If time is of the essence in the contract, and he didn't meet that date he is in breach of contract. In other words he is screwed.

I haven't met a single contractor who will enter a contract with time is of the essence unless he has plenty of time to do it and he is 101% sure he will meet that date.

In court that is an automatic loss no matter how you swing it and he better be ready to pay.

You need an interior designer to help you with decisions about things like this.

Install a high velocity blower like they have at the exit of a carwash just outside the front door and install any flooring you darn well please.

I would recommend doing hardwood throughout - that way the cleaning is also easy and the flow of the house tends to be better- more uniform. I tend to stay away from area rugs due to allergens for health reasons. Since you have a mudroom this entry is just for guests.

We went with a patterned tile in our 6x6 entry and I love it. It makes our entry feel special. We don't have a mudroom and even with a boot scrapper and rug outside, I find we drag in more snow than I like. Your guests will not come through the mudroom. I would be worried for the wood, but that's just me.

Pointless!!!!! You will cover it with an area rug anyway.

Why? Something needs to absorb grit and damp at ANY entry.

Min fact, the wood I'll be safer, smoother, no built in "size" to consider.

So! There is the warning you will hate it when installed!

Bet you will be back here too:)

does your door clear an entry carpet? because... they all don't.

I have wood at the front entry,tile at the side and that is the door most used. Both have rugs. The heavy traffic tile area has a rug from Karastan's Spice Market line in the winter. Cleans up beautifully and I live in snow country.

Wood will visually expand this small -- presumably 'formal' foyer.

Our house has hardwood flooring throughout, including the foyer and kitchen. The back hall, laundry and bathrooms have tile floors. I have a wool oriental in our foyer, with an innocuous and inexpensive runner immediately inside the entry door and a thirsty mat outside it. House is 17 years old, near Chicago.

You can buy a lot of rugs for the cost of laying tile -- and repairing chips in tile. You will want a rug with either wood or tile.

I have a wood foyer right now, and next house will have all tile. You'll put a rug over both of them, but living in a snow state I have having an exterior door touching wood.

People come in, and snow falls between the door sill and the rug. Snow/water finds its way to the edge of the rug then water sits under the rug. 5 people come in at once and there isn't enough space, so someone walks off the rug with wet shoes. Then there's kids that aren't even thinking of keeping the floor dry.

I feel like I'm constantly having to check my wood foyer and wipe it up. Tile is easy to clean...

An outdoor mat and boot scrapper works wonders. And folks can take their shoes off on the front porch if excessive snow, mud or water is an issue.

There's lots of ways to deal with the weather issues.

But...everyone to their own choice.

As to what works best in a very small entry space...that's a design issue and a maintainence issue.

In my house, kilim rugs do the job. But even sisal or similar rugs, mats or runners will work.

JAN MOYER is on point as always! Dont over complicate the entry way flooring.

Not getting the 'door touching wood' thing. Our entry door is wood. The threshold is wood. Maybe I just don't have enough guests in winter!

WE use the family entry...garage or back door to back hall...which is tiled up to the kitchen (wood).

My childhood home had a vestibule with tile, then a foyer (carpeted, like the rest of the house in those days of old).

"the space between the rug and the door"..................

Is there a reason you are making this hard? It's the part people step right OVER and onto a rug. After wiping their feet on your outside mat. Is the the RAINFOREST??? : ) A muddy farm?

You wash wood floors and get more water on them than this mental agony. Floors get damp, wet, get wiped up , are meant to be WALKED on. Water on tile needs to be wiped up too.. it can get slippery. It is just wheel reinvention. It's a wood floor. They last DECADES with the basic and reasonable care. I don't want to visit you if all you will do is worry about "the greet" and what may be spilled...........lol.

Even old homes with air lock type vestibules had a rug on the tile or brick, or slate in that entry. All of them.

From your comments it appears you would like tile. Of the two options you provided I personally like option 1. I like that it is larger. I assume you will go with dark grout?

hard disagree with Jan on this one. may depend on where you live, but we usually have three people coming into the house at one time, and the door swings over the mat you might wipe your feet on, so you always have to step off it relatively quickly, and it's impossible not to make puddles everywhere. replacing our wood with tile during a recent renovation was a no-brainer -- and yes, that's despite having a covered doorway, a mat outside, and boot trays inside. if you live where there's a lot of rain and/or snow, you just end up spending time wiping up. tile is easy. (we went with a medium tone solid in our small entrance (4x6 maybe?) with no threshold between tile and wood.)

