A Guide to Outdoor Tiles
Having a luxurious outdoor space to retreat to can add so much pleasure – a sanctuary for you to bathe in the elements, bring you closer to nature and in which to unwind with family and friends.
Whether you’re looking to design a garden suitable to use all year round, or just to embrace during the sunnier days, we have a handy guide to help you when selecting tiles for this wonderful area of you home.
Two major considerations that must be made when buying outdoor tiles are:
Are these tiles frost proof?
Are these tiles slip resistant?
With the Great British weather, you need to make sure any tile you use outdoors is frost proof. Therefore, you will need a porcelain tile. A porcelain tile has very low absorption and is resistant to frost.
We wouldn’t suggest you use just any types of porcelain tiles in all outside installations. Polished and honed porcelain is exceptionally slippery when wet, so avoid using them on any external floor areas. For safety, select from outdoor collection, as this is a range of slip resistant tiles and you will need an anti-slip tile on floor area.
It’s important to remember not all outdoor spaces are the same. If the tiles are being walked on in the wet, or in a high traffic area such as the path to your door, look for tiles that say ‘anti slip’ and have a PTV +36 slip rating (this is the rating the UK Gov like to use when testing the risk of slipping on a certain surface). On a gradient however, you will need a tile that has as high a PTV as possible.
You might get away with a low PTV is the patio area is only ever used when its dry and you are unlikely to have to walk across it when wet.
Remember – you just need to balance out where in the garden you are going to use the tile, and whether you will be walking over it regularly when wet.
We get asked a lot if you have to use a 20mm tile in a garden setting and whilst it’s easier for your tradesman to install, you are more limited regards design. Most 20mm tiles only come in generic, stone and concrete finishes, so it doesn’t give you much to design with. Our outdoor ranges also include some fabulous patterns, all with a suitable PTV rating. These 9-10mm thick products just need to be installed onto a solid concrete base, so there is a bit more prep, but far more impact and ‘bang for your buck’ as they say!
Add in a terracotta tile from our Marrakesh, Country or Casa Cotto range to give it a focal point… simply stunning on the floor or walls. Compliment the look with pots and greenery, and a shaded seating area.
If you want to enhance the front of your house with a really traditional tile, then how about our Nostalgia range?
Laying outdoor tiles
All of our exterior tiles should be laid on a solid concrete substrate that has a minimum thickness of 50mm. The tiles are then simply laid and grouted as they would be if you were tiling a concrete floor internally.
Maintenance
Your fabulous tiles surfaces really shouldn’t need much more than a yearly jet wash and a regularly brush, or hose down to remove leaves, and any traces of dirt. It really is that easy!
Take the house into the garden
A flow of floor finish from one area of the home to another can give the illusion of more space. It also has the effect of extending the home into the garden if you use the same tiles indoors and then out. Baked has tiles that can be used both indoors and out, and also tiles with a natural finish for indoors and a matching anti-slip for external areas.
Limestone Anthracite
Our fabulous Limestone collection. An authentic looking Limestone effect porcelain, with no maintenance and suitable for inside and out. It’s simply beautiful.
