I would encourage you to reach out to the manufacturer to see if they would recommend another fasten- ing system. We always encourage our members to follow manufactur- ers’ instructions explicitly. It decreas- es your liability in projects. – Robb Roderick, NTCA Trainer/Presenter ANSWER 2 Thank you for contacting our NTCA Technical Team with your question. Robb is correct. ANSI A137.3 and ANSI A108.19 are the indus- try standards adopted this year for the production and installation of gauged porcelain tile and panels/ slabs. These standards call for the installation of this material in a thin-bed type system with special emphasis on the installation pro- cess for floors and walls outlined in A108.19. As Robb stated, it is important to follow the tile manufacturer’s instructions. Contact them to be sure you understand their instruc- tions thoroughly. Deviation from installation instructions can result in lack of warranty coverage and/ or acceptance of risk by the instal- lation contractor. The Tile Council of North America (TCNA) has the new standards avail- able on its website for electronic download and it is taking pre-orders for a limited-edition hard copy. You can find the information to purchase an electronic version or reserve your hard copy on the TCNA website www.tcnatile.com/products-and- services/publications/218-english- publications/227-ansi-a137-3-and- a108-19.html or http://bit.ly/2i4iP4p. Local codes will likely have spe- cific requirements for installing tile above a certain height, especially on an exterior. Please be certain to contact the code official responsi- ble for the municipality this instal- lation is located in. Many setting material manu- facturers make specialty mortars for installation of these tiles. You will want to involve your setting material manufacturer to help you determine the best mortar for the application and ask them to work with you to write a site-specific system warranty based on their instructions and industry standards. I am not aware of any mechani- cal rain-screen type fastening sys- tems for use with gauged porcelain tile/panels; however, some tool and equipment manufacturers make a clip-type system that is used in conjunction with a thin-bed bond coat installation to provide addi- tional mechanical attachment of large tiles in a vertical installation. One such system is manufactured by Raimondi. For more information about that system please contact Donnelly Distributing/Raimondi USA at 262-820-1212 or techni- cal.raimondiusa@aol.com – Mark Heinlein - CTI #1112, NTCA Training Director and Technical Trainer/Presenter ASK THE EXPERTS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 34 TileLetter | January 2018