Trends regarding outdoor flooring: design, versatility and high resistance

Opting for a type of floor is by no means easy, and furthermore, it is even harder to set up outdoor flooring where pure aesthetics go specifically hand in hand with precise technical features, which are closely related to both their durability and resistance.

The outdoor tiles have some intrinsic properties, such as the degree of compaction, water absorption or the texture, which all together make them suitable for atmospheres that undergo unfavourable weather conditions. The fact of bearing these features in mind will not only favour an excellent and relaxing stay on our terrace or in our garden, but it will also enhance our safety, and what is more, our flooring will remain perfectly intact and unaffected through the years.

Quality, durability and easy maintenance
Porcelain is a material which ensures quality, durability and furthermore, it requires just a little maintenance. It turns out to be a practical aesthetical solution for outdoor floors, as it not only remains unaffected by wear and tear through the passing of time, but it also withstands humidity and temperature changes tremendously well. Likewise, it ensures both easy cleaning and maintenance, which makes it highly suitable for being installed on either terraces or balconies.

In the wide range of porcelain choices, and regarding the outdoors, it is highly recommended to use the porcelain tile, as well as the ceramic stone or the ceramic parquet. In addition to their high durability, these materials are resistant to both scratches and abrupt temperature changes, and furthermore, they offer a unique, excellent and very natural design.

PORCELANOSA Grupo, by means of its firm Porcelanosa, offers stone and natural wood-effect designs with high performance for the outdoors. For instance, the PAR-KER Chester and Ascot series, or the Samoa and Dover ceramic stones, where the authenticity of the natural materials lives alongside the versatility and resistance of the porcelain.

The firm Venis, on the other hand, also offers its STON-KER series, by means of excellent collections such as the Cascais Noce / Natural, a unique design in a rectified matt and technical grain finish which reminds us of sand on the beach.

Water absorption
Water absorption goes hand in hand with the porosity of the material surface. The least porous material turns out to be the through-body porcelain, which furthermore, apart from its high resistance to humidity, is highly suitable for undergoing both unfavourable weather conditions, as well as high traffic.

Urbatek, PORCELANOSA Grupo’s firm, enhances architecture with its full through-body porcelain containing less than 1% water absorption, which is able to remain unaffected through the years in outdoor spaces, and without compromising the top-quality design, since it has highly natural sumptuous finishes and textures which excellently adapt to design trends, as well as imitating natural materials. It is worth mentioning collections such as the Avenue Texture or the Stuc in their 119x119cm large format, thus, allowing for the uniformity of both interiors and exteriors.

Anti-slipping
The safety of a terrace or areas surrounding swimming pools is closely related to the anti-slipping properties of the flooring. In order to ensure it, ramp tests are carried out with the aim of achieving the degree of slipping, where the suitability of the floors that are installed in wet areas is paramount.

PORCELANOSA Grupo offers a big array of anti-slip designs, which are able to cover the guest’s needs and provide the summer season with safety.

Ideal design
Meeting all these technical requirements does not necessarily mean sacrificing elegance and the most excellent design in outdoor flooring.

There are porcelain tiles with high performance, which are cutting edge with regard to current trends and they even imitate natural materials such as stone or wood. Nevertheless, the natural materials themselves may also become ideal for an outdoor area, such as marble, limestone or sandstone.

L’Antic Colonial brings some designs together which follow that trend, in other words, keeping their natural origin, and at the same time, becoming the main essence of a more authentic rustic decorative style. Thus, it is worth highlighting its Caliza Amsterdam series, or its Habana Brown and Capuccino Sand Home marble.

On the other hand, the design of a flooring also has to do with the orographical characteristics of the land. PORCELANOSA Grupo also offers solutions for drainage gradient floors, such as the outdoor raised technical flooring by Butech. Likewise, this is an anti-slipping flooring, with easy cleaning and maintenance properties, as well as being highly resistant with a low porosity.