Installation of ceramic tile should be in accordance with the appropriate specification in the A108 series of the American National Standards Institute, depending on the type of setting compound used. Specifications for materials commonly used for setting and grouting the tile are given in the series A118. These materials include portland-cement mortar, dry-set or latex portland-cement mortar, organic adhesive, and chemical-resistant, water-cleanable, tile-setting and grouting epoxy.
Tiles may be set into plastic mortar or adhesive or may be bonded to hardened mortar. (To ensure good alignment, the tile may be preassembled in groups, lightly adhered to sheets.) When the bond is sufficiently strong to prevent the tile from moving, the joints between tiles should be grouted. (Mounted tiles also are available pregrouted, usually with an elastomeric material.) The tiles may be face mounted, back mounted, or edge bonded. Face-mounted tiles are stuck face down on paper or other suitable material with a water-soluble adhesive so that the sheet can be removed easily after tile setting, before the joints are grouted. For back-mounted tiles, the back side, and for edge-bonded tiles, the edges, are adhered to perforated paper, fiber mesh, resin, or other suitable material, which remains in place after tile setting.
Quality and cost of tile installations are affected by the stability, permanence, and precision of installation of the backing or base material on which the tiles are set. The backing should be sound, clean, and dimensionally stable. Deflection of the supporting members under total load should not exceed 1â„360 of the span.
While the tile may not deteriorate when exposed to moisture, the backing may.
For installations exposed to wetting, therefore, the backing should be concrete, masonry, or portland-cement mortar, or else a cleavage, or water-resistant, membrane should be inserted to protect the backing.
Backing for Tiles
When portland-cement mortar is to be applied, for tile setting, to a gypsum-product backing, a membrane and metal lath should be applied first to cover the backing.
In contrast, sound concrete or masonry may have tile directly applied, after the surface has been prepared by sandblasting, chipping, or scarifying to expose an uncontaminated surface. (Without such preparation, use of metal lath is desirable.)
For installations with organic adhesive or dry-set or latex portland-cement mortar, which are applied as a thin coating, it is especially desirable that the backing used be dimensionally stable and have negligible variation from a plane.
In all types of installation, control joints or other effective means of preventing cracking should be placed at appropriate intervals.
Exterior walls should be constructed to prevent moisture from collecting behind the tile. For the purpose, flashing, coping, and vapor barriers should be installed, and weep holes draining to the outside should be provided at the base of the exterior walls (see Art. 11.3.7).
Crack-free concrete floors with a screed finish may have portland-cement mortar directly bonded to them as a backing for tile. Concrete floors with a steel-troweled finish, including precast concrete, should be covered with a cleavage membrane before placement of the mortar, and steel reinforcement should be incorporated in the mortar bed. When mortar or adhesive is the type that is applied as a thin coating, the backing should have negligible variations from a plane, or else, a portlandcement mortar bed at least 11â„4 in thick should be placed atop the concrete slab.
Metal Lath. Installation of metal lath for reinforcing a mortar bed for tile should be in accordance with the Standard Specification for Installation of Interior Lathing and Furring. ASTM C841. The lath should be galvanized for protection against corrosion. It should be the flat-expanded type and weigh at least 2.5 lb /yd2.
For application of metal lath to wood or steel studs or to wood furring, a cleavage membrane 15-lb roofing felt or 4-mil polyethylene film should be attached first, with joints lapped at least 2 in. Then, the lath should be fastened in place on the side to be mortared (Fig. 11.29i). (See also Art. 11.25.6.) Where sheets of lath are joined, the lath should be lapped at least 2 in at sides and ends. (If wire fabric is used, it should be lapped at least one full mesh.)
