SMET Features in Perspective Magazine with Professional Tiling Systems
SMET features their Professional Tiling Systems in the latest edition of Perspective Magazine Nov/Dec 2014, with a full article and full colour page on the back cover
The article in full: JORIS SMET, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF SMET BUILDING PRODUCTS TALKS ABOUT HOW THE COMPANY’S NEW PROFESSIONAL TILING SYSTEMS CAN LEAD TO THE PROBLEM-FREE INSTALLATION OF LARGE FORMAT TILES…
An immense selection of large-format covering materials are now available on the market, with wide variations in size and, particularly, thickness. The largest units are now available up to 3m² in area, while the thinnest are a mere 3.5mm thick. The associated installation issues extend far beyond questions such as where such tiles can be installed – on walls or floors – to problems of on-site handling. These issues have been extensively debated among experts. Some of these subjects are addressed by the new ZDB (Federation of the German Construction Industry) technical guidance paper ‘Reliable Laying of Large-Format Coverings. The first failures, eg through voids/hollows below the covering and fractures, have also been recorded. Smet Building Products Ltd, together with the company’s manufacturing partner, Sopro Bauchemie GmbH, has responded to the latest trends by offering specialist tile laying products and systems.
IMPORTANT
What are the implications of large-format coverings for clients, designers and applicators? Are they merely an additional source of risk or do they offer a real opportunity for successful specialists? We believe, given due attention to a number of important points and the right choice of product, that the latter is true! Yet the entire project team must be open to new ideas.
A re-think is needed in terms of design, pricing and site operations. This is crucial to the success of all contracts involving the installation of large-format coverings. The specific procedure for the works should be as follows – once the covering material is selected, this should first be checked for squareness, dimensional stability and possible deformation. Any warp in the units will make them unsuitable for installation in a half- or third-bond arrangement. The client should be given clear advice with regards to the feasibility of a particular layout pattern.
To gain a clearer picture, it may be advantageous to lay out the tiles in the desired arrangement and assess their visual impact when exposed to grazing light. It is also important to obtain information from the ceramics manufacturer on whether the specified material is approved for the projected location (possible traffic loads, etc). Indeed, very thin units and very large formats are subject to various constraints in this regard. In terms of handling, a number of factors warrant consideration. For instance, to prevent the breakage of large-format covering materials during installation, the applicator has to handle with care. Suitable equipment is also required on site. The following should always be provided – large table for cutting and measuring, glass cutter, core bits for penetrations, a line or wire to cut through the adhesive bed of a ready laid tile in case this needs to be removed and suction cups.
When pricing works to install large-format coverings, applicators should bear in mind that the existing substrate is likely to require an additional levelling coat. This means that – even where the foregoing works comply with the enhanced requirements to BS 8204 regarding permissible tolerances on level and surface regularity – the constructed substrate may still not allow immediate installation of a large-format covering, think about residual moisture content and type of substrate. The use of suitable low stress, rapid-set, self-levelling compounds, offers the ideal solution for creating a plane, gradient-free floor surface. We also supply suitable levelling mortars with trass, lightweight levelling mortars, which are recommended for evening out wall surfaces or substrates laid to falls.
When installing floor coverings, tile layers may encounter various types of screed. It is essential to check any floor screed or substrate for its residual moisture before the installation of tiles. This involves the use of a CM tester. The permissible residual moisture for cement-based screed is 2% and for calcium sulphate screeds (anhydrite or alpha hemihydrate) 0.5%-1.0% (unheated) or 0.3%-0.5% (heated) depending on which adhesives and primers are selected.
STRENGTH
Other factors that require measurement and analysis in determining the suitability of a substrate for large-format tile finishes include surface strength, bay size and movement joint design. Tiles smaller than 0.5m² can be laid on calcium sulphate screeds using Smet’s appropriate tiling system. Particular caution is required where large-format units > 0.5m² are laid on calcium sulphate screeds. CA screeds may lose strength when exposed to moisture migration from normal-setting mortars. Any thermal movement may then bring about void formation.
Large format units, normally of fully vitrified stoneware, are usually laid with very narrow joints and the relatively small joint area slows down the escape from the building fabric of the surplus water in the bedding adhesive. This results in the problems described above. A new technical and budgetary approach is therefore needed for coverings with units larger than 0.5m². This is because calcium sulphate screeds that are to receive such finishes require pre-treatment with a water-free, reaction resin-based primer or adhesive with high crystalline water binding capacity. All other absorbent substrates should be pre-treated with a primer and all non-absorbent substrates with a special bonding primer. Provided the surfaces have been properly levelled and primed as described above, there should be nothing to prevent the successful installation of large-format coverings.
As a general rule, a butter coat should be applied to the rear face of large-format units using the bedding adhesive. The coarser the texture of the tile‘s rear face, the more important this step is! Failure to perform this operation encourages air entrapment and void formation, with damage and failures as a later consequence. It should also be noted that the latest generation of large format ceramic units cannot be laid using the thick-bed method.
A clear-cut specification of the substrate (screed), including compressive and tensile strengths, is therefore a prerequisite for the successful installation of these units with the thin-bed method. On surfaces subject to wide temperature fluctuations, the bay sizes for screeds and rigid coverings should be smaller than normal. To accommodate the tolerances of large-format coverings, and thereby ensure a neat and satisfying appearance, a minimum joint width of 3mm should be adopted. Joints should be finished using our special grouts.
The Smet Professional Tiling Systems range of quality products are backed up with the expertise of a technical advisor. At Smet, we are site focused, providing you with industry specialists who will be with you on site to carry out moisture tests, provide training and support as well as demonstrate the Professional Tiling Systems materials.
Contact SMET – ‘We pride ourselves on continually delighting our Smet Supported Partners with innovative products and systems, backed up by exceptional customer service’
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional cookies
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
