DIY Network

Faux Clay Tiles Create terra cotta almost anywhere. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-137

Use paint to transform almost any surface to beautiful terra cotta tile.

Terra cotta tiles are beautiful, but not everyone wants to commit to the expense of installing them. Fortunately, fabulous fakes are within your reach thanks to Michele Beschen and her friend, artist Peggy Boyd.

Peggy showed Michele Beschen and B. Original viewers how to create faux terra cotta tile using paint techniques. This project works for almost any surface; try it out on a small scale to get comfortable with the technique before you try to faux-tile an entire patio.

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Faux Clay Tiles

Materials:

Paints and Glazes primer acrylic wall paint in grout color acrylic wall paint in terra cotta color clear glaze yellow glaze dark blue glaze

Other Supplies TSP or other de-glosser (optional) paint containers disposable paints or paint trays sponge paint brushes paint rollers (if painting a large area)

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E

• Choose the colors for the tiles. Pick a main terra cotta color, a color for the grout, a dark blue for shadows and a yellow for highlights. You will need enough of the grout color and glaze to paint the entire surface; other colors will be used as spot colors.

• Clean the surface and prepare it for painting. If the surface is slick, finished or painted, use TSP or other de-glosser. Apply a coat of primer appropriate for the surface and let it dry completely.

• Paint the entire surface in the grout color and let dry completely. Don't try to get complete, thick coverage with the grout color; let some of the primer peek through a little to give depth.

• Determine the desired width for the tiles. Measure and mark where the grout lines should go on the surface based on the desired tile width. Use narrow tape to mask off the grout lines.

• Mix a container of equal parts terra cotta paint and clear glaze. Paint the entire surface—one tile at a time—with this mixture. (figure A).

• Pour out the yellow glaze, blue glaze and terra cotta paint onto a disposable plate or paint tray (figure B).

• Dip a sponge brush into the paint colors and add to the square in a random form around the edges (figure C). Keep blending so that all of the colors blend with no definite lines between colors. Use blue paint for shadows and veining in the corners (figure D).

• Paint each square individually to create the effect of individual tiles.

• After all of the squares have dried, come back with metallic paints to give coppery highlights, browns for shadows or other colors as needed.

• Once these highlights are dry, use a sponge brush to apply a thin layer of the terra cotta/glaze mixture to give the tiles a nice, cohesive look (figure E).

• When dry, seal the surface with three coats of water-based polyurethane. Use either the indoor or outdoor type of polyurethane, depending on the location of your painted surface. Allow the finish to dry completely between coats.

• If the surface is an outdoor floor, add some silica sand before the last polyurethane coat for better traction.