Finishing up my new white stucco house. Now I need to tile the back cement patio and cinder block steps. The tile guy at Lowes said even if I use porcelain that unless I use the porcelain tiles that have a gritty, sandy finish on top that after several years regular porcelain will get slippery and on a rainy day someone is going to kill themselves on my back steps. He said slate will not have this problem. The problem with the gritty porcelain tile is that they only had 3 colors to choose from. The slate, on the other hand, looks pretty good in it’s natural state. Any thoughts or advice would be most appreciated. I just bought a $300 tile cutting machine and plan to do a lot of the work myself. Will have a pro do the complicated stuff. Thanks everybody. p.s. – does anybody know if there’s any way to post a pic on a posting?
Replies
There's another thread addressing a similar question; you may want to take a look at it: http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=111005.1
As to posting photos, scroll down below the messge box in which you type your post, and you will see a row of buttons.
Click on the button that says 'Attach Files', and you will get a pop-up window. Click on 'Browse', and you'll get an explorer window showing your computer's file directories. Select the photo you want from your computer's image files, click 'open' and wait while it uploads. The explorer window will close. Once the file has finished uploading the file name of the image will appear in the attach-files pop-up window. Click on 'Done' and the window will vanish. You'll now be back to the main window showing your unposted message.
To verify you've uploaded the imaged correctly, click 'Preview', and you'll see a preview of your message with an image icon at the bottom. Right click on that icon, then click 'open in new window', and your image should open in a new browser window. If all is the way you want it to be, go back to the original window and click 'Post'. (If not, click 'post' anyway, then click 'edit' on your post when it appears and delete the incorrect image using the 'Manage Attachments' tool.)
Important note: many of the users of this forum are using Dial-Up internet connections and therefore cannot open large image files, so it's best to keep the size of your photos to under 100kb if you want people to look at them. To do that, create a duplicate file of the original photo and use your photo-editor to reduce the physical size of the duplicate photo to no larger than 450x350 pixels. Also set the resolution of your photo editor no higher than 100-dpi. Now re-save the duplicate image, and choose that version to upload to the forum.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
Edited 10/9/2008 3:44 pm ET by Dinosaur
Thanks Dinosaur.
Just learned can't tile anyway. Step foundation was set up for brick. What's the latest fad now on brick color and style, anyone.
Just learned can't tile anyway. Step foundation was set up for brick
Can you 'splain that?"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Yessir. If you look at the cinder block steps you can see that my contractor set them up for brick (I forgot he said he was going to do that - one of his subs reminded me). If I porcelain the steps they won't meet code. I will have to lay brick on edge. Then, and only then, will I end up with 3, eight inch steps instead of a tiny step with a normal step and finally a big step. Unless, of course, you can figure out a magic way I can solve the size problem. Of which I will be indebted to you for the rest of my life.
So why can't you raise the base of each step with an appropriate filler, then install the tile?
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Edited 10/10/2008 10:38 am ET by FastEddie
So why can't you raise the base of each step with an appropriate filler, then install the tile?
I could - but that's a lot of work and expense for something already set up for brick. I didn't mean to make it sound like I hate brick's guts or anything like that. I'm sure I'll find some kind of brick that's a color I like. As long as its not puke gun-shot wound in the stomach red it should work out OK. Old Boston maybe or some kind of Earth tone should work.
For the stairs how about a thick setting bed and then flamed 2" thick bluestone treads?
and then flamed 2" thick bluestone treads?
OK - I'll look in to it, but what are "bluestone treads?"
This is the only pic I could find right now, not a great one, but those are flamed bluestone treads in the bottom right corner of the photo. This patio is 2" thick bluestone.View Image
UBC, which local code follows, dictates step height and variation. You think you know what you're talking about, but you don't.
Your inspector may also be wrong. As mine was last week. Do some research.
skipj
You think you know what you're talking about, but you don't.
Maybe we should send brownbag over to straighten him out. Be funny to watch him chip out steps that are too high."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Your inspector may also be wrong !!!
Yuk, yuk, yuk. Now boy that was a good one. Anyway, I only wanted to make them to code for my own satisfaction. Actually, I can do anything to them I want. You aught to see the upper "elf step" on the front of my house. Talk about a million dollar law suit waiting to happen.
