Tile a screened in porch?

[smcjensen]

I have a screened in porch that currently has increasingly gross outdoor carpeting on it. A dog, two kids, a sandbox, spilled bubble-juice, and one end that gets soggy each time it rains has made it pretty gross out there. It's now beyond the help of a steam cleaner.

I was thinking of putting tile down out there. The subfloor is pressure treated 3/4 plywood. It feels structurally stiffer than the floors in the house, seems well built. I figured I'd put down cement board over the ply, mortar those joints, and put down some one foot square tiles with some texture to them to get traction when it's wet out there. Any recommendations along the lines of do it or don't do it, adhesive type, grout type, tile type? My biggest fear would be expansion and contraction with the seasons causing cracks since the subfloor's not in a climate controlled area.

Thanks, all.

[maurice]

Consider using Ditra under the tile.

I'm not positive about the outdoor applicati> I have a screened in porch that currently has increasingly gross

[buffalobill]

[Lawrence]

I think this may depend on your climate. Things tend to move with freezing weather. If your climate is mild then no problem. If you are expecting 20 below then maybe new carpet is the ticket.

[Eric in North TX]

Growing up we had a tile front porch, it was glazed tiles, and was beyond hazardous in wet weather, snow and ice made it all the worse. My Dad finally covered it wit outdoor carpet even though by then everyone had been trained to immediately get a death grip on the porch rail and slowly skid themselves to the door or steps depending on direction of travel. I bring this up, mainly to bring up safety concern with traction if snow blows into the screen porch. Granted glazed is the worst case scenario, but any given tile is slipperier than any given carpet.

[thetiler]

Expansion and contraction will be your biggest enemy, assuming you do the whole installation properly. Any weak link in the installation will cause a failure.

Using cementboard as a backer will help the expansion/contraction problem, but not eliminate it. If you insist on tiling, at least use porcelain tiles which are more dense, absorb less moisture and are less prone to expand/contract.

There are also "flexible" thinsets available, and when grouting it would help to not grout around the perimeter, but use a flexible sealant to allow the teeny bit of flexing. I've seen dozens of buckled tile floors that lifted right up when they expanded just 1/8" and had no where to go.

I'd have doubts about the area you said gets flooded from time to time. The wood there may be warped or loose.

You have a situation that requires every step to be done correctly. It has all the elements that cause failures: temperature extremes, over wood framing (not a slab), old wood subfloor, lot's of traffic/abuse potential, and you're not an expert installer.

I'd say to get yourself some new indoor/outdoor carpet, and when the kids grow up and move out, do the tilework......

thetiler