Porch redecoration ideas

mrsmsebastian

Hiya

I have porch connected to the kitchen that I want to update as the single brickwall looks horrendous as well as the cracked painted floor.

We are not so expert DIY and only relies on video tutorials, based on the pictures what can you suggest of us doing without breaking the bank. 
I want to tile the floor and just want to smoothen the wall then paint it.

FreeBear

A thin coat of render will smooth out the brickwork - Weber, Tarmac, and K-Rend all do a monocouche render that can be applied as a single coat.

The cracks in the floor are of concern - If there is relative movement either side of the crack, it could cause tiles to break. There are ways to combat this and limit any potential cracks in the tiles (Ditra decoupling membrane being one). How effective suach a system is, I wouldn't like to comment...

One comment from your photos - The downpipe on the corner of your porch should go all the way to the ground into a drain. Dumping the water into a flowerpot is not best practice. Water will splash back, soaking the wall behind and cause damp problems on the inside.

mrsmsebastian

FreeBear said:

A thin coat of render will smooth out the brickwork - Weber, Tarmac, and K-Rend all do a monocouche render that can be applied as a single coat.

The cracks in the floor are of concern - If there is relative movement either side of the crack, it could cause tiles to break. There are ways to combat this and limit any potential cracks in the tiles (Ditra decoupling membrane being one). How effective suach a system is, I wouldn't like to comment...

One comment from your photos - The downpipe on the corner of your porch should go all the way to the ground into a drain. Dumping the water into a flowerpot is not best practice. Water will splash back, soaking the wall behind and cause damp problems on the inside.

It's already like that when we bought it, during rainy season I put a bucket under it as I know it would cause problem on the inside. Since we are a beginner DIYers we never thought of creating a drainage and connecting it to the nearby drainage system before concreting the drive. 
Back to the flooring, do you think self-leveling compound is enough to tackle the crack then just lay a plyboard then vinyl on top.
If so, do I need to scrape the paint or I can pour the leveling compound on top of it?

FreeBear

mrsmsebastian said: Back to the flooring, do you think self-leveling compound is enough to tackle the crack then just lay a plyboard then vinyl on top.
If so, do I need to scrape the paint or I can pour the leveling compound on top of it?

If you are putting sheets of ply down, a layer of elf leveling compound (SLC) may not be needed. Depends on how flat the existing floor is... I suspect there may not be a damp proof membrane under that slab of concrete, so would recommend laying a sheet of heavy gauge plastic underneath any ply.

If SLC is needed, give the paint a good scrub with a wire brush. Paint on some primer (SBA would probably be best) and let it dry before pouring any SLC.

mrsmsebastian

FreeBear said:

mrsmsebastian said: Back to the flooring, do you think self-leveling compound is enough to tackle the crack then just lay a plyboard then vinyl on top.
If so, do I need to scrape the paint or I can pour the leveling compound on top of it?

If you are putting sheets of ply down, a layer of elf leveling compound (SLC) may not be needed. Depends on how flat the existing floor is... I suspect there may not be a damp proof membrane under that slab of concrete, so would recommend laying a sheet of heavy gauge plastic underneath any ply.

If SLC is needed, give the paint a good scrub with a wire brush. Paint on some primer (SBA would probably be best) and let it dry before pouring any SLC.

Thank you so much, I will do as you suggest on levelling compound as floor is uneven due to crack.