Why you need to learn how to install gauged porcelain tile slabs/panels

Transcription

1 TECH TALK Sponsored by Why you need o learn how o insall gauged porcelain ile slabs/panels By Donao Pompo, CTC, CSI, CDT, MBA Gauged porcelain ile panels/ slabs (GPTP/S) are he laes and greaes buzz in he ile indusry. As an insaller ha s all you needed, righ one more ile o learn how o insall plus he need o buy a whole new se of ools? You hough a 24 x 24 inch ile was big, bu now we have iles ha are larger han 5 x 10 fee. These porcelain iles can come as hin as 1/8 (3mm) and as hick as 3/4 (20mm). They can be insalled on walls, floors, and as couner ops. Gauged porcelain panels/slabs are normally glazed using he laes inkje echnology, which allows slabs o look jus like naural sone slabs of marble, limesone, or any oher ype of naural sone or concree. There really is no limi o wha kind of look manufacurers can produce using compuers and inkje echnology. The inkje echnology ha manufacurers use allows hem o creae he naural variaions in ile panels ha are ypical of naural sone. The reproducions are so good ha even I have o ge on my hands and knees o deermine if i is a real sone or no. These iles are very durable, as long as hey are insalled correcly; bu of course ha is he rick. If you learn how o insall hese iles properly here are big rewards: more jobs; more money; and no problems. To insall hese ile panels correcly, you need he righ ools, you need o properly prepare he ile subsraes, and you need o properly insall he slabs in a way 40 TileLeer November 2017

2 Now TEC Power Grou Ulimae Performance Grou performs even beer, achieving he highes sandards for a cemenbased grou. To make insallaion easier and faser, Power Grou has an exended po life of minues and he fasse ime of jus four hours. Power Grou has superior sain resisance o beer proec he long-erm beauy of he grou. Improved Power Grou guaranees color uniformiy and zero efflorescence*, a compeiive advanage proven by independen esing. Addiionally, Power Grou ses iself apar as he only cemen-based grou o exceed 10,000 psi compressive srengh, o deliver he sronges grou joins. Power Grou provides excellen performance on floors and walls in virually any environmen including high-raffic areas, we condiions, and from residenial up o exra-heavy commercial applicaions. The breakhrough echnology in Power Grou provides ease of use and addiional benefis ha reduce insaller callbacks. ecspecialy.com. *For deails abou he TEC Power Grou Limied Lifeime Warrany, conac your sales associae or visi ecspecialy.com. ha is differen from insalling radiional iles. Take noe: here are now new ANSI sandards for hese iles. ANSI A137.3 is he new sandard for Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels/ Slabs dicaing how hey should be manufacured o mee cerain physical properies. ANSI A is he new sandard for he inerior insallaion of Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels/Slabs. Benefis of insalling gauged porcelain ile panels/slabs So why should you learn o insall gauged porcelain ile slabs? Well, o sar wih, you can differeniae yourself from ohers because mos insallers don know how o insall hese ile panels. Tha means more jobs and more money. There is a higher demand righ now for 42 TileLeer November 2017

3 gauged porcelain panel insallers, so high demand/low supply means you charge more. Acually, you have o charge more for labor because he produciviy is much less. You need a leas wo laborers o insall a panel and you probably should have up o four laborers in a crew o manage he process and ensure a successful insallaion. More labor means more profi. You need he righ ools oo, which will cos you abou $1,000 o ge sared. You need a good rack for moving he slabs around and o lif hem ino place. You need he exended forklif forks for properly lifing he craes. You need a good fla able o work on. You need he scoring and cuing ools o make good cus. You need o buy he Euro slaned rowels o help ensure you achieve full hin-se coverage. You need o buy he plasic leveler clips o avoid ile lippage. So you have o figure his ino your cos oo. (For more informaion on his, see Tech Talk, TileLeer Ocober 2017 issue) This ile also sells for a lo more. I goes for $7.00 or more per square foo. You have o figure in wase and breakage, which adds up. A 5 x 10 foo ile panel will cos you $400 or more. So puing your profi margin on your ile purchase brings you even more profi. On a square-fooage-basis, you are making some good profi, and deservingly so. 44 TileLeer November 2017

