a nice silver grey grout which is supposed to look nice and help with cleaning--do you find cleaning is an issue?

Eandhl, glad to know the wood worked for you--I do have a source for reclaimed pine so perhaps matching wouldn't be so difficult!

Lazygardens, I did think about a marble look porcelain and found this marble look tile in the Gold Cream color.

Marthavila, yes, in my research I have read that many feel hex is for bathrooms or Victorian hospitals, not kitchens LOL.

Muspic, I did get some cork samples, and it is actually period appropriate, but I am not sure I can get past the texture/look for this particular kitchen--though it sure would be more comfortable than anything else I'm considering!

Nutherokie--YES, thanks for these awesome photos! I do love this look so! Makes me smile! But as I said before, I would need to find it in something more "dirt-friendly" than white...obviously it exists as shown above, just have to search more, I guess.

Zeebee--I believe lino/marmoleum would work over the radiant, and I did get some pretty samples, but DH, while loving it in the sunroom (we did a fun checkerboard), is not at all interested in it for the kitchen. It would be comfy though!

I just actually realized, since I have been staring at floors more than usual (ha!) that all of my bathrooms have some version of that octagon/dot I originally linked to...so perhaps I should avoid that particular pattern for the kitchen! ;-)

We had many of the same problems choosing a floor that you're having. In the end, we decided to use toekick heaters instead of radiant heat and installed new hardwood. However, while trying to get to that decision, we researched every other possiblility for months. Encaustic and simulated encaustic tiles were my number one choice. The high price of the tile was bearable but finding a competent installer was too risky and would have at least doubled the price. Also, real encaustics stain terribly even when sealed (I got samples and tested them). We did finally find a supplier of portugese porcelain simulated encaustics that were very reasonably priced, but again, installation was a huge issue. We thought we'd do cork and in some ways, I'm sorry we didn't. I just wasn't convinced it would work with radiant.

If you want tile, there are two that might work for you, both made by Crossville. One is an 8 x 8 matte finish color through porcelain, from the Cross Colors series . We put it in the mudroom in black and white and it looks terrific, very period. They also make a 4" hex that I think would look great but would probably be expensive to install.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crossville 4

Honey church -

Our contractor used a grout from HD, I think it was Delorean Grey. We've had it about 18 months and I love it. I agree white grout on a floor is a bad idea. Black looks nice but too busy to me.

Best of luck.

PS Also a hueg fan of cork. I once lived in an apartment that had it in the kitchen .... from the 20's! And it looked and felt great. Im using it in several areas in my new home.

Cheri127, thanks for the Crossville link!

I will pull out my cork samples and take another look at them.

Also ordering some samples of hex today, I'll let you all know how it goes! :-)

I have never understood the "hex = bathroom" thing.

I honestly think it's just one of those forum urban legend things -- someone here once said it as their, then it was repeated, then it somehow became "people think".

I think hex looks great.

I'd look at as I'd look at anything else: do you like it, is is suitable for its purpose (easy to clean, durable, nonslip, is noise etc. an issue). Forget other people.

Cork, surprisingly, is supposed to wear well.

If you like the Olde English, those are a style called encaustic -- smooth concrete tiles. You will find a variety made by different companies and the prices may be better.

Good luck!

Thanks growlery. I actually found some cool penny round tiles in cork that can be used on walls and floors, and would love to use it, but at $15/sq ft it may be too much for my budget. They also recommend seal with polyurethane yearly for wet applications (which I assume a kitchen/laundry area would be), so it may be too much maintenace for a family who has had dead hanging plants on the front porch for 2 weeks LOL.

Here is a link that might be useful: cork penny round

I vote for wood. I have original wood on the floor in the main part of the kitchen & salvaged wood (both pine) where the addition is. I think it looks fine. Yes, it looks different, but it's an old house and has a lot of those kinds of quirks. I like it.

Solid color slate, maybe green, in a herringbone pattern with matching grout - or would that be too much with your chimney?

Similar scenario here -- 1927 Tudor revival and we are keeping/restoring the original gumwood cabinets -- they are midtone and very warm in color. Had found some travertine that was a great color match but then felt that the travertine would not look like it was original to the house. In the sunroom there are 6x6 quarry tiles in browns. I'm not crazy about them but they point to how the kitchen should look. I found some matte (slight glaze) quarry tiles from Seneca tiles -- they make them in both a plain tile and a handmade tile, which is just perfect -- has enough rusticity to complement the old wood but also still looks like it could be original. I am going to use 6x6 and am trying to get up the courage to do an ivory and light mocha checkerboard with a darker brown border. Seneca has many tiles that would work in an old house. They are still made in an old fashioned beehive kiln in Ohio. I have to say that while they are gorgeous they would not be my first choice if I were starting with a blank slate-- but they work really well in my old house.

I love little hex tiles. I think you can do anything you
like and make it look amazing. I have only one image of
a "period" kitchen with little tiles. Maybe it can help you
with ideas.

~boxer

Ordered a lot of samples today from daltile and also American universal. Some slate, some porcelain that looks like slate and marble, and some hex tiles in almond, bone, and this one too (below)--you may have to click on "enlarge" at sx208 to see the color pattern properly. DH likes the hex, but not all the little flowers, so one like this with a variation in color might be good for both of us.

I greatly appreciate all of your input and advice--I will try to post again when I have narrowed down the field and see what you all think! :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: SX 208 hex tile

I found this image while just browsing at beautiful
spaces and I thought of you. It is not exactly what
you were looking for but at least you can see hex
are done in kitchens and look fantastic.
~boxer

Decor Happy Blog

By chance, I was in Home Depot yesterday to buy a sliding door and wandered into the tile aisle not expecting to find anything worthwhile. I was pleasantly surprised to find a 16" x 16" glazed ceramic terracotta tile with a Mission style feel to it. It has "grout lines" in a sand color already in it with a geometric diamond in the middle of each tile with little black fleur de lis at each point, and another black stylized small pattern in each corner of the tile. Price? Comes out to $2.05 psf.

I'll probably be picking it up in a few days. I bought one piece to match up to my cabinet and counter sample just to be sure and sit with a couple of days to see if it "felt" right. My house is a Craftsman with Praire/Mission elements, and I think with the right backsplash, this will work pretty well.

Just received a bunch of samples today, including the multi-colored hex (colors were good, but it appears unglazed, which I didn't like--also my son dropped it and many of the tiles chipped, completely removing the color from the surface). Also a 1" matte glazed in almond (more light tan) and a 2" matte in bone (more toward cream). They are both really nice but we all think we like the 2" more--the color is a bit better for us and we all thought the larger tile would be better for the kitchen (though still going back and forth about this as the 1" is so classic!). We'd have to find a good grout to use to mask the dirt (along the lines of silver grey for white tiles), maybe an ambery color?

Still waiting on a few other porcelain samples (mostly 12x12's) as well as more cork samples in interesting colors....I will have to come up with some craft project to use all these samples when I am done! :-)

If you want wood, you can put engineered hardwood over radiant heat.