Historic Home on National Register Receives a Ceramic Tile Install of a Lifetime

This is a guest post by Robert Davis, Owner, Davis Solutions

In April 2016, I was contacted by the owner of a historic Oregon residence. The home, listed on the National Register, was built in 1910.  The homeowner was in possession of a custom printed ceramic panel and was referred to Davis Solutions for its installation.  The panel, a world map with historic relevance to the home's builder, was to be set over the home's original concrete hearth. 

The concrete substrate had several in-plane cracks, as well as something like a dozen coats of various colors of paint. After grinding to remove paint, flatten the slab, and scarify, the homeowner and I discussed and decided upon a layout.

I gave the concrete a drink and installed STRATA_MAT™ uncoupling membrane with TRI-LITE™ light weight mortar. My company had been included in the field trials for TRI-LITE, and I was glad of its availability for this ceramic installation. A fun and rewarding occupation is enhanced by the availability of excellent tile installation materials.  TRI-LITE offers excellent workability and pot life, and performs very well as a non-sag LFT (large format tile) mortar.

Pot life came into play as the neighbor arrived and initiated a debate over the wall tile layout. Thank goodness I hadn't made any cuts yet! After a settlement was reached, I gave my mud a turn and had no problem with open time as I set the hearth.  The grab of this mortar at full coverage is impressive even on 6" soft-body.  I was a bit worried I'd damage an irreplaceable piece by pulling it up for adjustment.

Three days later, I returned to grout using PERMACOLOR® Select unsanded cement grout. Knocking on the tile was like knocking on bedrock.  I know that TRI-LITE over/under STRATA_MAT will be my workhorse installation for many years to come. It is easily the most forgiving 118.15 mortar I have ever used. 


Stay tuned for additional pictures of this project once the hearth has been trimmed.

Robert Davis of Davis Solutions (541-905-5228) specializes in custom tile and stone installations. He is a general contractor doing business in Lebanon, Albany, and Corvallis, Oregon. He began as a helper for Von Ruden Construction in '07, and immediately knew he’d found a career. After installing for several local shops over the years, he went out on his own as Davis Solutions in 2015.

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Productivity, Color Versatility combined with Easy-Of-Installation and Final Performance

PERMACOLOR Select is an advanced high performance cement grout that offers the industry’s first dispersible dry pigment solution. 

PERMACOLOR Select is designed for virtually all types of residential and commercial installations and offers optimum performance on the most demanding exterior or interior applications. 

Easy to mix, grout and clean, PERMACOLOR Select is fast setting and is suitable for joints 1/16" to 1/2" (1.5mm – 12mm) wide on floors or walls.

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"Architect wants actual samples of grout, plastic chips aren't good enough. Annoyed at the need to buy 4 different bags of grout for some samples, it occurred to me that I could mix up "touch up" batches of permacolor select, for almost no cost. Met with my rep at Dal yesterday, he gave me one pouch of each color, and a base at no charge. Awesome!"
Eric Tetreault‎

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Project Details

Tile / Stone Subcontractor: Crown Pools
Project Name: Crown Pools Residential Pool Project
Project City: Brisbane
Project State/Territory/Province: QLD
Project Country: Australia

Project Area: 15 m²
Climate: Tropical
Project Description: 335 used to install the natural Stone. 4237/211 Grey used to install the mosaics. PERMACOLOR® used to grout.

Product(s) Used:
LATICRETE® 211 Powder
335 Premium Flexible Adhesive
LATICRETE® 4237 Latex Additive
LATICRETE® PermaColor™ Grout

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"Another step closer. LATICRETE HYDRO BAN, Glass Tile Adhesive and PERMACOLOR Sterling Silver grout." Rod - Katwyk Tile

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