Patio Redo

The present floor of this patio is colonial brick and pebblestone. Tile expert George Chister lays a tile floor over it to give it a totally different look. Here are the steps he followed:

1. Dry-fit a few tiles and use them as a guide to mark a chalk line for placement. Remove the tiles.
2. Mix Thin-Set and water and use a toothed trowel to spread it as far as you can reach.
3. Butt the first tile against the chalk line and tap it with your hand or a rubber mallet to set it in place.
4. Repeat with the rest of the tiles, inserting spacers between tiles as you go.
5. Let the Thin-Set dry for 24 hours, then remove the spacers.
6. Clean the tile to remove dust and excess Thin-Set.
7. Using a flexible grout float, apply grout to the surface, pushing it hard into the grooves between the tiles.
8. With a damp sponge, wash off the excess grout (work on the diagonal and don't press hard into the grooves--you don't want to remove the grout in them).
9. Let the grout dry at least two hours, then seal with tile sealant and a sponge brush.

Patio Walls

The patio walls started out as pink stucco. Using a water-based (but weather-resistant ) wash, decorative artist Roger Beale changes the color of the walls and does some detail work around the window openings to pick up the design of the tile floor. Here's what he did:

1. Think about where the elements would distress a wall, and apply the wash in those areas.
2. The first wash should be a mixture of raw umber and clear acrylic glaze; apply with an old brush that you can scrub around on the wall.
3. Go over the first application with a rag to lightly mottle the finish.
4. Apply a second, more sparing wash that is a combination of the first hue and a universal tint in medium green. This will add a "moldy" effect.

Distressed Ironwork

Steps:

1. To add a distressed appearance to ironwork, first remove dirt and rust with fine sandpaper and a scraper, if necessary.
2. Coat the iron with a red-oxide oil-based primer. After it dries, apply a coat of black oil-based gloss or semi-gloss paint.
3. To add "rust" to the surface, mix together the red-oxide glaze and burnt umber tint to the consistency of heavy cream. Apply it to edges, cracks, crevices, etc . Blot with a rag.