Inside-Outside Tiles
The development of porcelain tiles has created an exciting concept where you can flow the same tile outside. If you have Bi-Fold or sliding patio doors leading onto the patio imagine the same floor flowing from your room into the garden.
Porcelain tiles are frostproof, very hard-wearing, and impermeable so resistant to moss and algae and available with a natural finish for the inside and a more textured surface GRIP for the outside. This grip finish is referred to as R11 which is the European classification for external tiles. Visually the tiles are the same.
The most important decision tends to be the internal tiles as they have to suit the ambiance that you are trying to create and suit your internal design scheme. You can select the same tile for the outside or a suitable contrasting tile. The most popular sizes tend to be rectangular such as 900 x 600mm as this replicates a traditional stone size. The rectangular size is usually laid in a broken bond format with an overlap of approximately 30%. The 600 x 600mm size is less expensive but visually not as dramatic.
Outside porcelain tiles are available in 10 and 20mm thick, you would always use a 10mm thick tile internally and you have the option of 10mm or 20mm outside.
There are many ways of laying your tiles outside but with the British winter and freeze/thaw cycles, it is considered that the best method is to lay on a concrete slab regardless of the tile thickness and fix the tiles using a cement-based adhesive. This creates the most permanent solution so you can use a 10mm thick tile which is more cost effective than 20mm thick and available in larger sizes. You can incorporate steps, treads copings, etc and these are produced from matching 20mm thick tiles. We produce these “in-house” so all we need is a simple drawing or details of sizes
