West Vancouver, British Columbia
Porcelain tile is demanding to install outdoors, because it needs a base that both bonds tightly and drains freely or it will not last. At a private residence in West Vancouver, British Columbia, a homeowner wanted permeable porcelain patios and a pool deck that were easy to power wash, resisted ants in the joints, and skipped a concrete pour. Installed in 2021 across roughly 1,400 square feet, the project used the ROMEX® RSG-10 system, TRASS BED as the base, ADHESION ELUTRIANT as the bonding layer, and DRAIN as the permeable grout, to set 2 cm porcelain on a fully permeable, warrantied assembly. Fossil Landscape Construction installed it.
PRODUCT SELECTION
Each product made the porcelain work outdoors without a concrete substrate. ROMEX TRASS BED gave a permeable, frost-resistant base that drains rather than trapping water, which is what lets the tile be laid as a permeable system at all. ROMEX ADHESION ELUTRIANT bonded the smooth, dense porcelain firmly to that base, a critical detail with a tile that needs reliable adhesion outdoors. ROMEX DRAIN finished the joints and was chosen for a specific reason: the homeowner wanted no ants burrowing through the joints, and DRAIN‘s cured resin mortar shuts out the tunneling that loose sand invites, while staying permeable and power-washer safe. As a full RSG-10 assembly, it carries the 10-year ROMEX System Guarantee.
PROJECT LOCATION
The home sits in West Vancouver, on the North Shore, where outdoor living spaces are finished to a high standard and used constantly. The coastal climate brings heavy rain and freeze-thaw, so an outdoor tile surface has to move water and resist frost, and a pool deck adds constant water exposure and a need to stay clean and slip-safe. Porcelain suits that setting, but only on a base that drains and bonds reliably.
PROJECT NEEDS
The goal was 2 cm porcelain as a permeable, low-maintenance, long-lasting outdoor surface, on the homeowner’s specific terms. Permeability was central, both for the wet climate and to avoid the impermeable finish a concrete-set install creates, which ruled out mortar on concrete. Avoiding the concrete pour was an explicit goal, so the setting system had to provide stability and bond strength on its own. The surface also had to take power washing without the joints failing, and it had to keep ants from burrowing up through the joints.
PROJECT SOLUTION
The porcelain was set on ROMEX TRASS BED and bonded tile-by-tile with ROMEX ADHESION ELUTRIANT, giving a stable, firmly adhered, free-draining foundation with no concrete substrate. ROMEX DRAIN grout finished the surface, keeping water moving through the deck and patios, standing up to pressure washing so the owner can clean it without eroding the joints, and delivering the ant resistance the brief required by closing off the path loose sand leaves open. The RSG-10 assembly produced a porcelain surface that is permeable, power-washable, ant-resistant, and warrantied for 10 years, porcelain done right on a permeable base and no concrete in sight.
Permeable porcelain patio and pool deck
British Columbia, Canada
2021
Private
Residential
