I have an exterior patio that is partly covered and partly uncovered. The covered part is protected from rain and other like elements, but all of the patio is subject to the outside temperatures and humidity levels. I have a contractor who is supposed to be installing a porcelain tile floor for me over the existing (and sealed) concrete floor. He is telling me that because the humidity outside is over 60% that he doesn't feel that he can commence the installation without a high risk of the tile not properly adhering. He said that the manufacturer of the thinset he uses recommends installation in conditions of 40% humidity or less. He said that based on personal experience he is comfortable installing in condition of 60% humidity or less. I inquired about other thinset options intended for exterior air conditions like we are experiencing in our area, and he said that what he uses is the best (of course he would say that). Does anyone have any experience or knowledge in this area who can help? I'm wondering if maybe he is using this "technical" excuse to cover for some other reason why he doesn't want to start right now (thinking that I won't know the difference and just take him at his word). Please advise. Thanks in advance!

We have all tile on our main floor. It is hard on the feet and joints. If you can get used to wearing slippers/shoes around it is fine. But we also put area carpets down and carpet runners (sort of like little habitrails) around the house which make it easier to walk in bare feet). I prefer bare feet but have slippers I wear around the house often. All flooring is a tradeoff. Carpet is soft but easily soiled. Wood gets scratched and need refinished, often with noxious chemicals. Tile is hard but easy to clean. My favorite flooring was a solid surface linoleum I had in an old house. I'm not sure they make it anymore. It was a solid material all the way through, had no odor, repelled dirt and was soft to walk on because the sub floor was plywood. I must say the wood look tile does look fantastic. The only issue we've had is cracking when the tile spans a doorway and they are on different heat zone pours (our heat is in-floor hydronic). To fix that we have used the grout caulk to patch those areas so it is a bit more flexible. Probably a better tile installer could have avoided this issue. Would I put it down again? Probably not if I knew I was living here so long. I would have put down my solid surface linoleum. But since this subfloor is concrete I may not have gotten the softness I liked out of it. But I would not have had to deal with cracking grout issues. The reason I didn't put it in was I was concerned about resale. Wood look tile has a more high end look. I was interested in hardwood but didn't know how it would perform with the expansion and contraction of the floor heat. I also was concerned it would insulate the heat too much. If you get carpet go with a thin berber (ours was a cheap berber). We had that in our upstairs and the heat came through beautifully. Then we got a cheap plush style and the heat does not come through very well.

@itsourcasa i see a couple tiles mentioned here. did you install the truewood cream floors from floor and decor? I absolutely love the pictures you shared a year or so ago. https://www.flooranddecor.com/porcelain-tile/truewood-cream-wood-plank-porcelain-tile-100480698.html

Windex is your friend. Windex original formula (with ammonia) is a lovely degreaser. The 5% ammonia content is IDENTICAL to 'commercial' floor strippers. If it can clean windows and mirrors it does VERY well with shiny tiles. And yes...the HIGH GLOSS finishes are SUPER TOUGH to live with. They show EVERYTHING. The super matte floors ALSO have these issues. The EXTREMES are hard to deal with (should come with live-in cleaning people). The biggest thing to remember: water evaporates but DIRT and MUD do not. If you want to remove the dirt you need to TOWEL IT OFF. If you use a damp mop, then you MUST towel dry the water off the floor. The towel picks up the mud as well as the water. And...of course, start wearing slippers. The oils on your socks = skin oils. They drop oil. Oil GRABS dust. Dust lines the foot print and makes it visible. I would personally look at purchasing a gallon of Windex. Use it FIRST. Then try the steam mop. NO OIL-BASED soaps or cleaners. Anything that says 'Eco-Cleaner' is GUARANTEED to be an oil based cleaner...."Natural Orange oil", "Thyme Oil", "Sage Oil", etc. Get the idea? All of these oils will SIT on your floor. Again, water evaporates but OIL does not.