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ProductsCoverings ETC: Eco-GressAsia | Ultra | Mosaic | Projects | Info | Installation Eco-Gres Installation ECO-GRES Asia and Mosaic Installation For installation care and maintenance there are not too many differences between our porcelain tiles and other ceramic tiles, however following points should be observed: Setting materials
(adhesives): Pre-Grout Treatments: Post-Grout Clean-Up: Cementitious grout haze can be successfully removed with "sulfamic" acid, which is a mild acid that attacks and breaks down cement smears. However, there are several products on the market called grout haze removers which are suitable. (i.e. Fila Deterdek). Similarly, epoxy grout haze can be removed with an epoxy haze remover. These removers are formulated to safely and quickly remove cured epoxy haze from new tile installations. Their unique formulation will soften most epoxy hazes for easy removal without damaging the grout or tile, usually in one application (i.e. Fila PS 87). Final Step:
Eco-Gres
Asia and Mosaic Installation ECO-GRES Ultra Installation Eco-Gres Ultra is a completely innovative porcelain material, the only one of its kind, manufactured in 39 " x 118 " slabs, only 3/16 " thick. Thanks to its unique characteristics, Eco-Gres Ultra is the ideal surfacing solution in any climate condition, suitable for both interior and exterior applications. Eco-Gres Ultra is obtained from fully-natural raw materials, colored with inorganic pigments and, thanks to its manufacturing process, totally environmentally friendly and easily recyclable. Cutting with Glass Tools The main thing to remember is
that Eco-Gres Ultra is
extremely hard but fragile: a
material that can be compared in
many ways to glass. This means
that it can be cut with tools
normally used for glass, from
small simple "glass cutters " to
big industrial cutting machines.
The advantage of this kind of
cutting is that it is extremely
clean, very accurate and quick.
You are advised, however, to
make a few preliminary test cuts
to get the right pressure with
the cutter head on the sheet
(normally, the pressure required
to cut a laminate porcelain
sheet 3/16 " thick is slightly
higher than for a glass sheet,
and the shapes of the cutting
wheels can also vary). If you
use glass cutting machinery you
can obtain all the finishes and
shapes normally obtained with
glass: grinding, chamfering,
edge-rounding, drilling,
threaded chamfering,
flat-threaded chamfering,
drilling, etc. The dimensional
tolerances of this cutting
technique are determined
exclusively by the degree of
precision of the machinery used,
which in general is
approx.+\-1/50 ". Cutting with Diamond Saw Blades Finally, there is the traditional method most commonly used in the building industry: the diamond saw. The saw blades must be the continual crown diamond disk type and can be either on "hand-held " tools or cutting benches. In both cases, there must be a high rotation speed (2500 rpm) and a low advance speed (3.28 lf/min). Depending on the type of saw blade and length of cut, it may be necessary a water-cooling system. As for the best kind of wheel, it is enough to specify that the material to be cut is similar to porcelain stoneware. The advantages of this technique laying the ease of manual cutting (bearing in mind, however, that the material you are cutting is similar to glass) and the possibility of cutting while laying. The disadvantages, though, are that only straight cuts can be made and that the manual dry cutting creates a large amount of dust, making it essential to wear an FFP2 grade protective mask. Water Jet Cutting An excellent tool for all kinds of cutting is the water jet machine. This equipment makes for a practically unlimited range of cutting possibilities, both for single Eco-Gres Ultra slabs and composite panels. Drilling When drilling manually, we recommend using glass bits up to a maximum diameter of 1/4 ".
