Small Porch with Big Tile Makes Big Difference...

Typically the front and back patio areas of the homes in Frisco Lakes are simply concrete slabs with a broom finish. Adequate yet rather drab. An easy way to transform that drab to fab is to simply tile these areas. The accompanying photos show a typical before and after. 

Before beginning to lay the tile consideration needs to be given to whether the porch area is square on the two open sides as it is preferable to start with full tiles along these edges. If that isn't the case then adjustments need to be made. 

This particular porch gets an 18x18 tile. It's important to use a large square notch trowel with this size tile in order to insure proper coverage and bonding on the back of the tiles with the thinset mortar. Also, less grout lines with the large format tile helps make the 60-plus square foot area seem bigger!

Finally, grout color selection is an important factor in the final overall look of the floor. Although picking a grout is a somewhat subjective process (light, medium, or dark color?), it is important to pick a grout that draws out colors that are in the tile itself. This helps focus visual attention onto the tile (the main star) and not the grout color (the supporting actor) when the job is finished.