Had a poured concrete porch added to my house two years ago.
The original house had a 8 foot by 10 foot concrete pad in front of
the door with no roof over it. I concracted to have a hundered square
foot covered porch added. Contractor poured around the existing pad
but did not pin old pad to the new floor. Contractor did not do a
good job of preparing the base/footings for the new porch. Over the
course of the first year the back side of the new porch sank where the
land had been back filled near the foundation so an about 1 inch gap
appeared at the edge toward the house and at the edge of the old small
concrete pad some edges broke off and there was an about 3/4 inch
level difference between the old pad which had not sunk and the new
porch floor.Over the past year there has been no additional movement
of note of the new porch. I am told the only way or at least the
cheapest solution is to even out the height differences by covering it
with outdoor porcelian tiles. I am having the contractor repair the
porch but feel I would be better able to get the best job if I knew
more about the whole process. A google search lists mostly indoor
tiles and some outdoor tiles but could not find any information about
how to install outdoor applications. Am in North Carolina mountains
and the temperature extremes run between a low of say 10 F in the
winter to 95 F in the summer. There is some snow but not much. Porch
is covered so gets little of snow or rain except what might blow in.
Can any one point me to:

1. Good source of plain outdoor tiles

2. Tile installation tips

3. Any one do a similar job willing to share their experiences?


email response not expected but to respond remove .uk at end
TIA
Hank

any tile will work
i would use textured

use spacers, it takes guess work out
use 2' x 4' flat heavy plywood to tamp as you go..tamp litely..with rubber
mallet
gently lower plywood onto the tile as you go...

get excellent thinset mortar, consider using additive to beef up the
adhesion. additive replaces water in the mortar mix . (only way to go)

grout the heck out of it...I would grout it all at once. 8 x 10? mhmm. make
x's with rubber trowel when grouting. the center of the x will follow the
lines...pack grout in every line.

have big bucket of clean water ready, have two large sponges...if you can
get a helper, the helper can rinse one sponge while you dirty the other.
this is huge help. each time you wipe entire floor, wait a few mins in
between.(get clean water) don't get grout too wet...make 3 passes over floor
with damp sponge...on the 4th pass...
expect to see very clean tile...by then most of your grout lines have taken
shape and are pretty.

it's all progressive...it kinda comes together quick just about the time it
all comes clean




"Hank" wrote in message
...
Had a poured concrete porch added to my house two years ago.
The original house had a 8 foot by 10 foot concrete pad in front of
the door with no roof over it. I concracted to have a hundered square
foot covered porch added. Contractor poured around the existing pad
but did not pin old pad to the new floor. Contractor did not do a
good job of preparing the base/footings for the new porch. Over the
course of the first year the back side of the new porch sank where the
land had been back filled near the foundation so an about 1 inch gap
appeared at the edge toward the house and at the edge of the old small
concrete pad some edges broke off and there was an about 3/4 inch
level difference between the old pad which had not sunk and the new
porch floor.Over the past year there has been no additional movement
of note of the new porch. I am told the only way or at least the
cheapest solution is to even out the height differences by covering it
with outdoor porcelian tiles. I am having the contractor repair the
porch but feel I would be better able to get the best job if I knew
more about the whole process. A google search lists mostly indoor
tiles and some outdoor tiles but could not find any information about
how to install outdoor applications. Am in North Carolina mountains
and the temperature extremes run between a low of say 10 F in the
winter to 95 F in the summer. There is some snow but not much. Porch
is covered so gets little of snow or rain except what might blow in.
Can any one point me to:

1. Good source of plain outdoor tiles

2. Tile installation tips

3. Any one do a similar job willing to share their experiences?


email response not expected but to respond remove .uk at end
TIA
Hank