When an owner of a newly built home in Berkeley, Calif., contacted Martin Brookes of NTCA Five-Star Contractor Heritage Marble & Tile in Mill Valley, Calif., about cladding his home’s exterior, Brookes knew the project was going to take tech- nical expertise and special installa- tion protocols, setting materials and specialized equipment. The homeowner had sourced the 4’ x 4’ x 1/2” porcelain tile through a local vendor from an Italian manufacturer, Brookes said. “We knew this would be a challeng- ing project and layout would be critical due to the owner requiring full tile on all four sides,” Brookes explained. “We teamed up with LATICRETE, which gave an instal- lation procedure we were comfort- able in executing.” Dale Foster, LATICRETE rep, was a huge help in helping things run on time without a hitch. Though these were large-for- mat tiles, they were thick and rigid at 1/2" (12.7 mm) – not the thin gauged porcelain tile pan- els (GPTP) becoming increasingly more popular today. “Because of the weight of the tile we also decid- ed to anchor the tile with Raimondi RAI-FIX Anchoring System,” Brookes added. This system provides a simple, effective solution to prevent the fall of the tiles applied vertically with adhesive in case of detachment from the wall. At the time – the project spanned February - May Challenging cladding project takes careful planning, expertise and materials LFT: FROM PLANKS TO PANELS ––––––––– sponsored by The Raimondi RAI-FIX Anchoring sys- tem provided a simple, effective solution to pre- vent the fall of the tiles applied vertically with adhesive in case of detachment from the wall. The finished project involved 3,200 sq. ft. of large-format porcelain tile for cladding, upper deck and out buildings. 82 TileLetter | January 2019