Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2024-02-22 Origin: Site
Tiles can offer a very useful material for outdoor applications, reducing damage to natural lawns and providing an eye-catching feature piece for the space. However, if you’ve been looking to make the most of your new tiles, ensuring that they are installed properly is hugely important. With this in mind, there’s plenty you’ll need to consider. Thus, today, we’re looking at some of the key things you should know; hopefully, this will help you install your new tiles safely and with the best results.
Laying outdoor tiles can be a little challenging, especially if you’ve never done so before. But don’t worry; the following steps can help.
There’s nothing worse than under or over-estimating how much space you’ll need. As such, it's essential to start by designating the space where you plan to install outdoor tiles. As part of this, always allow room for grouting, kerbing, or haunching along with the tiles themselves.
Before you can go any further, you’ll now need to dig out the base for where the tiles will be laid. A suitable base should be at least 150mm (15cm) in depth; furthermore, make sure that any outdoor porcelain tiles are kept below any damp-proof coursing, as per your local regulations.
With the base dug, you can begin looking at adding and compacting the sub-base. This layer should be at least 100mm in thickness (if you have dug the base deeper, you can potentially increase this still). Always ensure there is at least 50mm remaining in the base to ensure a strong and flush finish once the tiles are laid.
With the first layer of the base down and ready to go, you should now create a bedding mortar to fill the remaining 30mm of base (leaving 20mm unfilled for the 20mm tiles to rest in). A suitable concrete mix should be neither sloppy nor runny; a ratio of around 4:1 of sand to cement is generally advisable.
At this point, you’re almost ready to apply the tiles; however, you will need to apply a little slurry to the base of the tiles before you do so. You only need around one or two mm of slurry to create a suitable layer; then, place the tile slurry-side-down on top of the mortar layer. Always make sure you have left a gap for jointing here.
After applying the tiles, a spirit level can be used to ensure they are lying flat and flush with one another.
As a final step, adding grouting is important to round off the tiles and ensure that mess doesn’t end up stuck between the cracks of the tiles. Grout can be applied using either a wet or dry method.
No matter how well you install your new tiles, if they’re not made to the highest possible standard, you may struggle to get good results. As such, we strongly recommend starting with the highest-quality tiles on the market to ensure you get great results; from there, following a trusted approach is crucial to lay the tiles effectively. If you have further questions, please contact us at sales@wificeramics.com.
