DIY! Laying Porcelain Tile on a Concrete Porch

Disclaimer: I am not a professional at laying tile of any type. I am simply sharing my first-time experience at laying porcelain tile on an existing 3' x 4' concrete porch. Although I had watched other videos on how to lay porcelain tile, and I followed the directions on the bag of mortar as best I could, it was necessary to make modifications for my particular application. And as I discovered, it was a lot more work and hassle than I ever imagined, especially matching the intended slope of the soon-to-be-built surrounding composite deck! The slope of the existing concrete porch was much steeper than the new deck was to be. Reducing the slope of the porcelain tiles required applying a gradually thicker layer of mortar towards the outside end of the concrete porch. If I did not closely match the slope of the porch with the deck, there would be a significant, unsightly and dangerous dip at the junction of the tile porch and the deck. To determine the slope as I was applying the mortar, I had to lightly set down the heavy 12" x 16" tiles, check the degree of the slope with my level, lift the tiles back up and add or remove mortar as needed, then set the tiles back down again for another check. After doing this several times, I eventually got the tiles at the correct slope. Had I back buttered the tiles with mortar, this process would have been difficult if not impossible, not to mention messy!

Video Notes:

To reduce the length of this video, I sped up the more mundane clips by 600% keeping the instructional clips in real time so that you could see all the steps of this process, except for the final step, grouting the tiles. Also, being my first time at laying porcelain tile, I left in video that revealed my mistakes and corrections, which may be helpful to you, or at least humorous. In my next home improvement video, you can watch my frustrating experience with grouting the tiles.

Background:

By removing the old cedar deck with rotting frame and posts at the front entrance to our house, the original concrete porch and steps were revealed. Although in good condition, the small 3’ x 4’ porch was barely large enough for opening and closing the glass storm door, especially when carrying something large like a suitcase or bag of groceries. And we missed having a deck where we could sit outdoors and appreciate the amazing view of the Olympic Mountains while enjoying a glass of wine. So, we decided we wanted to have a new, larger deck installed using composite decking that will not rot or need to be resealed every year. The remaining question was what to do about the concrete porch and steps? Should we cover it over with decking like the old cedar deck, bust it up using a jackhammer, or lay tile over the existing concrete porch and frame the deck around it? After getting several estimates and studying these options, we eliminated laying composite decking on top of the concrete because the thicker boards would make the deck too high for opening the door. Removing the porch with a jackhammer would have to be done by myself (no way!) or by a different contractor, which would extend the time in getting the project done. Laying tile on the porch myself and hiring a contractor to frame the deck around it was the most feasible, and aesthetically appealing option. After all, I had installed luxury vinyl tile indoors several times myself (check out my videos). Laying porcelain tile on a small 3’ x 4’ concrete porch could not be all that difficult. Right?