sponsored by THIN TILE –––––––––––––––––––––––––––– GPT at Coverings 2018 – Education that goes beyond PowerPoint In the fall of 2012, the terms “Gauged Porcelain Tiles” and “Gauged Porcelain Panels” didn’t exist yet. Back then, the product was just beginning to show up in the U.S. market and was being referred to as “thin tile.” No one knew how to deal with tiles that were 3´ x 10´, an 1/8˝ to 1/4˝ thick, and somewhat flexible. That fear led many to dismiss thin tile as a fad that would die out if they just ignored it. Others decided to embrace the challenge and intro- duce the products and techniques from Europe to the U.S. market. The first companies to make sig- nificant investments in importing the products and figuring out how to install them were Crossville and MAPEI. In the fall of 2012, these two companies came together to give the first educational session at Total Solutions Plus. To a standing- room-only crowd, the first deck of PowerPoint slides were given that By Dan Marvin, MAPEI Director of Technical Services MAPEI’s Dan Marvin and Crossville’s Noah Chitty gave a presentation on gauged por- celain tile and panels at Coverings 2018, updating the audience on all the new findings and standards for product and installation of the material. 96 TileLetter | September 2018