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Tiling Outdoor Patio

3K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  JazMan 
#1 ·
Hey All,

I am about to tile a patio off of the back of my house, which is outdoors. It's a small area and I have the experience from already laying tile in my kitchen and Bathroom. I was just wondering if I should take into any special consideration since the area is outdoors. There is a roof over the area, so it won't be rained on directly, but will get wet. Also there is the weather factor where I am at. The shrinking and expanding with the temperature changes in the seasons will be a factor. Any special tile and thinset to be used since it's outside? Any info is appreciated.

Branden
 
#3 ·
Branden,

Remember the internet can be a dangerous place. I've read worse advice, but if you follow all the directions in that article you will probably have a problem within a few years, :yes: or maybe by next spring.

The errors start with the first sentence, telling us the patio should be "level". You do not want the patio to be level, water has to run off even where it's always warm. Where you live you must have a minimum of 1/4" per foot slope away from the building, 3/8" per foot would be better.

Later the author says to "seal" the concrete so the tiles will stick better.........wrong! Floors to be tiles are never sealed because the thin set mortar needs to penetrate so it can bond to the slab. Sealing the slab will prevent a good bond. Test the concrete by applying a cap full of water on several areas to be sure it's porous.

Aside from suggesting that even regular "ceramic" will be OK for outdoors and recommending the wrong type of thin set and also suggesting that the liquid additive is thin set, most everything else is OK. :whistling2:

There's a bunch of other thing to know if you wanna do it right. The expansion joints were mentioned, but what about the perimeter expansion joints? What do you put in these joints? How about cracks? Should you use an uncoupling membrane or maybe a liquid applied membrane?

Jaz
 
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