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Building a Home Flooring Design Dilemma

Flooring Transition Options Between Hallway and Loft?

3 years ago

I'm in the process of picking flooring out for a in-construction house and I am having trouble visualizing what to do in one particular area on the 2nd floor. See below diagram for an explanation:

The areas marked with the letter "T" are going to have a wood-like porcelain tile. These are all either bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, etc. The area marked with "C" is the stairway area which I am going to use carpet (I was hoping to use the the same wood-like porcelain tile but my designer wouldn't allow me to do that...I'm guessing installation for that might be a little tough?). The area in the middle marked with "?" is my hallway. The area below also marked with "?" is my loft. The dashed boxed separating the loft and the stairs represents the handrail between the loft and the staircase.

I would like to use the same wood-like porcelain tile in the loft area. My question then is:

1) Would it be weird if the hallway used the same carpet as the stairway? My concern is that since the loft is "open" (and doesn't have a door frame like the other rooms) that the transition between carpet and tile would look a little odd.

or...

2) If I go with the same wood-like tile in the hallway, would it be weird that the only carpet in my house is literally just the stairway?

Anyone have any thoughts?

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Comments (5)

chispa
3 years ago
Could you do wood on the staircase? Our guest house has a basement. We used wood look tile on both floors and connected them with a site finished wood staircase. The hardwood guy stained the stair treads to match the wood look tile. The riser and trim were painted white. I don't think anyone has ever noticed they are different materials. I would not want carpet on my staircase.
hijimmylin
Original Author
3 years ago
That's a good idea (since I too was trying to avoid using carpet completely). I'm concerned about mixing hardwood with wood-like tile, but it sounds like you were able to figure out a solution where the difference isn't noticeable, so that gives me some hope.
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Thank you for the responses :) I assumed it wouldn't be possible to match based on an experience on trying to match furniture LOL...that was quite an adventure, I thought floors would be even more so! But, if you can match the wood in terms of actual type of wood, size of planks, and color, what about the wear aspect? The flooring is pretty "lived in" but not what I would consider damaged or worn to the point of needing to be refinished throughout. I would imagine that the whole first floor would need to be refinished like Bruce mentioned he is doing above, to match the new appearance of the new flooring as it flows openly from room to room. But even so, it's definitely worth looking into and comparing the cost. I hate the idea of pulling up perfectly good wood flooring that I like for tile that I'm "ok" with. If the flooring were all wood, what do you think of having the refrigerator in that unused area in what is technically the dining room?
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You have vaulted areas between the floors that can and will create an echo chamber with hard surfaces in BOTH spaces. Right now the carpet is dealing with as much noise as possible. As soon as you remove the carpet you will notice echos traveling all over the place. And if your vault/space is BIG ENOUGH (yours might be...hint hint) you can get an irritating 'hum' or 'buzz' going on. This can be there even when there is NOTHING creating sound. We hear this in large stadiums, old libraries (with stone flooring), churches, etc. The easiest way to figure out what the carpet is dealing with is to REMOVE the carpet and then 'live' with it for 2 weeks. Have people in the house moving around on the plywood subfloor. All the banging, stomping, echoing will be there with LVP and with tile (and possibly hardwood as well). The space was designed for carpet. The carpet was used in the design to 'knock down' the noise and to prevent it from disturbing the 'up-down' living situation. I would be very cautious about moving away from carpet in the mezzanine/hallway areas.
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emilyam819
3 years ago
If it’s more like a stair runner, it wouldn’t be bad if the only carpet was on the stairs. You can continue it in the hallway if you like. But loft and everywhere else should be the tile.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
IMO wood look tile is already a dated item and certainly not mixed with carpet since I think tile all over only works in the tropics and carpet never in the tropics. I think if budget is an issue what not LVP everywhere.
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
If you MUST have tile in areas that traditionally have carpet (in Northern climates) then tile the entire area and have carpet on the stairs. If you use the carpet you can make a stair runner with painted treads on the side. You would choose a paint that would match the banister colour and the tile colour. Done....Like...Dinner.

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