How to Install Tile on a Porch Floor

Our patio porch has been an ongoing project for several years. In this post, I will share how we installed tile on our porch.

This is a picture of our porch floor before we installed the tile but after we laid the brick edging (brink roll lock). It was a cold day so we lit the fireplace for some warmth. Even Daisy helped! We laid out the tile and did a lot of measuring to determine where we wanted our middle row.

We used 12×24 tiles. We wanted 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. 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 knew pads. 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. 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 this 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 with 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.

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. Slow, but steady progress . . . Checking level both ways. I followed behind Neal and wiped down all 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! This is a picture over 24 hours later after removing the spacers (before grout). 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. Here you can see some of the cut tiles. And here are more cut tiles. The picture below shows all the installed tile before the grout. 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 added grout and wiping down a section at a time. We filled in all the crevices, including where it bordered the brick roll lock. 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. And the final result!

Click HERE to learn how we totally transformed our porch. Here is a picture at night.

Click HERE to learn how we built our porch fireplace.

Click HERE to learn how we built our porch columns.

Click HERE to learn how we installed our barn wood ceiling on our porch.

Click HERE to learn how we installed our simulated stone.

Click HERE to learn how we installed our brick roll lock on our porch.

Thanks for reading our blog!

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