What on earth is the crazy flooring lady talking about now? Bear with me.

When you cut into a carrot, the orange color goes all the way through. By the same token, if you slice a radish, it’s red on the outside and white in the middle. These veggies make the perfect analogy if you are considering tile as opposed to natural stone for your outdoor patio.

A through-bodied porcelain tile has the same color and pattern throughout the entire piece of tile. It’s a carrot.

A glazed porcelain tile has the color fired only on the top layer. If you chip into a glazed tile, it’s untreated porcelain. It friends, is a radish.

No matter how much you may like them on your salad, when it comes to outdoor tile, you are anti-radish.  Here’s why:

• Glazed porcelain is less dense than the through-bodied alternative, so it has a higher absorption rate. When rain falls, it’s going to get soaked right up. This weakens your floor.
• With only a thin wear layer, if you drop something on glazed porcelain, it’s going to crack, chip and generally look terrible.

To summarize, glazed porcelain is a great tile for most indoor tile projects, but I would NEVER suggest that you use it on your outdoor patio because of natures’ elements.

So how about the carrots of the flooring world? Through-bodied porcelain tile works great outside, but you’ve got to be very specific when you go shopping. Only 5 percent of porcelain tile is made like the carrot. You’re safest bet for outside is going with natural stone. It came from the earth after all, so it’s equipped to take the elements.

All right shoppers, I’ve armed you with the basics. Who’s ready to build a patio? I’m all set to fire up the grill!

Renee LeCroy is the Flooring Expert at Don’s Carpet One in Birmingham, AL. For 17 years, she’s been the consumer’s in-store advocate, decoding the flooring industry and offering insider advice. Contact Renee via email.