his stainless steel coping 1/2” lower than agreed. Trostrud discovered the error when setting spot drains, in the beginning of the pool mud-bed instal- lation. This greatly complicated the installation, and correcting the coping was not an option. “We preceded the best we could,” said Brad Trostrud, vice president of Trostrud Mosaic &Tile Co., Inc. “Mike Miller, our foreman, worked his magic to make the deck drain effectively.” The new schedule also required Trostrud to mud set over a freshly poured, uncured concrete slab. Even though Trostrud was using a floating mud bed, they worked with Tyler Barton from MAPEI and the concrete contractor to devise a better solution. It was determined that Barrier One Porosity Inhibiting Admixture, added to the mix, would allow Trostrud to cover the slab in 10 days. The Italian porcelain tile was Caesar Uniqua in Tiburtina, Argentum and Imperium, and well as a solid black tile by Caesar. Glass mosaic was from Island Stone. Products were sourced through Virginia Tile in Wood Dale, Ill., and set using MAPEI products, includingUltracolorPlus,KeracolorU, Ultraflex LFT, AquaDefense, Adesilex P-10 and Mapecem Quickpatch. When the job was completed, the condo board and Archimage Architects were extremely satisfied with the results. TECHNICAL FEATURE ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Floating the pool deck. The finished pool project. 84 TileLetter | February 2018