View Image
Anyway, these are the colors. Someone made the astute observation that mixing colors is a bad idea which makes sense. But the orange one with a safety grit material only comes (Lowes) in two other colors. The Old Chicago brick seems as neutral a color as any and the slate was reasonably priced (i.e. - cheap) and seems natural to me because being rock it is, after all, the color of dirt. So what say you?
View Image
Edited 10/12/2008 11:05 pm ET by bayouelton
Edited 10/12/2008 11:06 pm ET by bayouelton
Edited 10/12/2008 11:08 pm ET by bayouelton
Edited 10/12/2008 11:10 pm ET by bayouelton
Edited 10/12/2008 11:11 pm ET by bayouelton
Thanks for your good humor!
And you ask 'What say you?'...
I say: Those steps are so far out of code, I'd be surprised if the inspector bothered with a tape measure. If you don't have an historic property exemption. it's time for a jackhammer.
"Don't fart around with the inevitable!"-my great-grandmother
skipj
So what say you?
Skip Lowes, go to a real tile supplier and see what they have available. The house doesn't look like a shoestring budget, do the steps right."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Skip Lowes, go to a real tile supplier and see what they have available. The house doesn't look like a shoestring budget, do the steps right.
You're right, but I've learned a lot about concrete in the last couple of days. What I really need is a good concrete guy to fix the steps. And I did go to a local supplier and he told me 3 pallets of Old Chicago brick would run me about $2000 bucks. Again, I can't, repeat, can't, tile with out first changing the dimensions of the steps. One of the subs I trust who's worked on my house told me if the steps had been done right in the first place they might look just fine as concrete steps.
p.s. - It's a long story but courtesy of my banker (also my general contractor's banker) my GC has already gotten the money in advance to finish my house. That was almost 3 months ago. So how do you like my rear deck with the orange banister? Nice, huh.
Edited 10/13/2008 9:24 am ET by bayouelton
Well, Dinosaur. Got it attached but couldn't make it open in the main text.
Edited 10/9/2008 11:25 pm ET by bayouelton
HA! Just figured it out. Anyway, thought I might do slate on the lower slab patio, brick on the steps, and porcelaiin on the upper deck.
View Image
Edited 10/9/2008 11:31 pm ET by bayouelton
Dal-tile or some such other tile emporium will have tile made for such situations. They have tables with stats such as coefficient of friction and percentage of water absorbed from which you can find suitable outdoor/exposed tile.
Check out Johnbridge.com also.
I would be carefull mixing different materials. It can look pretty bad.
It's like siding your house with two different types of siding. It just isn't done.
Generally, I agree with you. Steps can be different from the porch, however, and it adds safety, since you can clearly see that the porch ends where the flooring changes appearance. The materials have to harmonize with one another, and it helps if the steps tie into some other exterior element, so they don't look like an afterthought.The house I built for myself 25 years ago had exterior stucco in two colors. Some walls were one color, some the other. I thought it was really cool, but from a distance it made the house look... unfinished. LOLBill who learned by doing
I'm landscaping my front yard right now and the choice of materials has come up.
So far I have used two types of stone. I used Arizona buff select for a pathway and Colorado Moss rock for a couple of walls.
The yard used to have about three or four different colors of red or pink stone/cement. It looked pretty bad. They clashed with each other.
As I started selecting stone I tried to stay away from really red stone and stay with more tan/brown colors.
I didn't want to end up with the same clash going on.
I still have a red brick house but I think I can tone it down with some climbing vines and maybe some synthetic stucco. I haven't worked that out yet. I have to talk to an architect/designer about the front of the actual house.
The original owner put all of the landscaping in one piece at time without an overall design. So the results looked like a homeowner with a lot of time did it.
No big deal but that's not what I wanted to do. I'm not sure but I might end up changing the vintage of the front facade. We are close to an older more expensive part of town and I think it could be aged a bit with the right treatment. We'll see.
Edited 10/11/2008 12:17 am ET by popawheelie
Kinda difficult to get the car outta the garage, isn't it."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
That pic is from a wierd angle. Here's a better one. I've taken out the railroad ties that were on end. It kind of had an ocean warf feel to it. Like there should have been a seagull standing on it.
Looks much better!"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt