Manufacturers and contractors are welcome to contribute to the Expert Advice section. Schlüter-Systems have prepared a series of advisory technical articles relating to the ongoing problems associated with movement in floor tile installations. Contract Flooring Magazine leads the way for publishing such expert advice online for reference by the flooring, building and construction industry.
Contract Flooring Magazine articles are read by industries top professionals and decision makers including Architects, Specifiers, flooring and building industry manufacturers.
If you would like to contribute to this section, please contact us.
Read our definitive series on movement joints and why they are needed. We also cover the technical aspects regarding their installation.
Schlüter®–Systems 'Ian Knifton' expert in this field, have contributed a Movement Joint Series of technical articles. A valuable trade resource.
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| Article Index |
|---|
| Tile Uncoupling Theory - Bringing History Up To Date |
| The solution is to install an uncoupling system |
| Installation Techniques |
| All Pages |
Following the development of the thin-bed method of bonding the tile directly to the substrate with a very strong adhesive, problems occur because the rigid tiled surface moves at a different rate from the substrate.
Last time, we looked at how today's modern installation systems mean that ceramic tile and stone can be installed on virtually any surface - but the thin-bed techniques can often lead to the tiles cracking, splitting, tenting, or debonding from the substrate.
This is because bonding the tiles directly to the building structure means there is no "give" between the two separate parts of the assembly, and movement and stress cracks in the substrate are transferred to the surface, damaging the tiles.
While the methods of installing ceramic tiles and stone have changed over the years, the physical dynamics of the assembly have not. The old traditional methods, used for centuries, addressed these dynamics by uncoupling the tile from the structural base through the use of a forgiving shear interface, in the form of a layer of sand.
Following the development of the thin-bed method of bonding the tile directly to the substrate with a very strong adhesive, problems occur because the rigid tiled surface moves at a different rate from the substrate.
An installed tile surface can be compared to a large sheet of glass. In addition to being a hard, brittle material, the tile also expands and contracts in reaction to environmental changes, but at a different rate from the substrate.
So, when the tile is strongly bonded directly to the substrate, it results in what is known as a "force transfer assembly," where this differential in the movement manifests itself as cracks in the tiled surface. One of the major causes of tiling installations failing is where stresses from the substrate are transferred in this way into the finished covering of stone or ceramic tiles.
