Hallway tiles: why encaustic cement
A hallway takes the sand and grit from shoes, the rain from wet days and the traffic of the whole house. It also sets the tone: it is the first floor you see when you arrive.
Encaustic tiles answer both. They are made to be walked on, and they carry a pattern that does not wear away.
Why choose encaustic tiles for a hallway floor?
The pattern runs through the tile
Every design starts with a divider: a brass stencil made for that one design, whose partitions keep the colours apart. It is placed at the bottom of a cast-iron mould, each compartment is filled by hand, then the tile is cold-pressed, without firing, and left to dry in the air. The pattern is part of the body of the tile, not printed on it: footsteps do not wear it away.
For floors, we make the tile 16 mm thick.
Two precautions, and a soap
Before grouting, the tiles receive a water- and oil-repellent sealer; a drop of water placed on a tile should bead, which shows the treatment has taken. A doormat at the entrance catches the grit and sand that are a floor's real enemy. Day to day, clean with black soap, which feeds the tile and builds its patina.
Pattern and hallway size
In a large entrance hall, a design that reads across several tiles comes into its own. In a narrow corridor, light tones, stripes laid across the width and fine, light grout lines make the space feel larger.
Hallway tile ideas: bespoke designs and colours
The
simulator shows 113 designs; our workshop holds more than 500. In each one, you choose the colour of every area from 78 shades. Skirting tiles are plain, in any of our 78 shades; for a pattern, a 10x20 cm border tile can serve as skirting.
Restoring a period hallway floor
Many old hallways have a damaged or incomplete floor. From a photo or an original tile, we make the divider and reproduce the design by hand. If the original size no longer exists, we make the mould as well. More than 300 period designs are already gathered on our page of
reproduction tiles.
Choosing in person
Colours are easier to choose in real life than on a screen. Astrid in Paris, Audrey in Avignon: they show you the colours, work out the combinations with you, and know all of the workshop's 500-plus designs. By appointment, in our
showrooms.
Design your tile in the simulator and request a quote.
