Hi All, I am new to this forum and really looking forward to participating with everyone here. My first question is in regard to flooring an indoor sunroom. The room is 10' x 20' and has a concrete slab floor that is unevenly poured (it varies up to 1.5 inches). We found a good deal on Jerusalem stone 6" x 12" x 1.25" that we plan to use as flooring. However, we do not want to set the stone in mortar (we don't want anything so permanent), so we are thinking of setting the stone in sand. (Concrete sand as the bedding, and mason's sand swept into the cracks between the stone.) The room is framed up with pressure treated lumber, and we thought to create a narrow wood border of Ipe or similar hardwood that would "frame" the floor of the room, and create a sort of "box" for the sand and stone (keeping it back from the framework/sill plates of the walls). The top edge of this hardwood framing would be level and finish out flush with the tiles, while the bottom edge would be scribed to meet with the uneven concrete floor. We realize this is fairly unconventional, but would really appreciate any thoughts and suggestions you might have. Again, this is a patio room off a deck with lots of natural sun, covered roof, and insulated. We don't want the permanence of mortar because we would like to be able to save the tiles if we eventually decided to change the floor, add radiant heating, etc... Thanks so much! -Penelope

doingygirl, did you use any particular pattern? I'm undecided between a Versailles pattern and something random. An underfloor heating mat sounds great. Maybe I can find out more by googling it. This is the look I want to emulate: English country floor I found a tile today that is gorgeous, and similar to what I was looking for. It's actually a marble: it says on the back "almond beige marble brushed and chiseled." It's a light taupe color not at all along the lines of a Carrara or other white and veiny marble. It looks like the limestone I've seen. I love it, but am afraid it'll be a hard and cold, with dirty grout! But I remind myself that I love the look of very old, worn stone floors like you'd see in an old cathedral or English manor house. They're not at all perfect looking. It's the aged quality that I love. Bill V, what's the most stain-impervious, or at least most cleanable grout you know of?

Porcelain is pretty tough stuff, and really outside it just needs to be water and sun resistant, and I would think it would be fine, but you need to check with a couple other tile places to be sure. We went a different route with ours. We had the concrete taped into flagstone shapes, then sprayed with 3 different colors of stain, sprinkled with light glitter (like you see when the sun catches glints on natural rock). They then pulled up the tape which mimics grout, sealed it all, and we get tons of compliments on it.

Hi Pearl. I used a TEC premixed grout. I explained to the guys at the John Bridge Tile forum that I was tiling over 400 sq. ft. in my spare time, and it would take me weeks (actually months, but I took the summer off). I said that at times I might only get 25 sq ft done and would not be able to grout it all at once - and that there was the possibility of being interrupted to deal with the family:) One guy suggested a premixed grout, and specified a type which I could not find in my area. I know TEC is a pretty good brand so I used their's instead. I also was very tired of mixing up powders - I would mix the thinset in my garage and lug it down to the basement so the thought of a premixed grout was lovely - no mixing, snap the lid back on when interrupted and consistent color. I think it is twice the cost of powdered, but the perks outweighed the cost given the chore. I used the Pearl color. It takes 24 hours before you can use the floor. On a smaller job I would not mind the powdered, though the color can vary if you add more or less water - so be consistent with every batch you mix. This is what I used: https://www.menards.com/main/flooring-rugs/tile-stone/tile-installation-maintenance/tile-grout-caulk/tec-reg-ready-to-use-premixed-grout-647-1-2-gal/p-1444432148471.htm