b'HOT TOPICSandmakingsurehispeopleareneeded,thatworkwasdoneas notshowingsignsofheatstroke.earlyinthemorningaspossible. This is a real problem in Phoenix,We made sure we had time for our Woelfelsaid.Thehumanaspectpeople to hydrate.is far more important than the tileWorking in hot weather is com-installationaspect. Weknowthatmonplace, and the use of tents is 118degreeweatherishotandthebestweapon,Woelfelnoted. even though Ive been told a mil- AsImentionedearlier,tryingto lion times it is a dryice jobsite water is impossible and heatso is an oven.thereisnotenoughcoolingto Thereisnodoubtmakemuchofadifference.The theseareharshcon- mostimportantpotentialissueto ditions,Woelfelstat- look out for is the over-mixing of ed.Westartearlierwaterintothedry-goodsprod-Jamesandusetents,heucts.Thiswillcreateaweaker Woelfel,said. We finished anand faster-setting issue with these Artcraft Granite,exterior water featureproducts. We dampen the surfaces Marble andinSeptemberoflastthat receive these products to slow Tile Co.,year. We would startthe curing process just a little, and Mesa, Ariz.workat3:00a.m.we remember to just dampen the andfinishat11:30surface, not saturate it.a.m., two to three hours before theBen Lowery, vice president, oper-[highest] heat of the day. We wouldations,CornerstoneCommercial keep our dry-set mortar and groutFlooring, Baton Rouge, La., also has intheshadebeforemixingitforexperience in hot and use, and made sure if large areashumidconditions, of grout, mortar or waterproofing/ whenapplyinggrout crackisolationweregoingtobecanbecomeprob-lematic.We liveandwork intheDeepBen Lowery, South; heat andCornerstone Commercial humiditygoFlooring in togetherlikeBaton Rouge, cornbreadandLa. turnipgreens downhere,he said. These conditions create Artcraft started work at 3 a.m. and finished atmultiplechallengeswhenit 11:30 a.m. last fall on an exterior water featurecomes to setting ceramic tile near Phoenix in order to keep materials, substrate and workers as cool as possible.andstone. Thisisespecially 78TileLetter | June 2020'