Interlocking deck tiles are rapidly becoming one of the most convenient ways of resurfacing or remodeling an existing deck or patio , particularly seeing as these modular tiles can be laid by almost anyone even if they don't have any particular handyman proficiency. So let's look at the steps involved in installing interlocking deck tiles.

Firstly of course you must clear the area of any items. Note that whilst the tiles can be used over most hard surfaces such as concrete, asphalt etc, the surface should be as smooth and as level as possible so that the tiles will not rock on any bumps or rises . It is also crucial that your deck or patio slopes to some extent away from your house walls to provide for correct drainage. If you have any sizable depressions or any cracked concrete where there is a significant mismatch on either side of the cracking, you firstly need to repair and level the area with some patching material. You can normally buy bags of dry mix from most home centres which will serve this purpose .

After you have made the surface as smooth as practicable , then you can start laying the tiles. If your area has a wall on one or more sides, you would normally commence laying the tiles from one of the outside edges so that the final tiles you lay will be against the walls. Many deck tile manufacturers also provide edging or transition strips which provide a neat, professional finish to the outside edge of the area. If you wish to use these, then you should firstly allow for the required space on the outside of the deck to clip on these transition pieces when you have finished installing the rest of the tiles .

So you commence by taking one tile and placing it in position . Then take the next tile and simply snap it into place with the interconnecting tabs. Then just proceed the same way across the full area of your deck. It's important that you proceed in an expanding triangular manner rather than laying the tiles in complete rows since you will find that the tiles will connect better and easier by this method. Keep in mind to make sure though that the outside edges of the tiles are aligned parallel to the edge of the area you are covering.

With the final row of tiles, you may find you need to cut some tiles to fit . Wood tiles can be cut quite easily with only a normal hand saw or power saw . A particular point you need to watch however that when you are cutting the tiles, you don't strike any of the screws used to attach the wood slats . And after you have cut any of the wood pieces , you may need to pop in an extra screw or two so that each wood slat is secured to the plastic base by at least two screws.

If you need to cut any tiles to fit around posts or pipes or other odd shaped objects, the easiest way of doing this is to construct a template of a thick piece of paper or cardboard the exact size as a single tile with the area to be cut from the tile marked on the template, so that you don't make any mistakes in cutting the wood tile.

But generally speaking you'll find that interlocking deck tiles are exceptionally effortless to lay, and even if you've made a minor mistake in your initial alignment of the outside edge, you can always lift up the tiles again and re-lay them.