Freeze, Thaw, Gale Force Winds, Driving Rains and Blazing Hot Sun are No Match for this Tile Mural Project

This is a guest post by Bill Vincent, Owner, Creative Ceramic & Marble

Mural installed on exterior wall, Casco Bay, South Portland, Maine

I was hired to install a unique, one-of-a-kind mural on the exterior wall of Casco Bay home in South Portland, Maine.  The exterior wall was a blank canvas. 

1. First the opening was made and waterproofed with Grace Ice and Water Shield®. Then USG DUROCK® was installed, and waterproofed, including the edges with 9235 Waterproofing Membrane by LATICRETE.

2. Then the tile pieces were installed one at a time with 254 Platinum polymer fortified thin-set mortar. Note that each piece was double notched-- thinset was notch troweled onto the surface, and notch troweled onto the back of the tile to try and create a suction between the two, almost like setting a ceiling with normal thinset.

3. Some of these pieces being installed where as much as 6 inches thick and STILL hung! 

4. The final step was to grout with PERMACOLOR^® Select high performance cement grout. I chose the Twilight Blue color kit which was the perfect color match for this project. The PERMACOLOR Select base was easy to mix with the color kit and it required no sealing! 

If I wasn't already convinced about the superiority of LATICRETE® products, this project would have been all it took. This next picture shows you the wall where the mural went, prior to the start of the project, as well as showing you how completely open to the bay, and the elements it is. 

This was installed a year ago, went thru all the seasons, freeze / thaw, gale force winds, driving rains coming in from the ocean, blazing hot sun, and no problems what-so-ever.

Thanks to LATICRETE Matt Bunzell, Technical Sales Representative and Art Mintie, Senior Director of Technical Services for helping me put together a winning system for this installation!

Bill Vincent, Owner of Creative Ceramic & Marble from Bridgton, ME is a custom ceramic and stone installation company. Bill has been in setting tile as a trade since 1980 but developed his interest in tile and stone work at the early age of 10 while helping his father build his family’s home. His work takes him all over New England from small shops and restaurants to malls, corporate office buildings and multi-million dollar mansions.
For more information visit: http://www.creativeceramicandmarble.com/

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Save Time and Labor by Broadcasting Chip and Quartz into a Moisture Mitigating Primer

LATICRETE^® is pleased to announce the ability to broadcast chip and quartz media into wet DRYTEK™ Moisture Vapor Barrier (MVB) material used as a base coat or primer coat for SPARTACOTE^® coating systems. As you may know, DRYTEK MVB is a single-coat, 100% solids, liquid applied, 2-part epoxy coating specifically designed for controlling the moisture vapor emission rate from new or existing concrete slabs.

The installer may add pigments to the DRYTEK MVB during installation in a variety of colors including: black, white, tile red, light grey, medium grey, dark grey, light beige, dark beige and sand beige. 

Contractors who apply the DRYTEK MVB as a base coat in their SPARTACOTE^® coating systems not only save a step in the coatings process, but they also offer floor owners additional protection against moisture, something many applicators run into on a daily basis in the field. Applicators may use DRYTEK MVB as a base color for clear SPARTACOTE top coats in addition to the quartz or chip broadcasts. Any questions - Contact LATICRETE.

Watch this quick video to learn how to apply DRYTEK^™ Moisture Vapor Barrier.

Braman BMW in Miami, Florida Saves $800k with SPARTACOTE® Installation

Braman BMW completed garage floor

Braman BMW in Florida is a high volume exotic car dealer in Miami Florida. When their second floor parking garage (where they washed all the cars prior to being sold) had issues leaking into their bottom floor they knew they needed to do something fast!

Nucrete Surgeons of Florida came to their rescue. They removed the existing epoxy floor, waterproofed, and put a durable SPARTACOTE® Quartz™ concrete coating on top of it. The highly durable, colored quartz aggregates are layered between SPARTACOTE FLEX coatings to create an attractive textured floor perfect for this high-end dealership. The prep took some time, about 7 days to get it removed and waterproofed but SPARTACOTE was installed in just 1 day!

The General Manager said this carwash area generates $160k/day - so LATICRETE® products turned what would have been a 4 day epoxy quartz installation plus 2 day cure into just a 1 day SPARTACOTE® Quartz™ installation with next day return to service. This saved approximately $800k in down time!

First broadcast of SPARTACOTE Quartz in Blue Moon color

Second broadcast

First topcoat