How to Cover a Patio Floor
- 1). Roll out your uncoupling membrane over the patio surface and cut it to size with a razor knife. Pull up half the piece and spread thin-set mortar under it. Press the membrane in the mortar, and then lift the other half and repeat, so the whole piece is mortared down.
- 2). Repeat, laying course of membrane side-by-side in mortar to cover the whole patio.
- 3). Allow the thin-set mortar to set for 12 hours.
- 4). Use a chalk snapline to divide the membrane-covered surface into four even squares, laying down two intersecting lines over the whole surface.
- 5). Spread thin-set into one of the four corners of the intersection at the middle of the floor, using your notched trowel. Cover about 4 square feet of floor area.
- 6). Press a ceramic tile in the thin-set mortar at the intersection. Put more tiles alongside it, setting spacers between them as you go. Build out from the middle to the edges, making a grid pattern. Spread additional mortar, as needed. Cut the tiles for the edges on your tile cutter, as needed.
- 7). Let the mortar set overnight. Remove the spacers.
- 8). Grout the spaces between the tiles, using your grout float to scrape it off the surface while pressing it into the gaps. Wipe up the excess grout with a dampened sponge. Let it set for 48 hours.