Decorative floor tiles for outside

[Freetodowhatiwant]

Hi there,

As the title suggests I am looking for decorative floor tiles that can be used outside. This is for Spain but I guess I need to have a name of the style and I might be able to find some similar over there. I love the style of what they call Hydraulic tiles but can't find any that are suitable for outside. Any ideas would be great.

Inspiration links below:

www.lacasadelosazulejos.com/producto/serie-arte/

azulejosneicone.com/producto/imitacion-hidraulico-barcelona-sand-25x25/

Spain has loads of amazing tile manufacturers. Be much cheaper buying them there than in the UK as well.

Tile Expert sell a wide range of Spanish and Italian tiles. Their website is quite good to browse. Use their advanced search. Try a few combinations like encaustic and outdoor or encaustic and anti slip. You might find something similar

Just looking at your examples, I think you would probably be fine using outdoors. The 2nd example specifically says can be outside.

For outside, you don't want something slippery when wet. These have an R10 slip rating which is okay if not brilliant as slip resistance. These are porcelain so are strong. A lot of porcelain sold as outdoor is 20mm thick and is super strong. But it tends to be larger stone effect slabs. You might struggle to get this decorative small tile style in that thickness. 10mm ish thick is likely to be fine though as long as you don't treat it too roughly.

Ahh that's true @nom I do speak Spanish but for some reason hadn't seen that those could be used outside. I called the first company - La Casa de los Azulejos - and they said the hydraulics couldn't be used outside so I just took their word for it. I prefer that style to the second link.

That's good info about the thickness, I don't know any of this stuff. Also the slip rating. I am guessing 'antideslizante C2 R10' is it? Do they go higher for non slippy or lower?

Another consideration in Spain is also the very bleaching sun.

The anti-slip ratings start at R9 and go up to at least R13 I think. Higher the number the more slip resistant. So R10 is a bit more slip resistant than a standard tile. Its the minimum you would want outside really. It could still be a bit slippery when wet.

I can see why some manufacturers wouldn't want to push their tiles for outside use. They won't want complaints if you slip or if the tiles crack when a customer puts a skip on them or drives their tractor over the top. If you are using them on a terrace or a path, you can probably get away with using something a little less hardy. Just make your decision in the knowledge you are more like to slip on an R10 tile than an R12, and that a 10mm tile is more likely to crack under pressure than a 20mm tile.

Porcelain tiles should be fairly resistant to sun bleaching, I think. They are resistant to bleaching by bleach as well

This is so helpful, thank you! A lesson in tile detail.

R9 to R13 is correct. Wythenshawe R13 being very lumpy around a public swimming pool type of tiles.

With, not Wythenshawe!

Just checked an R11 sample I had and its got a grainy texture. Not lumpy but rough, almost pumice like. I think R10 might be as rough as it goes for this style of decorative tile. Could be wrong though