8 Top Tips for Renovating Your Garden

1. Plan the garden design

Once you have a finished design, I recommend speaking to landscapers and builders to help give you an idea on what needs to be done first. Then you can decide if you can carry the works out yourselves, or if you need to bring in the professionals. 

All tiles pictured: Burlington Silver

2. Set your garden renovation budget

Gardens are usually last to be done when renovating a home, and can be a forgotten ‘zone’ when it comes to budgeting. They can also be just as expensive as home renovations, but planning is key if you’re going to do it in phases over time, which will help spread out the cost. 

All tiles pictured: Burlington Silver

3. Decide what type of outdoor tiles to use

Making the decision on whether to go for a natural stone or porcelain tile can seem daunting when you start looking around.

There are pros and cons to both, but ultimately you want a tile that will stand the test of time, be easy to maintain, light to touch when the sun comes out so your feet don’t get burnt, isn’t slippery and most importantly, suits the style of your garden design.

If your patio is a large size, remember to scale up with the tile, to reduce the work load and the amount of grout lines/ gaps that are visible. I.e look at 900mm wide tiles for larger patios, and 600mm square for smaller areas.

What material the tile is will depend on what sub-base they need to be laid on. This will be an additional cost on top of the cost of the tiles. It’s important to get this right to avoid movement and sinkages in the future. 

All tiles pictured: Burlington Silver

4. Consider outdoor lighting before beginning to lay your tiles

This is something people often forget when designing their garden, but lighting and external electrical sockets are important to factor in early on, especially as the cable needs to be laid at the beginning stage of garden design to avoid surface cables. 

All tiles pictured: Burlington Silver

5. Determine the height your patio needs to be

 

Ensure you’re not covering air bricks when laying your patio as this will not be to building regulations and can later cause more damage to your house and lead to damp issues. 

All tiles pictured: Burlington Silver

6. Remember to plan for rainwater drainage

You can’t lay a patio without knowing where your drainage is. If in doubt, seek specialist advice from landscapers or builders. Ideally you want water to drain away from your property. If you don’t have an accessible drain, you can add a soakaway* to ensure your patio is built to building regulations. CTD Tiles also stock a raised pedestal system which can hide drainage pipes and other structural elements underneath the tiles, while also allowing easy access for maintenance. 

7. Prepare all the tools you will need (If laying the patio yourself) 

• Trowel
• Rake 

• Wheelbarrow 

• Shovel 

• Rubber mallet 

• Spirit level 

• Tape measure 

• Cement mixer (optional) 

• Tile cutter/ angle grinder 

• Tile spacers 

8. Choose the best grout for outdoor tiles

If you’re choosing a natural stone then go for a concrete mix, or if you’re using a porcelain external tile, you can grout the tiles with an external grout which is super hardwearing. CTD Tiles stock PavePro external grout in 3 colour options. 

All tiles pictured: Burlington Silver

Get my look

I recently renovated our garden patio with Burlington Porcelain Tiles in Silver which you can find here.

For more inspiration on garden tiles click here to see the CTD outdoor porcelain tiles range. To see more from Houselust, head over to Instagram for some amazing interiors inspiration!