Outdoors can often be a great place for do-it-yourself projects. The truth is there can be a lot of room for do-overs.

If you paint the fence the wrong colour then just paint right over it. If your fence is a little too twisted then make it straight. If the gate won’t close then whack it with a big hammer. Indoors we have less opportunity for these types of adjustments. If we cut the hole in the wall too big for the window then we will need to buy a bigger window.

Outdoor spaces are important to all home owners in summer. They become extensions to our living spaces and we want them to be attractive as well as comfortable. The third most important part is low maintenance. We want to repair, paint or clean as little as possible as time goes by.

Every year there are more products available for outdoor construction that help us with these wants and desires. Composite decking materials are perhaps the most common. They are made of part wood and part plastic. They come already colored to our desire and will never need painting.

They cut much like wood and can be assembled like any other wood deck material. Sure they cost a lot more than the regular 2X4 but look at the big picture; they last forever without our help. I always suggest that a new deck be built with this material. Pay now and be lazy tomorrow.

Decks and patios are perfect spaces for resilient building materials. Once you build a deck or create a patio you want it to be done, done for a very long time. My back patio is a big concrete slab. There is not much I can do to enhance it. And I’m not so sure I want to. It gets a lot of activity like construction projects, lawn mower repair and so on.

My front deck is our true outdoor living space. If I needed my patio to act more like a deck then I think I would pay some attention to the patio finish. Outdoor tile is always very appealing and not so expensive. Tile in general is pretty cheap these days.

Because of the jump in popularity the cost of tile and tile accessories has never been cheaper. Tile projects are also tailor made for do-it-your-selfers. Again, lots of room for the learning curve. Not a lot of expensive tools are needed. Tile cutters can be rented cheap and the hand tools don’t cost much at all.

The options are endless when considering tile as the finish on your patio. If my patio wasn’t so industrial I would tile over my concrete in a New York minute. I like the elegant feel and look of outdoor tile. It far out ways it’s small cost. If you have trouble with cracks in your outdoor concrete like I do you can plan expansion joints to compensate for this.

We all know how durable tile is indoors. That makes it a natural for outside. We don’t have to ever paint it. We can hose it off and even shovel the snow off with little worry about damaging it. Some tiles are better suited for the outdoors so be sure and ask the people at your favorite flooring dealer.

We just recently tiled a patio with slate tiles. They are a lot more work than some other tiles but boy what bang for your buck. Somehow the nature stone tiles look like they belong on a patio or other outdoor setting. Kinda like stepping stones on a pathway in the forest or around a rock garden.

The variation in colour and shades of light and dark in slate tiles enhance the overall natural look. Because of these variations in colour we can worry less about what furniture will match or if the colour of the fence will clash with the patio. Outdoor tile projects are pretty easy and after the grout is sealed the work is over.

Like other tile elsewhere in the house, if you damage a tile by dropping a hammer you can fix it. Just smash out the old damaged one and glue down a new one. By far the best part of outdoor tile for me is the little to no maintenance.

Now if we could take the garden hose to the tile on the kitchen floor then life would be perfect now wouldn’t it?