Expert Answers in Exterior

Historically pedestal floor installations were used to install 2" thick or thicker precast concrete pavers or natural stone tiles.  The floor could be level and the gaps between the pavers would facilitate for water to…

Sand-setting tiles is not considered the best way to install ceramic or natural stone tiles, although it is done and has been done for many years and is normally less expensive than pouring a concrete…

Always take what the contractor says with a grain of salt and make sure there is documents backing it up.  Don’t assume they are doing things correctly and read the directions that they likely don’t…

ANSWER - Normally when you get cracking over a suspended floor following the joints of the tile backer board that the tile was bonded to, it is due to a combination of excessive deflection in…

ANSWER - I would be surprised if the brick is made of porcelain clay which is very dense and has 0.5% absorption or less.  There are some very dense clay brick. Stucco is a weak…

ANSWER - I assume this is an exterior application of the sandstone in a flagstone irregular shape.  Sandstone is Quartz stone from a geological point of view, but it is a class 1 that is…

ANSWER - You didn't indicate if the mosaics are ceramic mosaics or glass mosaics. Ceramic mosaics are normally produced at over 1200 degrees F.  Normally custom ceramic tiles are dried and then fired in a…

ANSWER  - W244E can be a ceramic or glass tile or a stone application for an exterior framed wall with cement backer board over it.   If it is a cementitious backer board then they would put…

ANSWER - Staining natural stone isn’t something that is recommended by the natural stone industry.  Using enhancer sealers is what is typically done, but they only last so long.  So if you want to maintain a…

ANSWER - A vapor retarder goes under the concrete slab and doesn't have anything to do with water pooling/collecting on the tile surface. Industry standards require that the exterior tile surface that is subjected to…