Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116You hear it quite often in our business, and for good reasons: a successful installation starts with proper surface preparation. Invest the time and money in surface prep now so you don’t need to re-do your tile project later. Callbacks are expensive and, in many cases, preventable. Treat your business as a business. Do an inspection of the site prior to bidding (if you can) and prior to tile installation (without exception). If you have staff, dedicate them to these important steps. Keep in mind that the condition of the substrate can change from the pre-construc- tion stage to the time of installation, especially if other trades are at work before you. For this and other reasons, it’s recommended that your business develop a preinstallation checklist that would include the following: • Substrate area (total square foot- age) • General walk-around • Building history and expected uses • Type and condition of the sub- strate • Flatness/levelness of substrate • Existing contaminants • Substrate porosity Contaminants and porosity can affect the bonding of the tile-setting materials, whether it’s a surface prep material or a thin-set mortar being directly applied to a con- crete surface. A contaminant-free, smooth, flat surface is necessary to help avoid lippage between the tiles and other similar problems. A flat surface becomes particularly important with large tile installa- tions because of the tighter flatness requirements. Another issue with concrete substrates is the use of dissipat- ing curing compounds, which lock in the moisture so the concrete cures properly. In interior applica- tions, these compounds need to be treated as contaminants since the Surface preparation shouldn't be optional TECH TALK Sponsored by By Tom Domenici, TEC® area technical manager 58 TileLetter | November 2016