A terrace covering has to withstand a lot and various weather influences also leave their mark. Damage can often be repaired easily.
Made of wood, stone or tiles - a patio floor can be realized in a variety of ways and, depending on the look, contribute to the desired evening atmosphere. When choosing a new covering, you should not only look for great aesthetics, but also for a long service life.
Durability of different terrace coverings
Basically, the following types of coverings are suitable for patio floors:
- Planks: wood, WPC
- Slabs: Stone, Natural Stone, Polygonal
- Bulk material: natural stone (gravel or grit)
- Earthware: concrete paving, natural stone
- Tiles: wood, WPC, natural stone, fine and coarse ceramics
The durability of patio floors is often estimated to be almost limitless when building a house. In practice, however, most decking surfaces sooner or later show the signs of use.
» Tiles
Especially with light-colored patio tiles, one or the other discoloration cannot be overlooked. The surface structure of terrace tiles can also suffer after a few decades and make repairs or replacement necessary.
Tip: Expect the best durability from ceramic, flagstone and stone decking tiles.
» Wood Decking
In the case of wooden decking, the type of wood used is very important as to how long the decking will last. While tropical teak lasts about 25 years, other types of wood have to be overhauled after 5-10 years.
» bulk goods
If the floor covering is made of gravel or grit, it is usually not due to a lack of durability when it is replaced: the appearance suffers from the numerous discolorations and the terrace floor makes an unkempt impression. A renewal of the floor covering is therefore often the result.
Repair damaged decking
It is not always necessary to replace the terrace covering. First of all, check whether you might not be able to repair it as well. This is usually much easier and also cheaper.
Mending wooden elements
Although floors made of wood are sensitive, the affected areas can often be repaired with just a few simple steps.
Scratches on the wood
If you want to remove small scratches on the wooden floor, you can use a simple trick. To do this, place a damp cloth on the scratch and then run a hot iron (program: wool) over it. With any luck, the swelling of the wood will cause the scratch to become invisible.
Alternatively, you can sand down the wood and then apply a nourishing oil. Resealing with paint is also a sensible option.
Gray areas in the wood
Rain and UV light are enemies of wooden coverings. The graying of the surface is a natural process and can also be desired by some terrace owners. If you want to counteract the greying, you can treat the wood with colorless decking oil.
Mending WPC coverings
If it's not just a water stain that can be removed in no time at all, you need a little more know-how. For example, you can treat a rough WPC covering with sandpaper if it has scratches or stubborn stains. At first, the abraded area will have a slightly different color. However, under the numerous natural influences (rain, sunshine, etc.), this color difference is self-reflecting.
Smooth WPC coverings should not be sanded down. Here you can try to repair scratches or the like with a hair dryer. If this does not work, you cannot avoid replacing the affected plank or tile.
Replace damaged tiles
If terrace tiles are damaged, you cannot avoid replacing them. However, in order to save costs and labor, you should check whether it is possible to replace individual tiles. In this case it is ideal if you have saved a few old tiles from tiling. The sooner you carry out such a repair, the easier it is to avoid expensive follow-up costs. So it's better to replace individual tiles from time to time instead of having the entire floor relaid.
Proceed as follows:
- Step 1
First cut away the joint around the defective tile. You can then remove the tile with a hammer and chisel.Tip: There is a risk of damaging adjacent tiles if you do not mill away the joint.
- Step 2
If you have removed the entire tile, you must free the subsurface from adhesive residues. Once that's done, provide the substrate with balcony and terrace sealing and stick the surrounding tiles with adhesive tape. - Step 3
Mix up a small amount of tile adhesive and spread it on the dry surface. Using a notched trowel, spread the adhesive over the adhesive and then insert the tile. Then align the tile exactly and press it on. Now all you have to do is remove the tape (before the glue dries) and let the surface dry for 24 hours. - Step 4
Once the joint adhesive has dried, mix up some joint mortar. Work this into the joints with a spatula and remove the residue with a squeegee. When the grout has dried, wipe the tile clean.
Renew terrace covering completely
If the terrace covering can no longer be repaired, you cannot avoid a complete renewal. As long as the old floor covering is reasonably smooth and not too uneven, it is also possible to lay the new floor covering over the old one. The fact that the terrace is a little higher is usually not important.
Remove old decking
In most cases, however, it is necessary to completely remove the old covering. While this is quite uncomplicated with screwed floorboards, removing old stone slabs or tiles is much more difficult. Because these are often glued together and have to be laboriously removed. Depending on the size of the terrace, this can be done with a hammer and chisel or with a demolition hammer.
Tip: Sand the surface thoroughly to remove residual glue and other imperfections. The best way to remove the resulting dust and crumbs is with a vacuum cleaner.
Laying new terrace flooring
Once the old covering has been removed, you can start laying a new covering. It is up to you whether you switch back to the same rubber or to a different one. But as we have already mentioned, you should not only pay attention to the look, but also to the durability.
Tip: For a precise planning of the materials, you should measure your terrace carefully beforehand. In this way you can calculate the material requirements exactly.
» Recommended reading: Do you want to tile your terrace yourself? Then take a look at our article "Laying terrace tiles -Explained step by step”.