ConestogaTile

Conestoga Ceramic Tile Distributors, Inc.
 harrisburg, pa (717) 564-6860  linthicum, md (410) 789-0700
dulles, va (703) 787-4000  troy, va (434) 589-8000
Visit our website at www.conestogatile.com
VOLUME 7

NO. 2

APRIL, 2005

ConestogaTile

 Architectural Newsletter

Spring is In the Air

After a long winter, the birds are singing in Central Virginia, and Construction begins to increase with the onslaught of warm weather.  ConestogaTile is offering a new AIA Seminar: Proper Ceramic Tile Specifications to Ensure Successful Installations and Eliminate Compromising Design. This program will be offered to a worldwide audience at the Coverings Show  in  Orlando,  Florida,  on  May  3,  2005,  through May 6, 2005.

The Central Virginia Chapter of CSI and ConestogaTile will be hosting a dinner meeting at ConestogaTile’s beautiful showroom located in Troy, Virginia, on May 17, and this program will also be presented at that time.  If you are unable to attend either of these events, please schedule a time with your ConestogaTile Representative to have this program in your own offices as an AIA certified lunchbox seminar program.

A big obstacle facing architects and interior designers, as well as product supplier representatives, is that design intents are being compromised and valued engineered because of faulty and shortsighted specifications. This featured program will address these concerns and give recommendations on how to keep ceramic tile projects from coming in over budget.  Ideas will be discussed concerning making the ceramic tile material available in a timely manner.

All elements of a project are coordinated and need to work in conjunction with each other.   Whenever one element gets changed or compromised, the entire project gets affected.  Changed orders create more work and add additional costs to a project.  You’ll be informed on how, in the specifications, to keep changed orders to a minimum.

 

Rex Slate Solutions and Concreate

Restoration of the Potomac Mills Mall

One of the oldest mall properties in the Washington Metro area is being renovated after more than twenty-five years of service to the Dale City, Virginia, community.  The restoration was delayed several years due to the new construction of the Mills Corporation's very successful Arundel Mills Mall near Baltimore, Maryland. Renovation of the Potomac Mills Food Court began last year.  David Ashton Design and Associates was looking for a unique, natural product to compliment the natural wood corridors in all of Mills Corporation's properties. Their easy choice was ConestogaTile's new Rex Slate Solutions and Rex Concreate porcelain lines.  Rex Slate Solutions has a beautiful, rich color offering of natural slate. The 12" x 12" rectified tiles were selected in the Copper Red color and were surrounded by a wide band of three colors from the Rex Concreate offering.  Rex Concreate 12" x 12" rectified tiles create a look of stained concrete in the colors Wheat, Tobacco and Mud. These colors matched the new colors chosen for the repainted walls and ceiling work currently being done at the mall.

Ashton Design wanted to provide a mirror image in the Rex Concreate tiles to the look of branches from trees lining the newly painted walls at the entrance to the mall.  They also wanted to create three-foot square logos matching the Potomac Mills' logo found on their signage in different areas inside and outside the mall property.  ConestogaTile was able to provide waterjet cutting services to produce these intricate shapes in the Rex Concreate tiles.

On your next shopping spree in Northern Virginia, stop by the Potomac Mills Mall and enjoy their newest mall restoration.  For more information about these unique porcelains, contact Ernie Heimpel at 1-800-422-6860, Ext.4403, or e-mail ernieheimpel@cctd.com for samples and literature.


SpectraLOCK™ PRO Grout

The best grout on the market just got better. LATICRETE International, Inc., has just launched SpectraLOCK PRO Grout, the professional's choice for all types of grouting installations.  Grout is now a design element instead of a design challenge when you use Laticrete SpectraLOCK PRO Grout.  Laticrete has answered the consumers' expectations on what grout should do, plus overcome difficult installation techniques.  PRO offers the high performance, color uniformity, durability, and stain resistance of an epoxy grout with extraordinary ease of use. The optional Laticrete SpectraLOCK Dazzle component adds metallic and glow-in-the-dark enhancements.

SpectraLOCK PRO Grout can be used for all types of ceramic tile and stone installations for interior and exterior applications. It can be used in wet areas, including swimming pools, fountains and spas. It can also be used for regrouting applications.

