vidual tiles and their relation to other pool elements. Honoring its first builders, the original Vermont quarry locations were located by a team from the state and used to source the new marble and serpentine needed to bring the pool back in all of its glory. All of this planning was followed by the painstaking installation of over 19,000 stone tiles involving countless referrals to photos, plans and other documentation of the original pool. Tiles were carefully fabricated and sorted by character to best replicate every detail of the historic project. Skilled masons set 3,000 sq. ft. of Vermont Verde Antique® serpentine and 7,000 sq. ft. of Olympian White Danby® marble. To match the original pool, the new stone was also cut to 3/4”-thick, so it was quite heavy at 12 lbs./sq. ft. MegaLite® Ultimate Crack Prevention Large Format Tile Mortar was specified for the set- ting the natural stone in this chal- lenging environment. This mortar exceeds ANSI A118.15 TE for use up to 3/4” thick to support heavy tile and prevent lippage. According to the compa- ny, MegaLite offers the high- est bond strength for the most demanding installation requirements and has the flexibility to withstand hori- zontal substrate movement. The lightweight formula provided excellent han- dling characteristics, includ- ing less fatigue for installers working with heavy mate- rials. Thixotropic properties provided the non-sag, non- slump performance needed for set- ting natural stone on both the bot- tom and vertical sides of the pool. Achieving 95% coverage The adhesive mortar was keyed into the substrate. Then, additional mortar was combed in straight lines using the SuperiorBilt® Premium Notch trowel; this tool is designed to promote ridge collapse once the tile is set. Following indus- try best practices, trowel ridges were placed running parallel to the shortest side of rectangular tiles to facilitate air release. Each stone tile was back-buttered prior to being placed. Finally, tiles were moved across the trowel ridges to collapse them, release air and prevent voids behind the tile. The stone workers used soft rub- were located by a team from the tile and prevent lippage. Since the site is a National Historic Landmark, an exact color and material match was required to reproduce the classic patterns of the original marble tile installation. FEATURE: Marble tile at Hearst Castle pool renovated with CUSTOM products 44 TileLetter | June 2019