4specs.com    4specs.com Home Page

stone laminated to ceramic tile Log Out | Topics | Search
Moderators | Register | Edit Profile

4specs Discussion Forum » Archive - Product Discussions #4 » stone laminated to ceramic tile « Previous Next »

Author Message
Robin E. Snyder
Senior Member
Username: robin

Post Number: 357
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Thursday, April 07, 2011 - 11:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

what does anyone know about this type of product? All my searching seems to indicate they come from China, so there isn't much technical information. Anyone use them on exterior applications? Any issues with different movements between the tile and the stone leading to cracking? Any concerns about the adhesion between the stone and tile failing? Any other input would be appreciated and, if anyone has a spec for this type of product, I would be very grateful for any assistance!
William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS
Senior Member
Username: wpegues

Post Number: 838
Registered: 10-2002


Posted on Friday, April 08, 2011 - 12:24 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Robin,

Yes we had this product indirectly. That is, we were doing a hotel lobby renovation. Our scope was new storefront entry system, various walls, etc. The owner had a separate interior designer doing finishes. This product was under their scope of work.

It was all interior, no exterior. But frankly someone would have to hold a gun to my head to use this product anywhere. Perhaps there is more than one supplier of it and the Interior group was just unlucky to get a bad one.

This stuff arrived in very poor condition. There were fractures where the veneered stone was cracked but not the ceramic backing. There were also fully broken tiles. They would not make good on it (the supplier that is - it was shipped directly from China).

The poor installer did as best as could be expected after being directed to proceed, really felt sorry for them. Another problem was that this was an older slab that had carpet on it. It was not particularly smooth. The interior design wanted to do a thinset with no prep to the slab. The tiles were not overly large tiles, but the slab turned out to be a bit too rough. But they went ahead with the installation. The installer did the best he could, having advised against it. And frankly I think he did better than expected. There were lippage problems, due to the slab. But it turned up an interesting situation. The veneer was thin enough that the lippage on a bad install was exposing not just stone edge, but the edge of the ceramic backing. Definitely not good. And that was in conditions where the lippage was not really that bad.

Looking at it, I felt that even with good substrate conditions you could not really work with the grout that much. You really need to do a 'struck flush' grout install for the joints, no sponging. Almost any exposure of the edge would reveal the ceramic, not just the stone. A little lippage here and there and it starts to look really bad, especially where the stone color contrasts with the ceramic backing color.

I don't have a spec for this product, it was not in our scope - I don't know the installer or the product name. We were asked for our opinion by the owner. And our project architect watched it all go in. All the CA meetings were joint for our scope and the interior designers, so we got the benefit of that as well.

This led to me going around to our interiors group and asking if they had ever worked with the material. They were aware of the material, but had not worked with it. I don't think they will, or at least at this point they know enough to be very cautious and protect themselves.

But put this stuff outside, not my recommendation that's for sure.

You should obtain a sample of it just to 'touch and feel' so that you can actually see the edge conditions. You should write something about broken tiles and fractured veneers where the tile is actually not broken through. It ends up looking so bad that though typically stone tile allows for some repair of breakage, I would disallow it for this product. The fractured veneer can be especially disturbing as if it has some small tight fracturing, the veneer can pop off shortly after install with normal use - even though it seems tightly bonded. This leads to a totally terrible condition as you can imagine.

William
William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS, SCIP Affiliate
WDG Architecture, Washington, DC | Dallas, TX
John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP
Senior Member
Username: bunzick

Post Number: 1313
Registered: 03-2002
Posted on Friday, April 08, 2011 - 12:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Wow--there's no end to the new s----ty products coming out these days is there. Was probably marketed as being super "green."

Topics | Last Day | Last Week | Tree View | Search | Help/Instructions | Program Credits Administration