SpectraLOCK PRO provides many features and benefits. PRO meets ANSI A118.3 performance standards. Its improved physical characteristics make installations with PRO stronger and more durable with increased stain and chemical resistance.  PRO does not require an additive for wall or narrow joint installations.  One grout does it all for vertical and horizontal applications.

PRO provides perfect color uniformity... no blotching or shading.  It will not discolor from neutral household cleaners. A great benefit in using PRO is that it never needs sealing!  Using PRO actually will help keep tile installations looking brand new for years. You can even add in an optional Dazzle component to add a designer element that compliments tile and stone. Metallic accents, mother of pearl and glow-in-the-dark accents bring grout to the forefront.  Designers can now specify grout as part of the overall tile and stone design instead of minimizing the grout joints. The Dazzle components offer up to 220 color combinations when mixed with SpectraLOCK PRO Grout.  To top it all off, PRO helps to inhibit the growth of stain-causing bacteria, mold and mildew in the grout joint with Microban® antimicrobial product protection.  Laticrete SpectraLOCK PRO Grout is part of a complete single source installation system that can be used commercially and residentially and is backed by Laticrete Systems Warranties.


Royal Mosa

Royal Mosa continues to raise the bar for the tile industry with regards to the ability to use multiple lines of tile in the same field or pattern.  A frequent obstacle to the design professional when doing a finish in tile is determining what tiles can physically be used side by side. Historically, due to lack of precision tolerances in the manufacture of tile, designers have been cautioned about mixing various lines of tile, even from a single manufacturer, in the same field or pattern. So often there are colors or looks or textures which the designer wishes to blend, but cannot due to this constraint.

Royal Mosa provides a solution to this problem by offering all but one series of their products in uniform sizes.   A 6" x 6" is a 6" x 6" whether you want the soft pastels of Global, the bright vivid rainbow found in Colors or the natural stone offerings in Amethyst.

Do you need the same color requiring higher slip-resistance when transitioning to a wet area?  Royal Mosa offers their GlobalGrip series in 14 of the Global colors. GlobalGrip’s Anti-Slip finish provides a high COF, but is not abrasive. This feature is both comfortable to the touch and allows easy maintenance.  An accessory of the GlobalGrip is a sloped tile that meets the access requirements for ADA. With the combination of this accessory, the Global line and GlobalGrip, the designer can offer a seamless, finished surface that meets ADA recommendations and allows easy installation on a surface contoured for proper drainage.

The trim offerings by Royal Mosa in the Global series allow the designer to change colors from floor to wall without carrying one surface color to the other and still have a coved transition as required in certain applications. Unlike traditional cove trims (also available), Royal Mosa offers a finger bead which can be used at wall-to-floor transitions or inside and outside transitions on vertical surfaces.

All of these benefits are offered in a line of high quality, competitively priced wall and porcelain floor tiles by  Royal Mosa.  For more information and details on the product offerings by Royal Mosa, please contact your ConestogaTile Architectural Representative.

Surface Preparation:  The Start of a Successful Tile Installation

By Arthur Mintie, Director, Technical Services,  LATICRETE International, Inc.

Proper surface preparation for a ceramic tile or stone installation is probably the most important phase of the work, but often the most overlooked.  Reasons for this may be related to the disputes that arise as to ownership of the potential costs associated with bringing the substrate into compliance with industry requirements.  

All substrates must be structurally sound and should be free of any bond-breaking or bond-inhibiting materials. These bond-inhibiting materials can include sealers, waxes, curing compounds, form release agents, paint, dirt, grease, oils, and similar potential contaminants.       

One condition we need to be aware of concerning concrete is concrete laitance from over-troweling. This is the weak cement water slurry that is brought to the surface during the concrete finishing. This slurry is generally very weak in strength. Trying to adhere to this surface or any contaminated surface may result in partial, if not complete, loss of bond.    

The other extreme is a very dense and shiny concrete finish. Some concrete floors are finished to the point where the surface is almost glass-like. The adhesive mortars for tile and stone can have a hard time adhering to this type of surface.  In addition, some additives used in the concrete mixture can also present bonding issues.

