Slate Tile – Screen Porch – Cold Climate
We would like to install slate tile on a screened porch (will not be enclosed in winter). I have received conflicting opinions about doing this in a cold climate. Tile will be installed over a flooring system, not a slab, on the south side of the house, if that makes any difference. Will we end up replacing it after a winter or two, or will it withstand the temp and moisture fluctuations? Thanks!
Replies
Slate roofs last 100 years in New England. Seems to me the floor will be fine if the joints are sealed and there isn't any ponding water.
Bill
farmhousemoderne,
We just did something very similar. We used treated 2 x 6's for our deck, but milled them to a "shiplap" to keep insects from entering from below. On one side of the screened porch there is a free-standing fireplace, so we put a 6ft x 6ft ceramic floor in that area.
Fortunately I had just received the September 2005 #173 issue of FineHomebuilding which featured the isolation membrane "Ditra" (google it-not hard to find). I was fortunate the floor company here in town had a roll in storage I could use what I needed off of - pretty impressive stuff.
It was cold weather here when we did it, so we made a insulated a "box" under the deck under the ceramic and carefully hung 4 - 100wt bulbs from the joists underneath and laid 1 inch R-board on top of the ceramic. Also the enclosure is temporarily protected with visqueen which we brought up to 60degrees during installation. We kept the ceramic warm for 21 days (plus) as specified by the thinset.
The "Ditra" went down good - it's user friendly. One neat thing is that you can glue down the membrane (no nailing) and immediately spread thinset on it and glue the tile. We had the tile all "dry fitted" along with the metal edging. The floor was masked in that area and it was easy to do.