Milling and Edge Finish Milling and edge finishing can be done in several different ways and to different degrees of precision. Eco-Gres Ultra edges can be processed with excellent results using glass machinery and tools. Good results can be obtained with machines and tools designed for machining natural stone, even if the level of finish obtained with natural stone machinery is lower than with glass processing machines. For manual processing with electrical or pneumatic tools, corundum-grinding disks, belts for expanding rubber drums, or adhesive diamond disks bond to supporting plates can be used. Hand pads with abrasive surface can be used for small edge finishing jobs. How To Bond ECO-GRES ULTRA The question of bonding is of primary importance when working with Eco-Gres Ultra. The type of adhesive and bonding technique obviously depends on the field of application and the requirements of the product in its final application. The list below, by no means exhaustive, should be seen as a kind of guide, giving general indications and making reference to the types of adhesives available on the market for Porcelain slabs and consolidated techniques generally used for porcelain products. To ensure that all characteristics of Eco-Gres Ultra are exploited, bonding must, of course, be professional. Laying Interior and Exterior Floors The main requirement for this kind of application is to start with a perfectly flat substrate. The maximum thickness of the adhesive should be 1/8 ", using a 1/6-1/5 " serrated spreader. The adhesive must be applied with the spreader on both the slab and substrate surface. This technique is ideal for laying on existing porcelain slabs (of any type), reinforced concrete or smooth slabs, prefabricated reinforced concrete, finish plasters, plasterboard or fiber cement board. If laying on more uneven or non-flat substrates such as rough reinforced concrete, concrete slabs or plaster, the surface will have to be leveled with leveling or self-leveling products. Another important rule when "bedding " or repositioning with the adhesive still soft: the bedding must be done with both hands, exercising constant pressure on the entire surface of Eco-Gres Ultra. The usual kind of bedding action (i.e. using your fist) is to be avoided, as is the use of other tools. When repositioning, re-leveling or checking the degree of adhesion, avoid lifting the slab by one side only: use suction cups to slowly "loosen " the slab. Use a cement-based adhesive for laying on horizontal and vertical surfaces. The information below has been compiled together with the KERAKOLL Study Centre - Subsurface - Laying Division, and so the materials listed below are from the KERAKOLL production range. This by no means implies that they are the only products to be used for laying Eco-Gres Ultra as there are other similar or comparable products on the market. The main situations where Eco-Gres Ultra can be used are:
In the above cases, KERAKOLL recommends laying with H40FLEX.The laying subsurface must be compact, with no crumbly zones, clean and properly set (clean with soda and make sure the setting shrinkage is complete).The maximum thickness of the adhesive should be 1/8 ",spreading double (i.e. applying the adhesive to both the subsurface and slab)with a 1/6 " serrated spreader. Uneven or non-flat substrates will have to be leveled before laying. For this, KERAKOLL recommends KERALEVEL, a high-tech professional thixotropic leveler, normal setting and compensated shrink-age, suitable for high-resistance leveling up to a thickness of 3/8 " floors and walls. An alter native could be KERATECH R30 a professionally, super fluid, HDE-technology (High Dispersing Effect) self-leveler with ultra fast setting, ideal for high-resistance leveling from 1/8 " to 1-1/4 " on uneven, non-flat surfaces. In both cases, existing joints should be respected and there should be expansion joints. If the subsurface is gypsum or anhydrite, on either walls or floors, before laying you will have to apply a surface insulator such as PRIMER A (here too, the subsurface must be perfectly clean and dry).The same type of primer can be used to block the absorption of highly absorbent sub-surfaces such as plasterboard or slabs. When laying facing slabs, latex should always be used mixing. KERAKOLL recommends its TOP LATEX product. In technical jargon, the "joint " is the distance left between two slabs during laying/bonding: the joint can be seen as seam. In certain cases, joints can have a decorative function, but their main role is to cushion and dampen contrasting movements between subsurface and slabs. When laying floors with cement-based adhesive, there must be a joint of 1/8 " and a movement joint every 100 SF. For bigger joints (1/6 ") the scaling of the movement joint can increase to up to 215.2 SF. As for the final grouting, KERAKOLL recommends FUGABELLA 0-5. Two other types of material can be added to