I'm dense. I also spent an entire winter a couple decades ago helping a sister trapped in her tree house condo after a wipe out Maximus on a tile entry . Use a RUG!! Every surface needs one. Wood , tile, linoleum, mark oleum, marble , porcelain , slate, ceramic, brick! Name it. You need a walk off rug at entry points

m111675, for what it's worth, I think you will be happier with the look of wood in that small space. Changing to tile will likely make the space seem even smaller than it is. Many, if not most, people put some kind of rug in their foyer regardless of flooring material. If you are concerned about cleaning the rug, you might want to think about a polypropylene one. Safaviah makes nice ones that you can buy for reasonable prices. Here's an example:

https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Safavieh-Courtyard-Quatrefoil-Grey-Beige-Indoor-Outdoor-Rug/7357010/product.html?refccid=N45IJSGDQCTY4MSOGM5HYP62FI&searchidx=6

I've even seen them at Costco on occasion. I've had one under my kitchen table and it has lasted for years, and it can be cleaned quite easily with soap and water.

Tile....

Tile is slippery when wet since that seems to be a concern. Grout is much more difficult to keep clean compared to hardwood. In a space that size I would go for the continuity of wood.

Everyone has had great comments, thank you!! So I need to finally decide. Here is a photo of the space (wood was just laid; final stained color will be darker), and I've included a possibility for the tile (not definite) for the front entry if do tile there. What do you think? Tile or wood there in front entry? And like this possibility for tile there? It's a porcelain mosaic. Have to decide asap. If do tile, want to be sure smooth, seamless transition between tile and wood. Is that possible? Look forward to your feedback. Thank you!

All WOOD:). This is simple. Give yourself a Xmas gift! Simplicity ! And an entry rug! Alllllllllll. Wood

Agree, all wood. I've had hardtwood flooring in the front and back entries of 3 homes. It's classic, creates a visual flow and with the right rug it's as easy care as it gets.

We have a 6 x 6 entry with slate tiles and then wood floor in the rest of the house. We did it for two reasons: One, we have a lot of snow and visitors and didn't want people tracking it in on my wood floors, two, it defines the small entryway as an entry/foyer. I like it.

We're in the process of remodeling. We have wood floors everywhere except the front and back entry ways. Why? Because we live in the north with lots of snow and slush from October-April. My sister has wood at her entry and it is a pain! Always wiping up puddles because large groups have to step off the rug to take off boots and shoes! I don't have to wipe up the puddles on the tile until I feel like it and by that time, the puddle is dry. Lol. I put a slate looking porcelain in my entries.

I like the tile. do a metal edging between it and the wood for the transition. it's hardly noticeable. or, if the tile/wood same thickness, just butt it right up to the wood with careful cutting.

(I'd still do a border of wood around the tile)

if you're going to use a rug, then just do your wood. doesn't make sense to do a patterned accent tile and then cover it with a rug! that is meant to take the place of an accent rug. if you want to do a mat or something, then put one outside or have a place for guest to remove their shoes (if you're worried about dirt and such)

and yes, the porcelain would be better than natural stone. much easier to clean. (although slate is pretty easy too once it's sealed)

I happen to like the accent look. others don't. I really don't see what the diff is if you do wood and lay down a patterned rug, or just do the patterned tile! we rarely use our front door as an entrance, so keeping the area clean isn't an issue for me. if you get a ton of use, then maybe you want a rug. or just have a no shoes allowed policy like they do in hawaii. (or my house!)

and yes, I love the black herringbone look w/wood. (I think I posted that way up at the top)

Back when home building ( 1920 ) made some sense in the four season climates, you had an air lock, a vestibule. with a second entry door, and it was many times glass. It's purpose wasn't to protect your flooring it was to protect the inefficient, less even heat and save you from a blast of icy cold air. The floor was brick.......tile, slate. It was a contained space.

We no longer have that nice little contained space. If we did? We'd not use it. Neighbors don't knock on front doors when out for a walk anymore. Folks like Beth above? Common for it not even to get opened! We go in and out of garages attached to the house.

In wide open spaces as today, where a "foyer" is in name only, that? ONE surface please? Wood and a rug solve the rain, snow dirt.........and ........ the tile just breaks the space, and makes the rug harder to find. So you can COVER it. Kinda dumb in my book : ) Like the loss of air lock vestibules.

Honestly? : ) Wood. Don't chop up flooring in a home unless a serious need to do so. This is not one of those.

If you're going to use a rug, IMO....it really makes no difference in using tile or wood. Most is going to be covered up anyway. But then again, it might look better having wood on the edge.

More exciting than "over" or "under" toilet paper!

I almost always have tile or stone rather than wood at the entries.