Lanai Tile?
 

Hi all. Moving into our new home next month (Frogs) and boss wanted to know if it makes sense to tile the lanai or leave it as concrete. It is screened now and no immediate plans to glass-in. Any specific suggestions for tile type and installers?

Tile (or epoxy) can get VERY slippery outside in a lanai. We originally wanted tile but ended up with it being painted and even that is somewhat slippery despite lots of "anti-slip" stuff added to the paint. They used some sort of lacquer type (not water based) paint. Looks great and after 5 years still looks like new. Driveway and walkways were done also and we have to be careful on a wet day on the driveway because it has a pretty decent incline and it does get a bit slippery,

We left ours as concrete, use outdoor rugs, only the corners not covered and we have plants or end tables there. About 5 years ago, we enclosed it, wish we had done that sooner. Still see no reason to do anything different on the floors. With the rug, feels more like a room to us and easy to vacuum. My advice would be to get a dark one, as the lighter one we had originally showed stains. Our lanai is small, about 8 x 12, and we have one 8 x 10 rug, a runner on one end mostly under a glider loveseat, and a large doormat fills the space between rug and door. Have had these rugs for about 7 years, think bought large oneat Home Depot and runner at Tuesday Morning. No slipping.

Tile if you glass it in. Floor shoppe on 301. Every neighbor has gone that route once I did it. Lol

We put down tile in the lanai and love it. Unless there is a lot of wind, rain comes in about a foot. We haven't found it terribly slippery. However, no matter what kind of floor that you have, rain will bring in dirt which will accumulate in certain areas. A simple mopping takes care of it. You might consider living in the house for a year or two in case you want to modify the lanai - glass it in or add a birdcage. Also, my neighbor put in a paver surface and the installer brought the level of the pavers up to the top of the ground frame for the screens. Good luck!

We tiled our lanai before we moved in because we hated the look of the concrete. We didn’t find the tile slippery.
Closed it in 3 years later & added Mitsubishi mini split & insulation.
Bought some nice outdoor rugs for the seating area and under the dining table.
It was the best money we spent on our house.

The plank style tile would look nice on a lanai and it is available in a textured surface that would be less slippery. Keep the grout joints small. The grout is the only issue if water sits on it all the time it will mildew. Even if the grout is sealed the water will find it’s way in where it meets the metal framework (it expands and contracts) so you will have to plan to clean it monthly. Another thing no one thinks about is irrigation water. You can have your sprinkler heads set perfectly and the wind blows while the system is running or the lawn guy inadvertently hits a head and you have water inside and it’s stinky water

We had our concrete permanently stained by Edison at Concreations no maintenance, no dirty grout lines, thousands of colors or designs , beautiful finish,

My husband and I tiled ours and absolutely love it. We bought non slip tile that looks like wood flooring from Lowe's.

We had a surface put on it, like that around pools and painted and sealed. Also filled the expansion joints and plugged the weep holes outside. Twelve years. Still happy.

I slipped on damp tile, ended up with a detached retina and surgery. We now have rugs on the tile.

Same with us. Added indoor/outdoor area rugs under dining table & sofa coffee table. We open our lanai glass sliders to the pool often so this works well for us. Not slippery.

Tiles on lanai that is not enclosed
 

We enclosed our back lanai snd then had it tiled. Looks great and we love it. We also had the same tile put on our front porch. But that is only screened in. Big, big mistake. As I found out the hard way, tile gets very slippery when wet, especially being exposed to dust, floating grass cuttings, etc. It was raining one day and I was coming back into the house to get something I had forgot when we pulled out of the driveway to go eat out. Opened the screen door, stepped on to the tile floor and woke up a little later lying flat on my back. I had a mild concussion and very bad headache. I was lucky, no broken bones but a very sore back. Realizing what a liability this could be for other people coming in during or after rain, I now squeegee the floor constantly, keep huge rubber rugs on the floor and a sign on my screen door warning that the floor is slippery when wet.
I strongly recommend against putting tile on a floor where the area is not enclosed. Rain, as I found out, easily blows in through the screen and you are looking at a very dangerous situation.

Lanai floor
 

I bought indoor-outdoor carpet from home depot, and installed it myself. It has been there for 20 years, and still looks good. All I do is run the vacuum cleaner once a week.

I had river rock put on mine. I love it. A few friends also had theirs done.

If you want to make your lanai an extension to your house, tile it. We are enclosing the lanai with double pane glass and had them add add concrete to match the level of our house floor. I just got done tiling the lanai with the same tile used in the house so when you open the patio doors, it looks like an extension of the house, no step down. I tiled our last screened in porch and it looked more finished than paining concrete.
The issue with a screened in lanai is to make sure it drains properly.

Tile in Lanai
 

We lived with a concrete floor in our lanai for several years before deciding to have the floor tiled. We selected Nickel Tile in Lake Sumter Landing to do the job, and they were great! We love the way the floor looks now and wish we had done this years ago. It changes the whole look of the lanai and makes it look more "finished." I should add, we do have our lanai enclosed, so that may make a difference in your decision.

I would think it is a personal choice! Mike

Be careful! A neighbor tiled his lanai (screened) with a smooth tile. During some months the humidity was great enough to condense moisture on the surface resulting in a very slippery surface. Based on his problem, I had T&D put a concrete non slip surface coating on the lanai. Good luck on your choice.

I enclosed the lanai - raised the floor - and tiled the floor. Great Lakes installed the tile floor -- excellent job. The tile is easy to maintain especially since you are coming in from the garden.

Have the cement stained and then epoxy, with or without the sprinkles. Tile is not only slippery but you have the grout to contend with .... mold/discoloring.

Best money you can spend is have it screened in - we had ours done by Martin Aluminum - very heavy duty acrylic sliders - I got fed up having to clean out the lanai every time it rained ....dust settles on the bug screens and when it rains you get liquid mud everywhere. I then had a glue down carpet fitted ....this was all over 18 years ago and it still looks great

Has anyone done Luxury Vinyl Plank with an enclosed Lanai instead of tile?

The room will have to be climate controlled and the LVP cannot be attached with glue or caulking. Those products expand and contract with the temperature and with sun exposure