I would almost like a bathtub set up for the first few steps into the house. With carpet on one side and a soon to be wood floor on the other, it doesn’t take much in snowy weather to track enough of the white stuff in to cause a puddle that runs one way or another. Due to the remodeling, I would really like something a bit better to contain it. Also it is common to store a snow shovel and broom use to clear off car windows inside on this surface.
So what do you use that works?
Good rough mat outside. Immediately inside the door is a tiny tiled foyer – just a corner of the room, actually – where I take off and leave snowy or wet boots/shoes. I leave the show shovel on the porch.
Of course, I live alone, so there’s rarely more than one or two pairs of footwear left in the foyer. You can also get a shallow tray of galvanized metal or plastic to leave boots and shoes in to dry.
Up here in the frozen northland, every habitation has an entry hall and it is de rigeur that you remove your boots in that hall before entering the house. Some people even have slippers (often paper), but you simply do not enter the house in wet boots. I have a good friend who insists you knot enter his house with shoes on at any time.
My MIL who was living in southern NJ, but grew up in KY, was horrified when I took off my shoes on entering her house. She was horrified by several other aspects of my behavior, to be sure.
Boot trays? They sell them at Lowes, Menards, etc…
Depending on how nice you need it to look…
Even when we had a tile foyer that wouldn’t be damaged by the water, we always bought a 3 x 5 or 4 x 6 rubber-backed plain area rug from Home Depot and put that down. A boot tray just didn’t catch all of the water that eventually melts off of all the boots/shoes/umbrellas in spring, etc. that end up coming in. The water would pool and some poor unsuspecting soul would step in it, making for yucky socks.
For a couple of years we had an oddly-shaped foyer and we went to the trouble of cutting the rug to fit nicely and tucked the edges under the trim, so it looked a little better that way.
Best way to keep it all contained is a good rough entryway mat, like one made of sisal, and then get a boot tray to keep drippy shoes and boots in. I usually keep a couple rags around to wipe up errant drops and bits of salt, too. And just keep on top of it–beat the mat every week or two to get the crusted salt out of it, rinse out the boot tray, and mop.
How about one of these?
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/506645/0/Relevance/1?nav=ln-902
Note that the indoor style has a deep, wide groove around the edge to hold water. Perhaps a sisal or astroturf mat outside to grab most of the junk and one of the LL Bean mats inside, where you take your shoes off, to catch the rest?
BTW I live in western Oregon. No snow but lots and lots and lots of rain and mud. I have a cheap version of one of the Bean mats, and works great.
So far the boot tray is a go, as I just bought it, the shovel and brush also fit nicely in it. Still going to look into a mat.
Is there anything to do with the floor inself to prevent any excess water from running into the carpet/wood floor or through/into the walls? Some way of sealing it around the edges or creating a very small ridge or something from underneath the laminate.
That entry area is also due of a remodel so I have the opportunity to do something to help mitigate stray melt waters.
We have a rubber-backed carpet at both doors, and the shoes and boots just sit on it until they’re dry (after being taken off as soon as you come in - no one likes a soaker). A boot tray is often used, too, but we don’t use one. We have never had water running off the carpet - the carpet contains it just fine.
We don’t keep the brushes and shovels in the house, but if we did, they would get rested on the carpet or boot tray, too.
If you are doing a big remodel, think about if you could drop the entryway down by an inch or two like they do in Japan.
We have a glass porch with sliding doors (essential for getting out in snowy weather!) then a big entry hall with the dropped down area about 5 ft by 5 ft. Normally such genkan halls are tiled but we bought an old house that just has concrete. We put down astroturfy stuff so that the boots drain down though it and leave a dry surface. It also means we don’t have to sweep it out every single day. (More like once a month!)
We have boot and shoe cupboards with doors on them, and step up into the house in socked/bare/slippered feet. It has kept the floors in much better condition and much cleaner.
The big area is also great for shucking wet or snowy outerwear and we can shake it out in the outer glass porch without getting rained or blizzard-ed on, too. Coats go in a coat cupboard two steps into the inside hall. Nothing “outside” gets past the entrance hall and I love it. No shoes have to be rescued from people’s rooms either.
use a auto windshield snow brush to clean off excess snow from pants and footwear. keep this brush stuck in a snowbank or within arms reach just inside the door. or a boot cleaner brush (three sided brush you rub boot/shoe through, not for fancy high shine dress footwear) on the outside step. that way you transfer the less amount of snow or mud inside. then a good mat on the floor inside and a boot tray will work fine.