the more common situations listed above: Interior/exterior laying on polystyrene or polyurethane: In these cases two coats should be skimmed on the surface and a fiberglass mesh laid between the coats, using ISOBUILD 80.You can then use H40 FLEX, just like on the sub-surfaces listed previously. Bonding with plywood, particle board panels, wood in general (absorbent types): In these cases polyurethane adhesives can be used, with a level of elasticity that dampens contrasting movements that may occur between the two materials. KERAKOLL recommends its product ELASTIK for these applications. Joints for furniture tops: The expansion coefficient of Eco-Gres Ultra is very low. For use on furniture, the combination of Eco-Gres Ultra with wood (particle board, MDF, HDF, etc) or polyurethane, the joint is virtually zero. On supports that have an expansion coefficient that differs greatly from that of Eco-Gres Ultra, suitable evaluation must be made when choosing the adhesive and size of the joints. In this case contact our technical service department for further information. Guidelines for choosing adhesives and support materials: The main point to take into account is that Eco-Gres Ultra is an impermeable product, and so if you want to bond it with another impermeable material (e.g. metal, plastic, etc.) then you have to use adhesives that bind by chemical reaction and not by evaporation of solvents. For bonding with permeable materials (e.g. wood), all types of adhesives can be used, including those that set by solvent evaporation. An exception is bonding with glass: in this case you can use PVB stratification technology, with excellent results. Please note:
With the information given in
this booklet, Eco-Gres Ultra
has no intention of ruling out
the use of other types of
adhesives or instructing users
to keep to specific types of
adhesives. The bonding of
materials of similar or
Behavior of materials on temperature increases. The table below lists a series of materials with their coefficients of expansion and lengthening per degree Centigrade.
Eco-Gres Ultra is normally handled by means of standard suction cup systems used for glass. The number of suction cups to be used obviously depends on the diameter of the latter. At the production facilities of Eco-Gres Ultra the products are handled by means of suction cups with a diameter of 3-1/4 " per 160 sq. in. of surface area. If manual handling is required, a series of rules must be observed, which vary according to the dimensions of the material:
Lifting and handling the slabs up to dimensions of 12 " x 12 ". Eco-Gres Ultra pieces can easily be handled by supporting it from one corner only.
In the case of larger dimensions up to 39 " x 39 ", the Eco-Gres Ultra slabs should be held with both hands. Lifting and handling the slabs of dimensions from 12 " x 12 " to 39 " x 39 " Eco-Gres Ultra slabs of these sizes can easily be handled by one person only, considering that the weight of these elements ranges from approx.0.12 to 1.45 lbs respectively. When lifting this slab size, it must be held with both hands on one side to move it to a vertical position. To handle these slabs they must be picked up from above using both hands. To place the slab on a flat surface, first take care to position one side of the slab and then slowly lower the rest of the slab onto the surface. The reference figures for handling slabs of this size are the same as those for handling larger slabs. Lifting and handling slabs with dimensions over 39 " x 39 " Eco-Gres Ultra slabs of these sizes must be handled by two persons. To lift the slab, it must be raised slowly to ensure a good grip in the hands (see fig.3).
To place the slab on a flat surface, lower one side of the slab first with care. At this point one of the two persons assigned must move to the middle of the slab and support it with the arms opened (see fig.7)
Then slowly lower the slab onto the flat surface (see figs.8 and 9).
Storing Slabs Slabs can be stored vertically or horizontally (edge or flat storing). In the horizontal position there are no special provisions other than the handling procedures described above. If stacking several slabs, take care that the surface of each slab is clean and that the support surface is completely flat. The maximum number of slabs that can be stacked horizontally is 50.As regards vertical positioning the slabs should be placed on the longer edge (placing a protection element on the support surface, such as polystyrene, rubber or similar, see fig.10)
As regards handling with lift trucks, refer to figures 11 and 12.
Figure 11 - Correct lifting procedure, by means of lift truck, of a pallet holding Eco-Gres Ultra slabs.
Descriptive Texts for
Specifications
Eco-Gres Ultra Preparation and Installation Read more about the Coverings ETC Green Policy and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating in this PDF: ECOverings from a LEED Perspective. |
