Trying to decide what my options are...this is my scenerio. I'm going to be selling a large estate home and need to refinish 2 patios before I put up for sale. I have 2 concrete patios each with concrete steps. The 2 patios are currently tiled and the stairs were stripped of their tiles and are now left with a concrete finish...currently it looks like crap. I'd like to resurface the patio and stairs but debating whether or not I need to rip out the existing tiles. The tiles are the old 70's clay tile. Would it be a bad thing to tile over the existing clay tiles? I'm almost positive those tiles are on solid. Or should I just lay large patio stones over the tile and glue those down? Any input/advice would be much appreciated!

If you're sure the existing tile is down good and solid, I'd go over it with a nice frost rated stone or porcelain.

Don't glue patio stones on it. You're better than that.

Can you recommend any specific tile/stone manufacturer? How about mortar, what would you use? I'm still debating whether or not to rip out those tiles...I know they are on good but I'd hate to leave them on and in a few years find out they got loose and ruined everything. I've been on that end before and it sucks, so I wouldn't want to do it to anyone else. As for removing tiles, is there an actual air powered tile chipper? or am I just using a small air hammer and doing one tile at a time? Once I remove the tile, I assume I have to grind down the floor to smoothen it a little...is there a specific tool for that? Thanks!

Paolo, I use Laticrete products, and could recommend specific materials to use for the this product. If you don't have Laticrete sold in your area, you could use Mapei or TEC and still have quality materials for your installation. Do you know which brands you have locally in a tile store ? Knowing the brands available would be the way to start with a recommendation.

Depending on the square footage that you have to demo, you could do this with electric chipping hammers rather than pnuematic tools.

As for resurfacing the concrete, again the answer is determined by how much you have to do. If it is a lot, I would use a shot blaster to resurface the slab.

For your tile, most full-bodied porcelains are good for outdoors, but you should ask your tile retailer if the one that you have chosen is rated for outdoor use just to be sure. The same for stone. Some are frost rated and some aren't so ask.

I agree with Rob Z about the Laticrete. I also like Laticrete products. TEC has some good stuff, but it can be pricy.

To rip up the existing tile you will need to rent a chipping gun, like a small jack hammer. If the tile is down as good as you think it is, the surface that you are left with will be rough - mostly from remaining thin-set. For that, you can either work away with your chipper or grind it off. It will be dusty so wear a mask and be thankful that you're outside.

Your other option is to leave the rough surface and go over it with a scratch coat or a self leveller before you lay the tile. It will cost you a little more for material, but save you a lot of work. If your patio slopes, you may want to stay away from the self leveller, because it will all run to the lowest corner. If it's flat this is the easiest way. If you go for the scratch coat I would use the cheapest unmodified thin-set you can find, mix it up a little on the light side and smooth it out a best as you can with a flat trowel. You'll probably want a heavy notch when you lay the tile.

A good stone to put outside is quarzite. going tile over tile is ok, as long as the existing tile is well adhered. If you want to be really certain of adhesion use Mapei Kerabond and Mapelastic. It's expensive, but the best thinset out there for this application.

Exterior installations in our climate tend to be plagued by frost heaving, so make sure you don't leave voids under the tile and that the decks are sloped.