20 2018 | TECH areas on the three floors to be renovated could only be partitioned off for limited periods of time as the demo, prep work and, eventually, tile installation was being done. But before any work would begin, the challenges mounted. Artcraft was notified that the 40,000 sq. ft. of porcelain floor tile would be delayed some seven weeks – which further compressed the already aggressive time- line down to just six weeks. Then, what the construction team found as it removed 25,000 sq. ft. of tile and another 15,000 sq. ft. of sheet vinyl, was a multitude of flooring layers, poor transitions and an aged foundation that had seen many additions and modifications as the building’s footprint more than doubled over its 62 years. “The existing floors did not meet the architectural spec- ifications of 1/8” in 10’ for flatness,” explained Artcraft President James Woelfel. “We faced a significant amount of remediation with the MU foundation as the time pres- sures intensified. Our employees were up for the chal- lenge of this high profile job – and we knew TEC® instal- lation materials would provide the advanced technology to support the hard work we were about to undertake.” TEC installation materials provide advanced technology Artcraft used TEC® Level Set® 200 Self-Leveling Underlayment to quickly flatten difficult surfaces. In areas where old terrazzo was being covered, TEC® Multipurpose Primer was applied prior to the Level Set 200 to improve its adhesion and bond strength. TEC® Level Set 200 smoothed and flattened all the different elevations of the rough subflooring and was walkable and ready for crack isolation just three hours after application. TEC® Hydraflex™ Waterproofing Crack Isolation Membrane, an ANSI 118.12 membrane, was then used to prevent the new tile installation from cracking. Hydraflex dries in as little as one hour, which helped Artcraft save precious time on the project. Woelfel explained that TCNA-125 full coverage method was used on about half of the concrete substrate due to existing substrate crack- ing and TCNA-125A partial coverage was used for the rest of the installation with limited substrate cracking. With the 2,200 sq. ft. of 2” x 12” glass tile available domestically, and the 24” x 48” porcelain wall tile already in hand, Artcraft began to demo, prep and install the varying applications in 12 sets of bathrooms, mindful that some had to be open at all times. TEC®Super Flex™ Ultra- Premium Thin Set Mortar kept the crews moving without FEATURE STORY (continued) Artcraft chose TEC® Level Set® 200 to properly prepare the substrate. Artcraft used TEC® Power Grout® to accomplish the compressed time schedule. ASU MU now has a sleek, modern look.