4 Learning how o insall GPTP/S So how do you learn how o insall gauged porcelain ile panels/slabs properly, so you avoid an expensive lesson or learn a someone else s expense? Manufacurers and imporers of gauged porcelain ile panels realize hey need insallers o insall he produc in order o sell i. They know i has o be insalled correcly or i will come back o haun hem, as well as everyone else. As I always say, when here is a problem i doesn maer who is a faul everyone pays eiher in ime, money or repuaion. So i is in everyone s bes ineres o help he insallers learn how o insall hese producs correcly. Tile manufacurers and seing maerial manufacurers provide insallaion guidelines for gauged porcelain ile panels. Some have videos showing he insallaion process. Many of hem provide workshops o help rain insallers. The criical par of insalling hese large ile panels is o achieve a srucurally sound and fla subsrae so i does no vary ou of plane more han 1/8 in 10' or 1/6 in 24. Anoher criical par of he insallaion is o achieve full hin-se morar conac beween he back of he ile and is subsrae. There are special echniques for applying he hinse ha you mus follow. There are also special echniques for embedding he ile panels ino he hin-se morar in a way ha allows he air o escape from under he ile, which is criical. If air is rapped under hese ile panels, hen ha makes he ile panels more suscepible o damage if hey are subjeced o cerain live loads or oher sresses. Online educaion abou insalling GPTP/Ss If you don have ime o aend a manufacurer s workshop o learn how o insall hese large gauged ile panels, you can always ake he Universiy of Ceramic Tile and Sone s online course and complee i in one nigh, or in as lile as abou five hours. The Tile Insaller Thin-se Sandards (ITS) Verificaion course no only will each you in deail how o insall hese large ile panels on walls and floors, bu i will also each you he curren ile indusry sandards, pracices, and mehods for subsrae preparaion and for he ile insallaion. The online courses give you 24/7 access for wo weeks. All you need is a compuer and an inerne connecion. For deails of he ITS Verificaion course conen go o hps://uofcs. org/online-courses/ic-cerified/. The ITS Verificaion course secion on how o insall large ile panels is professionally narraed and has video and animaions showing he deailed seps o insalling he ile panels. I goes hrough 46 TileLeer November 2017

5 he sep-by-sep process boh for a floor applicaion and for a wall applicaion. The course is augh in boh English and Spanish. Oher versions and sies o access he ITS Verificaion course are: TTMAC offers a Canadian version a hp://mac.com/en/echnical/raining-courses. NTCA offers a discoun version of he course a: com/?page=cts CTDA also offers a discoun version of he course a online-educaion.asp or from Fuse Alliance offers a discouned course a Donao Pompo, CTC, CSI, CDT, MBA, is he founder of Ceramic Tile and Sone Consulans (CTaSC), and of he Universiy of Ceramic Tile and Sone (UofCTS). He has more han 35 years of experience in he ceramic ile and sone indusry from insallaion o disribuion o manufacuring of insallaion producs. Donao provides services in forensic invesigaions, qualiy conrol (QC) services for producs and insallaion mehods, raining programs, esing, and onsie qualiy conrol inspecion services. He received he 2012 Consrucion Specifier Magazine Aricle of he Year. Donao can be reached a donao@casc.com. Waerproof wall insers, for use wih any insallaion mehod! Surface moun design, easy o insall wihou precise framing. Available in 3 modular, pracical sizes for more design opions. Nail i on and ile i in wih modified hin se morar. 9x13 13x13 13x20 Popular for new or remodeling projecs. QuickShelf adds syle and value o any iled area. Reailer inquiries welcome. Wheeler Tile & Company