Many new building and finishing materials have emerged in recent years, including clinker. The surfaces faced with this material are durable and very beautiful. Clinker tile laying technology has many nuances. After studying them, you can go to work with confidence. The video of this process at the end of the article will help you as well.

Features of the choice of materials

With the well-chosen materials and careful laying (even with your own hands), your porch and steps will stand out against similar structures. In this, it has a long useful life. After reading the article and watching the video, you will learn about the characteristics and properties of material and the methods of repair.

First of all, you should pay attention to the concrete, which is used as a basis. Its age must exceed 3 months, while the humidity must be at least 4%.

It is very difficult to lay the clinker tile by hand, but it’s worth a try, given that porch and steps are a face of your house. You should give enough attention to their finishing. This is particularly true for the choice of material. According to the specialist opinions, clinker tile is the most popular finishing material. If you use it as facing, you don’t have to worry about anything, as it is resistant to mechanical damage.

Dutch have given us an opportunity to lay clinker tile. It was called under the sound of blow to the tile – “clink”. It cannot be said that such tile is easy to manufacture. For a start, raw material is forced through the special shaped holes, and then burned at the temperature of 1300 С.

Properties of clinker tile

The properties of clinker tile for the porch and stairs, which made it popular among the customers, are impressive:

  • high resistance even in extreme conditions (frost resistance and water repellent properties);
  • special treatment (ribbing, roughness and spraying), after which the product becomes anti-slip;
  • resistance to the effect of various chemical reagents or fungus;
  • it doesn’t fade in direct sunlight;
  • wide range of colors and textures.

Surprisingly, this material was previously used not for facing the porch or steps, but for paving the roads. Among other characteristics, it can withstand from 25 to 300 freezing cycles. Clinker tile is widely used by the professionals are people making repairs with their own hands.

Its anti-slip properties are very important in wet weather and harsh winter. Therefore, it is often used in external staircases. Laying works are performed in a short time, but in the end, you will get an excellent coating with a manufacturer warranty of up to 100 years. As for the price of laying the clinker tile, it will pleasantly surprise you.

Clinker tile laying

The price of such service varies considerably according to the company. If you want to make a porch or a staircase with your own hands, you should watch a thematic video. At first, you should address the issue of installation of the safe basis for your stairs and porch, as it is the key to successful work and long service life of the structure.

The most popular basis for the porch, faced with clinker tile, is concrete. Apart from concrete, you can work with natural stone and brick. Note that the basis must be securely fastened, as clinker doesn’t like mobility and is a rigid material. It is resistant to any type of deformation.

Nuances of laying the tile

If you choose concrete as a basis for the steps, you should thoroughly clean it and level the surface before facing. It must be cleaned from dust, dirt and different foreign layers using a wire brush. After that, you can start laying the tile with your own hands.

By installing it, you will definitely understand that clinker tile is perfect for external stairs and can meet all your requirements during operation. Besides, you will be able to combine the color scheme, structure and sizes, creating different artistic combinations. You will have a really huge field for imagination.

Clinker facing technology

You should lay the tile on the pre-positioned cement-sand grout, composed of sand and cement (4:1). Note that sand fractions must not be coarse. When preparing the mixture, you should strictly follow the instructions. Facing the porch with clinker tile is a tedious task, while improperly prepared mixture will lead to its separation from the base.

Nuances of laying the tile

You can also use adhesive basis during the installation. However, it must be taken into account that the price of installation will slightly increase. Of course, the price of laying the clinker tile will be much lower, if you make it on your own.

At the construction, the working seams must be 8-10 mm wide. But when working, people usually adhere to slightly different parameters – 3-5 mm. Facing the external steps with tile is more aesthetic and correct from a technological perspective.

In this article, we have highlighted the basic points concerning the process of laying the clinker tile. Our other publications explain how to lay the clinker tile. Only after learning all details, you can start to make repairs on your own. We are waiting for your questions and stories of your working experience with this interesting material.