Balcony tiling

[kaharrison9]

Evening All.

Initially looking into quoting for an exposed outside balcony.

The outer tiles are cracked and others are loose.

The concrete base i imaging is sodden as moss and black mould is in the cracks.

Has anybody any pointers on drying external concrete in our climate and also would it be better to use an epoxy grout rather than cement

Many Thanks

Kevin

 

[bugs183]

Find out exactly what is underneath, it may not be concrete, more likely Ashphelt.
You'd be better off covering the balcony completely, striiping the tiles and let the whole thing dry naturally.
Only tile it if it can be made totally weather proof, finding suitable weather windows in this country is impossible, if anty water gets into the adhesive or grout as its curing it will ruin the job.

 

[kaharrison9]

Cheers Bugs.

Any thoughts on wether to use an epoxy grout.

It would seem to make sense with the pounding from the rain as the balcony is fully exposed.

Yet briefly haven't read anywhere suggesting i should.

Cheers

 

[bugs183]

I'd spec the job as highly as possible so yes i'd use epoxy, or at least a really good quality flexible grout.
Go on to the Schluter website and look at 'Ditra Drain'. I dunno if you're familiar with DitraMat, but this alows any water that get through the grout/and adhesive and allows it to run away underneath the tiles, so stopping any freeze/thaw problems going on under the tiles.

 

[paul flight]

spot on bugs . i have done 4/5 of these with the schluter(drain) matting and have nere had any problems seems to work well !!