DIY Guide: How to Install Outdoor Slate Tile on a Porch

Using slate exterior tile on a porch will give your porch or patio that beautiful finishing touch look. The only maintenance that it requires is maybe a sweep every once in a while or quite possibly a quick washing. It's durable and will last for many years without cracking or chipping. Sound like something you may want? Well alright, let's get to it then.

1. Get out the measuring tape and measure the porch area you will be tiling.

2. Once you have the measurement, get over to your home improvement store and pick up enough tile to get the job done. Buy some extra just in case you need it. Most stores will allow you to return it if you don't use it. Also you will need to determine whether you want to use finished, pre-cut square, hexagonal tiles, asymmetrical, or unfinished tiles.

3. Make sure your surface is completely flat. I'm going to guess that your porch foundation is made of cement so you should have no problem here. If you do have holes or cracked cement that you will need to remove it and re-cement.

4. Layout your slate tiles on the porch if you want so that you can get a good idea of what your porch will look like when it is finished. This isn't required but its better to do this now than to have it cemented down and then hate it.

5. Apply adhesive cement with trowel to the back of the pre-cut slate tiles here to hold your tiles into place. You will not use tile spacers here as you don't want to have much room in between the tiles.

6. Get ready now to seal your tile joints. Take the sealer and put it in your painters tray. Now take your small sponge roller and dip it into the tray. You can now begin to spread the sealer over the entire tiling surface.

7. Now before you grout you will need to give ample time for the sealer to dry. Once it has you can start to mix your grout in a bucket. Follow all mixing directions on the grout manufacturer's package.

8. Take your rubber floater and begin to diagonally go over the slate tile joints to fill in the gaps. Do only about an 8-10m2 area at a time and then wipe it off the tiles before it dries. You'll remove the excess grout with just a bucket of water and a sponge. Take this sponge and go over the tile joints diagonally. You don't want to go removing some of the grout out of the joints. If the water in the bucket starts to become dark than change it. You may need to do this a few times.

9. Thoroughly wash the tiles after completing your project and you're good to go.