Directions for Laying Outdoor Ceramic Tile

You can lay ceramic tile on your patio yourself.

Ceramic tile can give a deck or patio floor a polished look. Depending on the tiles you pick, your tiled floor can look casual or sophisticated. Tiling an outdoor floor is as easy as indoor tiling projects, although you'll need to use slightly different materials that will stand up to the elements. You'll need at least five days with clear weather: one to two days to prepare the concrete subfloor and lay the tiles; two to three days for the mortar to dry; and one day to grout the tiles.

Things You'll Need

• 6-foot level
• Measuring tape
• Small sledgehammer
• Cold chisel
• Wire brush
• Vacuum
• Fast-curing concrete patching compound
• Scrap piece of 2-by- 4 wood
• Chalk lines
• Pen
• Damp sponge
• Medium-bed thinset mortar mix
• Water
• 1/2-inch-shank drill with mixing paddle
• 5-gallon bucket
• Notched trowel
• Unglazed ceramic tiles
• Tile spacers
• Margin trowel
• Beater board
• Rubber mallet
• Flathead screwdriver
• Latex-reinforced sanded grout mix
• Float

Instructions

1. Prepare the concrete surface for tiling. Identify the uneven areas of the concrete slab by placing a 6-foot level on the floor and circling any bumps you find. Remove any bumps greater than 1/4 of an inch high with a cold chisel and a small sledgehammer. Don't worry if you can't make the concrete floor completely smooth.

   Clear away the loose concrete with a wire brush. Fill in any dents and cracks with fast-curing concrete patching compound. Smooth out the wet compound with the edge of a scrap piece of 2-by-4 scrap wood.

   Allow the compound to dry overnight.

2. Snap chalk lines on the concrete surface to use as a guide for laying the tiles, making a chalk grid with squares big enough to hold 3-by-3 grids of tiles. Trace the chalk lines with a pen since the chalk will get smudged and brushed away as you work.

3. Mix the thinset mortar and water in a 5-gallon bucket with a 1/2-inch-shank drill with a mixing paddle attachment. The instructions on your package of thinset mortar will indicate how much water to add.

4. Spread the mortar on one square of the grid with a trowel. Comb the mortar with the edge of a notched trowel, creating grooves in one direction. Back butter each tile with mortar and a margin trowel and place it inside the prepared square. Place tile spacers between the tiles to keep them evenly spaced. Fill in one square of the chalk grid at a time. Place a beater board on top of the tiles and tap it with a rubber mallet; it embeds the tiles in the mortar.

   Place tiles on the entire floor in this manner.

   Let the mortar dry and cure for two days.

5. Test the mortar's hardness by sticking a flathead screwdriver in between two tiles. Allow the mortar dry for another day before grouting if the mortar moves even the slightest bit.

6. Mix the latex-reinforced sanded grout mix with water. Spread the grout over the tiles with a float, pushing the grout into the spaces between the tiles. Scrape away the excess grout from the surface of the tiles with the edge of your float while the grout begins to dry. Wipe the tiles with a wet sponge to remove any grout residue before it dries. Joint the grout by running the corner of a damp sponge along all the grout lines once the grout begins to dry. This ensures all the grout lines are a consistent depth and gives the floor a professional look.

Tips & Warnings

• Select durable tiles that can stand up to the elements.

• Avoid glossy glazes, since they will make the tiles slippery when they get wet. Instead, select unglazed ceramic tiles.

• If the concrete surface you want to tile wasn't originally intended for tile, it may have a smooth finish that makes it difficult for the tiles to bond to the concrete. In this case, treat the concrete with liquid concrete bonding agent before applying the mortar.

References

• "Tiling"; Editors of Sunset Books; 2009