In addition to porcelain, there\u2019s quite a few surfacing choices ranging from sandstone, granite, marble, limestone and concrete paving, decking, setts and gravel. All have different levels of durability and aftercare requirements, but does porcelain offer the perfect solution trouble free paving?<\/p>\n
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Many people are keen to voice their experience of York and Indian\/imported sandstone that can discolour quickly, absorb moisture, turn green and in turn become very slippery, but before you discount them as options for you, read this article on \u2018which paving is best for me?\u2018<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had a light ivory coloured porcelain patio for around 4 years now (it flows from inside the house). Last year, I installed an area of dark grey tiles in a different part of the garden so here are my thoughts on both.<\/p>\n
Using porcelain is definitely a great design choice. However, it\u2019s not right for every property due to the \u2018clean cut\u2019 contemporary aesthetic. If you\u2019re after the \u2018I\u2019m on holiday somewhere warm\u2019 look, it\u2019s perfect. I think it works really well in small modern courtyards, large terraces, around swimming pools and on roof gardens (using specially designed self adjustable plastic risers).<\/p>\n
Like any internal or external surface, there\u2019s always aftercare to be done. I like to refer to it as outdoor housework, it seems to set the expectation that way. You wouldn\u2019t expect your car to stay clean for long if you left it out on the driveway, and you\u2019d probably clean the floors inside your house at least once per week. External floor space is much the same. In fact, for a \u2018chic hotel look\u2019 you\u2019ll need to sweep it every day to remove leaves & dust, blossom and general debris that blow around.<\/p>\n
With the exception of surface debris such as leaves, porcelain tiles definitely stay cleaner for longer. It\u2019s not as absorbent as other surfaces like sandstone, it doesn\u2019t tend to green as quickly as sandstone. In fact, I generally only power wash the porcelain twice per year, once in March after the winter and once again in autumn once the leaves have fallen. During the lockdown year I\u2019ll admit that I power washed every 3 months as we were using the garden more frequently, and I had more time.<\/p>\n
\nThe above photograph illustrates how, even when my cream tiles are really dirty, they are very easy to clean with a pressure washer.<\/p>\n
My porcelain tiles do still get dirty, in particular the lighter coloured ones. Personally I wouldn\u2019t recommend light cream ones for the UK. Mine are constantly discoloured by tannins from leaves, stained by berries and even petals. Even when I\u2019ve cleaned the cream tiles, they are dirty again a week later if the weather is windy or particularly wet. I would, however, highly recommend a mid or dark grey (with a slight speckle) because (with the exception of bird poo, rust stains and leaf tannins), they need much less aftercare.<\/p>\n
Some of the problems with porcelain tiles I\u2019ve read about include tiles lifting or becoming loose, but this is generally because they were not laid on a full bed of mortar and\/or slurry primed with a proprietary primer such as UltraScape ProPrime Slurry (extreme care should be taken not to get this on the face of the tile during application). When applied to the rear of the tile prior to laying, this provides fantastic adhesion to the mortar bed, so make sure you fully research an experienced installer and get advice from the seller when you buy the tiles, as incorrect laying will probably affect any guarantee the tile suppliers offer.<\/p>\n
Porcelain tiles shouldn\u2019t crack if they are laid on a full bed of mortar. I\u2019ve had them laid for 4 years now and they\u2019ve taken temperatures down to -6C and been under snow and ice for long periods, showing no signs of movement.<\/p>\n
In my experience, I\u2019ve honestly never noticed. Honestly, that\u2019s the truth. I\u2019ve walked on ours daily, through extreme frosts, ice, snow and rain and not once have I felt unsafe, but I wonder if there\u2019s some psychology going on here. Maybe because I expect them to be more slippery than the normal paving I\u2019m more mindful when walking on them, let\u2019s face it, if there\u2019s frozen ice on the paving, whichever type it is, it\u2019s going to be slippery!<\/p>\n
If you read the manufacturers brochure, it will give you details about the slip rating (the higher the slip rating, the less likely you are to slip). When using porcelain outside, check the slip rating is at least R11 and always use 20mm thick (10mm matching tiles for indoor areas are often available for the \u2018inside-outside\u2019 look, but are not suitable for external use on the floor \u2013 they are however great for cladding walls etc).<\/p>\n
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I\u2019d definitely avoid a textured surface if you\u2019re a neat freak like me. Tiny bits of dirt and dust get trapped in the \u2018pits\u2019 and the tile can look very dirty very quickly (see picture above). The grey ones I installed have a smoother finish and I use a traditional mop & bucket approach to clean them (its less noisy than the power washer and much less hassle). I\u2019ve started to mop the grey tiles in the courtyard weekly, because we\u2019re using the space a lot more than we did pre covid19, and that\u2019s the look I\u2019m after (we have an outdoor rug and fire pit in this area so I will often sit on a cushion on the floor).<\/p>\n
Basically there are a couple of options, go the same as the paving eg. grey\/black for darker tiles or lighter as a contrast. Personally I\u2019d go dark grey for grey or black tiles and either cream for lighter tiles (this will make the patio look larger) or a grey which will show more of the pattern. You\u2019d think that cream grout would get filthy outside, and as you can see from the picture it does, but it cleans up pretty well. Given a choice though, I\u2019d go dark paving and dark (but slightly lighter or darker than the paving) external grout.<\/p>\n
Often you\u2019ll find the most cost effective option is to select 600mm x 600mm tiles (they are generally cheaper than large format tiles as they dry quicker during the manufacturing process) and I like to specify a half bond pattern. The half bond pattern is more forgiving if the tiles are not absolutely the same size (it often happens with cheaper tiles!).<\/p>\n
If budget allows, select larger format tiles and even planks that can also be laid half bond (sometimes called brick bond), or 1\/3 (ie divide the length of the tile between 3 and stagger the joints this way) or why not try herringbone, but be warned this this is much harder to lay and there will be increased cuts and wastage so it\u2019s not very environmentally friendly either.<\/p>\n
Generally 4mm spacers are used between the tiles externally, but if you\u2019re trying to do the \u2018inside-outside\u2019 thing and align the tiles with those inside the house, be sure to use 4mm spacers internally too.<\/p>\n
Sealing the tiles will make them so much easier to clean. Don\u2019t be fooled into thinking that they won\u2019t get dirty just because they are sealed \u2026 they will! Expect to add a cost of around a pound per square metre for sealing if you\u2019re doing it yourself using a product such as Tile Protector.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ve used a mild diluted bleach solution in the past on my lighter tiles (I figured they\u2019d get bleached in a bathroom) and if you regularly clean i\u2019d suggest using a using a cleaner specifically designed for the job, but, if you let them get really dirty and you need a more intensive cleaner, there are products available for that too.<\/p>\n
I wouldn\u2019t recommend it, not in the UK. Stick to 20mm thick porcelain tiles. If you\u2019re looking for tiles to add some detail, try the ever increasing range of patterned porcelain tiles.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s it, the truth and problems with porcelain paving\u2026 well, my personal experience of the truth anyway!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u06f1. Paving Choices In addition to porcelain, there\u2019s quite a few surfacing choices ranging from sandstone, granite, marble, limestone and concrete paving, decking, setts and gravel. All have different levels of durability and aftercare requirements, \u0627\u062f\u0627\u0645\u0647 \u0645\u0637\u0644\u0628<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12990,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5546,5548,5547],"tags":[5817,5818],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66885"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12990"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66885"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerampakhsh.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=66885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}