Since our last update on the sunroom, Sherry and I have crossed off four more tasks: installing two ceiling fans, deep-cleaning the concrete floor, leveling low spots with self-leveling compound, and cutting and dry-fitting tile to plan the final pattern. We were hoping to share a fan-installation tutorial, but we’re too excited about the tiling prep to wait — so today’s post focuses on the three steps that got the floor ready for tile. We made more progress over the weekend than expected, and we’re thrilled with the tile pattern we chose. In fact, we may already be installing tile as you read this, so fingers crossed we’ll have everything set, grouted, and ready for the reveal within a week.
Our three prep goals were straightforward: eliminate a lingering odor, level the floor so water wouldn’t collect near the house, and choose a tile layout (border, running bond, or grid?). First, we tackled the smell. This room previously had wall-to-wall carpeting that became wet over time because of damaged doors and rot, so the concrete retained some odors even after removing the carpet. We’d already opened the doors to air things out, which helped, but we decided to follow readers’ recommendations and applied a commercial odor-removing cleaner to be safe.
We used a concentrated product many readers had suggested for deeply embedded smells. Even though the tile will cover the concrete, we didn’t want any chance of a musty odor returning on hot, humid days. Application was simple: scrub the solution on with a brush, let it dry, and the smell was gone. With the odor issue taken care of, we moved on to leveling the floor.
Removing the glass doors left the sunroom exposed to the elements, and while most of the floor dries quickly after rain, a couple of low spots trapped small puddles — mostly near the house where we’ll likely place furniture. We didn’t want chairs or tables sitting in water after a heavy rain, so we chose to use self-leveling concrete to fill those depressions and create a slight slope away from the house.
At first the idea felt daunting, but after watching a few demonstration videos and talking with the Tile Shop staff, it seemed manageable. We purchased the leveling mix and a primer the store recommended to help the compound bond to the existing concrete. The primer was very watery and went on quickly with a brush.
One bag of the self-leveling mix covers about 15 square feet, and since we only needed to correct low spots and add a subtle slope, we bought five bags and ended up using four. We recommend using a 6-gallon mixing bucket — the standard Home Depot 5-gallon bucket was too small for comfortable mixing. We also used a small measuring bucket designed to give the exact water amount per bag; it felt silly at first but made it easy to get consistent batches without over- or under-watering.
Mix the compound by adding the powder gradually to the measured water and blend thoroughly with a paddle mixer attached to a drill. The mix is much runnier than traditional concrete — think sunscreen consistency — which is what allows it to level itself. It won’t do every detail for you, but it flows into low areas and creates a near-flat surface on its own. We used a broom to gently guide the material toward corners and low spots; wherever we swept, the liquid reformatted into a smooth surface.
We poured four batches and could see the area near the windows starting to set while we worked on the last pour. By the next morning the whole floor was solid and ready to walk on, which meant we could move forward with tile planning.
With the substrate ready, we opened a couple of tile boxes and started dry-fitting. We were nearly certain we wanted a running-bond (brick) pattern using our 20″ x 20″ square tiles, but we debated where to begin and whether to include a border. Dry-fitting helped answer those questions and revealed two practical details we hadn’t fully considered.
First, we needed to trim the bottoms of the door jambs so tile could slide under the trim for a cleaner look. We used our Dremel multimax to cut the jambs to the correct height, protecting a tile with cardboard while setting the saw height to account for the thinset and tile thickness. With the jambs trimmed, the tile sits neatly underneath and the final gap will be sealed with clear exterior-grade caulk to protect the wood from moisture.
Dry-fitting also confirmed that a border would improve the overall look and make installation easier. A border defines the perimeter and presents a more finished, high-end appearance. It also simplified cuts around the posts: instead of notching tiles, we could make the border the same width as the posts and square off the outside edge, which reduces the number of interior cuts.
To create the border, I cut three pieces from each full tile on the wet saw, so one tile yielded three border pieces. Cutting eight tiles produced the 24 border pieces we needed to finish the perimeter without excessive waste. The process of slicing the tiles wasn’t the most fun, but the finished border gave the room a defined edge, especially important because there’s a slight step from the deck into the sunroom.
We also planned for a protective metal edge along the exposed outer perimeter so the cut tile edge wouldn’t be vulnerable or look unfinished. We chose a slim metal trim in a matte charcoal tone that can be cut to size with metal snips; it provides a neat, durable border that blends with the tile and hides the chalky cut edge.
Our plan is to have all tile set by tomorrow and then grout and clean up so we can share before-and-after photos early next week. And for anyone who’s waiting on the ceiling fan post — don’t worry, that tutorial is coming soon. What did you all tackle this weekend?