Wood flooring near pool entrance?

4 years ago

I am trying to pick a new flooring material for my kitchen and family room area. I would like it to be one continuous material because there is not a good transition area. I am debating between hardwood (maybe parquet?) and a large format porcelain tile in a travertine-like pattern. The cost is close enough for either option.

Our considerations:

1. The pool door is located in the family room, and we have little kids (and future teenagers!), and pool season is about 6 months long. Does this dictate that tile is the right choice, or is there some wood product that would work? We don’t want to be obsessing about water drips for the next 15 years. Does anyone else have experience with hardwood near a pool area?

2. We strongly prefer the look and warmth of wood. I had hardwood in the kitchen of my last house, so I know that works for us. The only thing aesthetically I’m not sure about is that we have stained wood baseboards and trim that we are hoping to keep. Would that look weird with hardwood floors?

3. There are two transition areas from existing hardwood floors. These are 3’ doorways, and the installers tell us they can make it look good by matching the stain if we get hardwood, but something like LVT is not a good option for us.

What material would everyone recommend for us?

Featured Answer

PRO

JAN MOYER

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Big outdoor mat, and a big basket of towels at the patio door. DRY OFF s bit. Little kids can't be left untended for even a nano second at a pool, and bigger kids can be trained...........: )

You don't want wet tile, any more than wet hardwood. So get the hardwood.

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Comments (9)

partim
4 years ago
I have tile in my kitchen and much of my main floor and have never regretted it. We don't have a pool but are avid gardeners and bicyclists. It's nice not to worry about stuff getting tracked into the house. We wear slippers indoors so floor hardness is not an issue for us.
aph84 thanked partim
megs1030
4 years ago
Our patio entry is in our eating area and goes right out to a pool. We have hardwood in our entire first floor. Our kids (ages 9 & 10) do sometimes come in while wet, but we are quick to wipe up drips when they do. We've had no issues in the 3 years we've lived in our house.
aph84 thanked megs1030
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Someone on another forum said 'design for the life you have, not the life you wish you had'. I have wood floors, I love wood floors; I do not have a pool and will never have a pool. The whole landing idea seems pointless to me. If you could 'train' the kids to stand on the landing and dry off, why not dry off outside? If you suspect they'll rush into the house and hit the fridge without thinking (like I would have done at that age) accept reality and go with porcelain. My mother has porcelain floors that visitors always say, "I love your travertine". Some of the porcelains are very good replicas. I have personally not seen any good wood-look tile. It might exist, the stuff I've seen is not good. You might price out the cost of having poly applied every few years because, in my old region, that was $3.00 a sq. ft. I don't like to be a slave to my house and possessions, and I don't want to be grouchy with my family for not being more careful. So I tend to opt for easier maintenance. For me, wood is ideal, I'm not sure it is for you.
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The area where you live (super hot climate vs. temperate) will dictate which is more appropriate for your situation. Someone in Seattle would be happier with LVT than someone in Florida. In Florida, tile is the norm, whereas in temperate areas or areas with a true winter, the tiles would be poo-pooed by the next homeowner. The value of your home is also part and parcel as to what works. It would be ill advised to install $25K worth of tile if your home is only worth $100K. The opposite is true of course. The true measure should also be the homeowner themselves. There are LVT products out there that are phthalates free (more expensive) and allow or have cork underlayment as part of their construction (again, more expensive). The cork underlayment will help (a little bit) with the echo in the space. And BTW...both vinyl and tile will have almost identical issues with echo. The vinyl will be a SNICK better. If you add the cork (assuming it is allowed) it will be a bit better than that. But that's as good as it gets. Both have issues with noise. A vinyl plank with all the things you want = $4-$6/sf for material. Install is a bit cheaper than tile...but if this is glued down then it won't be much cheaper. At the end of the day, a HIGH END glue down vinyl plank with an allowed cork underlay (also glued) will cost the SAME amount as a nice porcelain tile installed. Once all the bills are paid, you are going to be within a few hundred dollars of each other. Which leads me to say - get what you want and what works for your family. Be aware of the inherent value of your home and your area but get what works for YOU. And remember: babies are only little for a few years. After that they become more adept at avoiding hurtful situations.
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aph84
Original Author
4 years ago

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Surrey Project · More Info

The pictures above show what we like most aesthetically, if wood can work near the pool.
aph84
Original Author
4 years ago
Tile would be something similar to this:

https://www.flooranddecor.com/porcelain-tile/crosscut-travertine-matte-porcelain-tile-912500101.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgJHsqdbB5QIVEBgMCh2tuQd2EAQYAyABEgJoovD_BwE
ladybug A 9a Houston area
4 years ago
We have bamboo, intalled by previous owners, no issues. Drips will happen, we wipe down mostly for safety reasons.
D Nelsmama
4 years ago
I like the idea of wood, but if you do choose tile, we have a summer cottage and when the tile gets wet slipperyyyyyy
aph84 thanked D Nelsmama
Fori
4 years ago
Our main house entry from pool is the living room, with old hardwood (oak) floors. There is a sometimes-used side door that also opens onto oak floors. It hasn't been a problem. We have a rug at the entries and yell a little bit and drips happen but not enough to damage the floors. Hardwood finishes are pretty good! I should mention that we do have plenty of area rugs which probably collect most of the drips, but you'd probably put a rug in your family room anyway. If you had a wood floor in a kitchen, you can handle it by the pool. :)

Your existing stained trim should certainly be taken into account when selecting a wood floor, but you can get away with all kinds of combos and still have them look good. Some will clash, but if you're matching some existing flooring and your home is somewhat cohesive, I bet it'll be fine.

And tile is okay too. Good idea to be sure it's not too slippery.
aph84 thanked Fori
PRO
Oak & Broad
4 years ago
JAN MOYER is right on all points! We have clients with pools. They just plan for it. We tile is sooo slippery.
aph84 thanked Oak & Broad

Wood flooring near pool entrance?

JAN MOYER

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partim

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