Tips when installing Agglomerate tiles
'Agglomerate’ is a term used to describe a man-made stone or tile product that usually consists of stone pieces and/or aggregates held together in a synthetic binder such as a polyester resin or epoxy resin. It can also be referred to as conglomerate or resin-reconstituted tiles.
Special note must be taken of the following when installing agglomerate tiles:
Resin agglomerated tiles may show varying degrees of moisture sensitivity and this characteristic is exhibited by curling caused by differential expansion. To avoid moisture from the adhesive bed distorting resin based agglomerated stone products, reaction resin adhesives or quick drying cement based adhesives should be used.
It must be noted however that should the edges of the tiles start curling this is as a result of the composition/constitution of the tile and not a fault of the adhesive. It is recommended that a test panel be tiled prior to project start-up.
Where the agglomerated tile is especially moisture sensitive then a water free adhesive should be selected such as those based on epoxy or polyurethane resins.
Because of the higher coefficient of moisture expansion of resin agglomerated stone tiles it is essential that substrates to which these tiles are to be bonded, are dry. In many cases a concrete or sand:cement screed substrate may be sufficiently cured and consequently free from shrinkage but may still contain high levels of residual moisture. In these cases a surface applied liquid membrane may be used to form a barrier between substrate and stone.
Generally, agglomerated tiles will have a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than porcelain or natural stone.
To accommodate the thermal movement it would be beneficial to select an adhesive with quantifiable deformation performance (ie highly flexible).
Resin agglomerated tiles require movement joints at closer centres to take into account the high coefficient of thermal expansion.
Please refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for specific details pertaining to the handling, cutting, cleaning and maintenance of these tiles.
The following adhesive systems have shown good results for the
installation of Agglomerate Tiles:
TAL MARBLEFLEX mixed with TAL BOND or TAL BOND POWDER, in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions
TAL GOLDFLEX mixed with TAL BOND or TAL BOND POWDER, in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions
TAL EPOXY ADHESIVE & GROUT
However, it is always recommended that TAL be consulted for more specific information when installing these tiles.
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