Grey Flooring in Leeds

One grey across a Leeds rental portfolio

26.0% of Leeds households rent privately, against 20.3% for England and Wales, 28th of 151 towns. For a landlord holding more than one unit, the rentals guide's most useful single decision is to standardise: one range, two wear layers, and a consistent colour across the portfolio. A grey used in every unit is one way of doing that.

Flats set the other condition. 27.9% of Leeds households live in one, and in a flat the hallway takes the most footfall and the most grit, often directly over a neighbour's bedroom. The flats guide's answer there is a textured rigid vinyl or a matt laminate on a rated underlay, and the grey range includes both materials.

Wear layers under a grey surface

The colour is on top; the wear layer decides how long it stays looking the same. 29.1% of Leeds households have at least two bedrooms more than they need, below the 35.9% for England and Wales. A commercial wear layer in a spare bedroom buys nothing, so the vinyl's wear layer is chosen for each room, heavier in the hall and lighter where nobody walks much.

Dogs are the exception to that rule. Across postcode districts LS1 to LS12 the median is 0.14 dogs per household in the modelled estimate (2015), 144th of 150 towns, but in a home that has one, a thicker wear layer on vinyl does the job that texture does on timber. A commercial-grade layer is not overspecifying when there is a dog.

Grit, sun and standing water on a grey floor

What a vinyl floor meets at the front door is grit, sand and rain, in proportions set by where the house stands. Leeds has 14.5 days of heavy rain a year in the Met Office's 1991 to 2020 average, fewer than the median of 17.8 across the 151 towns, but the hall still takes what comes in on shoes.

Sun is the other test. Leeds averages 11.6 summer days a year against a median of 13.8. For most conservatories our guide recommends rigid-core vinyl in a mid tone, with the temperature range checked, and a mid grey is exactly that kind of tone.

11.8% of homes in the Leeds local authority are in areas at some risk of surface water flooding, below England's 14.3%. On a rigid vinyl floor a leak stays a drying job if the water is taken up rather than left and the subfloor is dried before the boards go back.