Board of 2 Minds About 6-Sided Tiles

Hexagon Is Traditional at Stations, but Square Has Advantages

Metro put off a decision on replacing its familiar six-sided floor tiles with square ones that would be easier to maintain and less slippery when wet. (By Larry Levine -- Metro)

It sounded more like kitchen renovation than a Metro board meeting: Should the system keep its old flooring, the trademark six-sided terra cotta tiles, or switch to -- gasp! -- square tiles at stations?

The square tiles are easier to maintain, less slippery when wet and cost about the same. But the hexagonal tiles are distinctive. They're a part of Metro's original design and go back 30-plus years.

Tiles were up for discussion yesterday because Metro needs to replace cracking and leaking ones along with deteriorated concrete under them at the Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue stations, which opened in 1978. Many other older outdoor stations are going to need similar work over the next decade, and Metro is considering new designs for tiles at existing and future stations, such as those on the proposed Silver Line to Dulles.

Like other extreme makeover proposals at the transit agency -- allowing entertainment in subway stations, altering rail car cushion colors, replacing some escalators with stairs -- the idea produced lots of discussion about whether changing tiles would somehow alter the essence of Metro.

T. Dana Kauffman, who represents Virginia on the Metro board, was all for change as board members looked over samples of the proposed 12-by-12-inch porcelain tiles. He has slipped more than once on the platform tiles, he said, and when wet, they become especially treacherous.

"You go from walking to skating," he said.

Calling the change long overdue, Kauffman said the proposal would make Metro less of a "dark, slippery cave." He also said square tiles are easier to work with. "Having done two bathrooms and a foyer," he said, "I'd rather lay that tile than the hexagonal tile."

Chris Zimmerman, another Virginia board member, wasn't so sure. First, there was the color problem. The hexagonal tiles are terra cotta. But yesterday's samples were a speckled mauve. Metro staff said the tile manufacturers have promised that new tiles could be made to come in the same brick-red shade.

"I'd be interested in seeing the color match as closely as possible," Zimmerman said.

He also wanted to know: "Can they be cut into a hexagonal form?"

Currently, there is only one source for the six-sided tiles, said James Haggins, head of Metro's construction department.

A top official of the company that makes the square tiles said they could be cut into hexagons, "but, boy, it would be cost-prohibitive."