sponsored by STONE––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Installation-General Information: an excerpt from the Dimension Stone Design Manual 3.0 RELATED MATERIALS 3.1 Setting Bed Mortars 3.1.1 Portland Cement Mortar (Thick Bed) 3.1.1.1 Portland cement mortar is a mixture of portland cement and sand, roughly in proportions of 1:3 for floors, and of portland cement, sand, and lime in proportions of 1:5:½ to 1:7:1 for walls. 3.1.1.2 Installation Methods. Portland cement mortar is suitable for most sur- faces and ordinary types of installation. The thick bed, 3/8” to 1-1/2” on walls and nominally 1-1/4” on floors, facili- tates accurate slopes or planes in the finished work. There are two equivalent methods recognized for installing stone tile with a portland cement mortar bed on walls, ceilings, and floors: 3.1.1.2.1 The method (ANSI A108.1A) that requires that the stone be set on a mortar bed that is still plastic. 3.1.1.2.2 The method (ANSI A108.1B) that requires the stone to be thin set on a cured mortar bed with dry set or latex portland cement mortar or a two-part, 100% solids epoxy. 3.1.1.3 Suitable Backings Portland cement mortars can be reinforced with metal lath or mesh, backed with mem- branes, and applied on metal lath over open studding on walls or on rough floors. They are structurally strong, not affected by prolonged contact with water, and can be used to plumb and square surfaces installed by others. Suitable backings, when properly pre- pared, are brick or concrete mason- ry unit, concrete, wood or steel stud frame, rough wood floors, plywood floors, foam insulation board, gypsum board, and gypsum plaster. The one coat method may be used over mason- ry, plaster, or other solid backing that provides firm anchorage for metal lath. 3.1.1.4 Installation and Material Specifications. Complete installation The Natural Stone Institute maintains a Natural Stone Resource library for Architects, Designers and Contractors at this site: https://bit.ly/2Fxo4mB. There are 274 documents that represent a wealth of information and wisdom to those who work with stone – 101 documents alone that deal with some aspect of stone installation. This document, Installation-General Information, is derived from an excerpt from the Dimension Stone Design Manual, Version VIII (May 2016). The included section below references materials and methods for setting a range of natural stone. 76 TileLetter | May 2018