How to Install Tile on a Porch Floor
Our patio porch was an ongoing project for several years. In this post, I will share how we installed tile on our porch floor.
This is a picture of our porch floor before we installed the tile but after we laid the brick edging (brick roll lock). It was a cold day so we lit the fireplace for some warmth. Even Daisy helped!
Laying Out Tile
First, We laid out the tile and did a lot of measuring to determine where we wanted our middle row.
Our tiles are 12×24. We opted for a brick (staggered) pattern so I used a square to mark the middle of the first few tiles until our pattern was established as a result of using spacers.
Thin Set to Stick Tiles
We mixed the thin-set mortar in a Home Depot bucket using an electric drill and a paddle. Go, Neal, Go!
Knee pads are essential! Daisy liked chewing on our knee pads so we had to guard them from her.
We used our center line as our guide. There are several steps when installing the tile.
1.) Apply thin-set on the concrete floor using a trowel – – making even grooves in the thin-set. Be sure the thickness of your thin set is consistent; this will help level the tile.
2.) Place one tile at a time checking to be sure each tile is level after placement. Check to be sure the tile is level in all directions.
3.) Use spacers between each tile. The size of the spaces determines the width of your grout line.
Wiping Thin Set Off Each Tile
With a large sponge, we gently wiped down each tile after installing to remove the excess thin-set on the surface of the tile. In the picture below, you can see Neal checking levelness. He checked levelness vertically and horizontally.
We made slow but steady progress. You only have one opportunity to get this right, so DO NOT RUSH!
Here is a closeup of how the thin-set looked after Neal applied using the trowel and created the grooves. Again, it is essential to get this consistent so the tile will lay flat and there are no air pockets under each tile.
Slow, but steady progress . . .
Using Spacers
Here is a close-up of the spacers. We used several spacers on all sides of each tile to ensure consistency of the future grout lines.
Ensure Tiles are Level
Checking level both ways.
I followed behind Neal and wiped down all the tiles in each section. It is essential not to put your weight on each tile as you are wiping them down.
Humm . . . somebody chewed up my gloves!
Remove Spacers After Thin Set Dries
This is a picture over 24 hours later after removing the spacers (before grout).
Cutting Tiles for Perimeter
Now came the tedious task of cutting the remaining pieces around the perimeter. We rented a tile saw from Home Depot.
We measured and used a square (ensuring straight lines) to determine where to cut each tile.
The parts that have X will be cut and discarded.
Neal carefully cut each tile with the wet saw.
Here you can see some of the cut tiles.
Click HERE to learn how we installed our brick roll lock on our porch.
And here are more cut tiles.
The picture below shows all the installed tiles before the grout.
Grouting Tile
So now it is time to add grout. We used polyblend sanded grout (see picture below).
We spread the grout over the tile using a rubber grout float.
I followed behind Neal wiping the access mortar off the tiles. It is important not to wipe too hard initially so as not to wipe out the mortar. Wipe light initially and then when the mortar begins to dry, you can wipe the tiles again.
We continued by adding grout and wiping down a section at a time.
We filled in all the crevices, including where it bordered the brick roll lock.
Final Touchup/Cleaning Tile
The next day, we mopped a final time to remove any remaining mortar from the tile surface.
Here is a closeup next to the brick.
To see our total porch renovation from start to finish, click HERE.
For other blog posts related to our porch renovation, check out the links below:
- How to Lay a Brick Roll Lock Border
- How to Build an Outdoor Fireplace
- Installing Barn Wood on Our Porch Ceiling
- How We Built/Wrapped Out Porch Columns
- Installing Simulated Stone
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Thanks for reading our blog!
Let us what you think or if you have questions about installing tile on a porch floor by commenting below.
Where did you buy this tile? What is the pattern name?
Hey Brenda,
We purchased the tile from South Eastern Salvage. It is a dark gray. I don’t remember the specific name of the tile. It was discounted, but we were delighted to get this at quite a discount!
Thanks for reading our blog!
Suzanne
Is it a porcelain tile? Looks great! Considering tiling our front porch, but ceramic would not hold up.
Hey Karen,
Yes, this is porcelain tile. Porcelain is much better than ceramic for outside areas. I hope this helps.
Let me know how your porch tiling project goes.
Suzanne
Really pretty! Great blog.
Where do you start with the fist tile?
Hey Beverly,
We started with the first tile in the center after carefully measuring. We painstakingly laid out the tile to calculate where to place the center tile. I hope this helps!
Suzanne
I continue to be amazed at the two of you. I love everything about the porch, but my favorites are the fireplace, the floor, and the ceiling. I guess that includes almost everything. Beautifully done.
Pat,
Thanks so much for your affirming words! We learned a lot through the process and are now trying to decide our next fall project! Stay tuned!
Suzanne
[…] HERE to learn how we installed our tile floor on our […]
Love everything about your porch! Does the tile have to be special for outdoors?
Hey Kay,
Thank you for reading our blog and posting a question. Yes, the tile is frost proof to be able to handle cold temperatures. We also used ceramic tile, which is better for outside. I hope this helps!
Thanks again for reading our blog!
Suzanne
I’ve tried to find more info on how to do this! We recently built a new home and the builder did a horrible job on the cement of our back porch. I was trying to figure out how I could “cover” it. We live in Colorado though with extreme temperatures….how can I make this work? I saw you used a frost proof tile (which I’ve never heard of before) I’m thinking that might be too slick for our kids. I’d love to do a brick floor…do you think that will work? Thanks for your thoughts! 🙂
Hey Brandi,
Thank you so much for reading our blog and for posting this detailed comment and question.
I think you could do a brick floor. Brick and/or brick pavers can tolerate all weather conditions. They also have texture to prevent slipping as you mention. We actually used brick pavers on our backyard patio two houses ago and they worked great! However, we did not install them over concrete. We created a base of gravel and then filled in with sand between the pavers after they were installed.
I did a little research on YouTube (we do tons of research before beginning a project) and YES, there are several examples of people installing brick over concrete. Like us, they used sand, which helps to level them (especially if your patio is uneven). Also, pay attention to the height. For example, is there a door leading to this area and thus the brick and/or brick pavers would raise the height of the porch. It is details like this that also need to be thought through.
If you decide to move forward, please keep me posted on how it goes.
Thanks again for reading our blog!
Suzanne
I know this is old but I just now saw this. I want to tile my front porch like this. I find a discrepancy in your concrete height. How do you put bricks on top of the concrete and then only have a space for tile to just fit? Did you not have to pour concrete to fill in?
Hey Linda,
Great question! We poured a layer of concrete over the original concrete floor. This concrete enabled us to elevate the tile and create a space for the brick to be a little lower so the surface of the brick would work out even with the top of the tile. Click HERE to see how we added the brick edging. One of the pictures in this blog post shows this difference.
I hope this helps!
Suz