b'TILE & STONE have been successfully used for wetnot compacted too tightly and not room applicationsfor example infinishedtoosmoothly,providesa Europefor a long time. subsurface of connected and very TenCarrarashowermoduleshighporosityallowingwaterto weretested,withhelpandsup- quickly be taken away from the portfrommanyindustryprofes- undersideofmarblemosaic.If sionals. Results showed that moststone is bonded to substrate with of the problems with light-coloredabasicthin-setmortar(prefera-marble arise due to inappropriateblyunmodifiedduetoitshigher installationmethods/techniquesporosity),groutedwithasimple thatoftenresultfromtheinsuffi- grout,hasnoadheredfiberglass ciency of the technical informationmeshreinforcement(animpervi-on this subject. ous coating on the back of stone The research has helped to deter- also known as resin backing) and minetwomainmethodsthat,ifisnottreatedwithanimpregnat-properlyfollowed,willprovideing/penetratingsealer,thewater greatresultsforwhitemarbleatabsorption,migrationandevapo-shower floors. ration should not face extra com-plications.Theabove-mentioned Method #1: traditional dry packshower system will provide exactly mortar bed shower pan what it was designed fora proper Before the surge of the discussedwaterevacuation,bothtopically problem in late 2000s, marble wasand internally. mostlyinstalledinshowerfloors withatraditionalwater-inwater- Method #2: bonded waterproof outsystem.Adry-packedmortarmembrane shower pan with bed, consisting of one part Portlandepoxy adhesive and groutcement to four to five parts sand,Accordingtoourreasonable testing,thebonded waterproofmem-branemethodalso providesgreatpre-dictableresultswith translucentstone likemarblewhenit isproperlyinstalled with a suitable epoxy adhesive,epoxy grout,andveryper-This 20-year old marble shower had no water discolorationmeable(breathable) problems due to the dry-pack mortar bed and traditional water-in/water-out installation system.impregnatingseal-86TileLetter | July 2020'