Any bond-breaking or bond-inhibiting materials must be completely removed prior to the commencement of the installation. One of the best ways to remove these contaminants is by mechanical abrasion. Usually, the contaminants have penetrated into the substrate's pores and have now blocked the adhesive's ability to create a mechanical bond or attachment to the surface.  It is not a good idea to use chemicals or acid to strip and remove contaminants.  Some other potential bond breakers can include ice on the surface or a frozen surface. Some of the common types of surface preparation equipment are listed as follows: shot blasting/bead blasting, dustless grinding, scarification/scabblers, power washing, or sand blasting. Cure time for new concrete presents another issue.  It may be a good idea to determine the moisture vapor emission rate if the finish material and the installation system are sensitive to this condition.

The Ceramic Tile Handbook published by the Tile Council of America explains that it is the responsibility of the project architect or engineer to determine if the substrate meets the proper deflection criteria. The substrate needs to meet the maximum allowable surface deflection for the finish and the installation system that will be installed.  Keep in mind that deflection is the potential movement that the installation can experience when subjected to use. Tile and stone are very rigid and do not accommodate excessive movement, so all substrates must meet the maximum allowable ratings of L/360 deflection rating for ceramic tile and L/720 deflection rating for stone.  An interesting fact is that 70% of all ceramic tile installations and 78% of all stone installations do not meet appropriate deflection ratings.

This can be explained as L/360 or 1" (2.5 cm) of deflection over a 30'  (9.14 m) span.  L = Length of span; 360 = Number of inches in 30'.  Example: If the span is 288" (24' or 7.32m), then the substrate can only experience 288"/360" = .8" (2.03 cm) of movement.

If installing a stone floor, then we need to meet the L/720 requirement.  L = Length of span; 720 = Number of inches in 60' (18m).  Example:  If floor joist length is 288" (24' or 7.32m), then the substrate can only experi-ence 288"/720" = .4" (1 cm) of movement.

It is important to note that these deflection standards are the minimum requirements for the surfaces. The potential added weight of any appliances, stone countertops or even the intended use of the area needs to be taken into consideration. For example a room that will be used to entertain guests will require a more stringent deflection rating than an area subjected to less stress.

Another area of confusion exists in the L/360 designation. It is important to note that the L/360 deflection criteria required by the ceramic tile industry and the L/720 deflection required by the stone industry are subjected to a 300-pound concentrated load. This is much different than the L/360 building code requirement deflection rating which is usually distributed uniformly over the entire area.  The concentrated load will require a much stiffer surface.

In addition, expansion allowance should always be included in any tile or stone installation. Exterior installations will require more frequent and wider expansion joint

placement. The project architect or engineer should provide direction on the design, placement and construction of all expansion joints.  Any existing movement joints in the surface should be honored and carried through the finish material. The sealant chosen for these joints should also be durable, weather-resistant and be able to handle the movement that it is subjected to.  Typically, silicones and urethane sealants are best for these applications. Latex or acrylic caulks are only suitable for interior non-wet areas. Most of the sealants produced match the grout or stone colors to blend in with the color scheme of the installation.      

The surface to be tiled should also be within the manufacturer's required temperature range. The surface to be tiled needs to be smooth enough to receive the tile or stone.  Industry standards require the surface to be true and level with a maximum variation in the substrate not to exceed 1/4" in 10'.  Some installations may even require a more stringent tolerance for in-surface plane irregularity. How about when a pitch is required towards drains or scuppers? As a rule of thumb, the industry requires 1/4" per foot slope for maximum water evacuation.   

In order to adjust irregularities in the substrates, high-strength patching, leveling or screeding mortars can be used to bring the substrate into compliance.

Non-structural shrinkage or spider web-type cracks can be treated with a crack isolation or anti-fracture membrane to help reduce the potential for the transmission of those cracks through the finish surface.

There are also a whole host of uncommon substrates that can be tiled over if the correct installation system and technique is utilized.  Some of these surfaces include, but are not limited to: existing ceramic tile or stone, vinyl composition tile, resilient floors, epoxy terrazzo, seamless epoxy floors, gypsum concrete underlayments, and steel.  In contrast, there are many unsuitable substrates.  Do not install tile or stone directly to: Luan, OSB (Oriented Strand Board), particle board (any variety), marine grade or fire retardant plywood, hardwood flooring, foam board, or Masonite® .

As this consumption grows, all of us in the industry benefit.  Therefore, let’s make sure that to finish off a successful tile installation, start with good surface preparation.