Tiling your balcony can help you create a beautiful, durable and easily maintainable recreation area, but there are a few must-dos before you start mixing up your grout. Let’s start with finding the right kind of tile.

Picking Your Tile

Nowadays we are spoilt for choice so picking a tile that fits your home’s décor is no easy feat. We recommend narrowing down your choices to your top three and picking from them. This not only helps you make that final decison but can also cut the time it takes to choose a tile in half. Make sure you go for tiles that won’t look dirty within a day or two Earthy natural colours, such as terracotta tiles or stone tiles don’t show up the dirt and scratches as much as ceramics and are better suited to the harsher conditions of the outdoors.

It’s also a good idea to choose tiles that are larger in size, known as sheet tiles. Sheets are not only trendy, they are generally stronger than smaller tiles, which often crack and break more easily underfoot. Larger tiles also make for faster and easier work.

Dry Fitting

If you don’t want to run into any unexpected obstacles when you finally mix up your grout, planning how your tile is going to fit and look is a must. This is known as ‘dry fitting.’ To dry fit your balcony, lay your tiles on the floor the say way you intend to and look for obstacles such as corners or pipes. This will allow you to see exactly how many tiles you need to precut and save you time and energy when it finally comes to crunch time.

Picking Your Grout

Make sure that you also choose a grout well suited to the outdoor area you plan to use it in. Cementitious grout is very absorbent and therefore breaks easily when exposed to the elements and building movement. Using cementitious grout often leads to leaks, which can compromise the structural integrity of your home. On the other hand, epoxy grouts like Megasealed’s MG11 is flexible and extremely water resistant. With an absorbancy rate of 0.0001% MG11 is the most waterproof grouts on the market. Guaranteed for 25 years, Megagrout MG11 can be applied within a couple of hours, and your balcony will be ready to use within 24 hours. Unlike other sealants, such as silicone, Megagrout MG11 does not peel, is anti-fungal, grease resistant, and non porous.

There are also plenty of coloured grout solutions to choose from nowadays so it’s great to go for something that suits your tile choice and décor. We suggest going grey as this doesnt show up dirt as much.

With these few planning steps you can have a beautifully tiled balcony that is long-lasting in no time at all.