Substrates, finishes and the specification clauses people leave out.
Large format tile needs a cement-based, flexible, large-and-heavy-tile adhesive applied as a full bed with a 10mm notched trowel plus back-buttering, and a flexible grout with...
Nicole BickleyBecause tile, adhesive and substrate all move at different rates, and a movement joint is the only place that movement can be absorbed without cracking something....
Nicole BickleyLeave a 10mm expansion gap at every wall and fixed obstruction for a domestic room up to six metres, and add 2mm for every additional metre....
Nicole BickleyUse a water-based eggshell or satin with a fungicidal additive on walls, a moisture-resistant ceiling paint with the same additive, and an acrylic primer-sealer on any...
Nicole BickleyChoose by how the kitchen is used rather than by how the sample looks: quartz or sintered stone for heavy daily cooking, laminate for a tight...
Nicole BickleyA wet room needs a dimensionally stable, waterproof substrate: cement backer board or a foam-cored tile backer board on walls, and a plywood or cement board...
Nicole BickleyPorcelain is a denser, lower-absorption body fired at a higher temperature, which makes it harder, more frost-resistant and more dimensionally stable. Ceramic is softer, more porous...
Nicole BickleyA ventilated rainscreen needs a rigid or semi-rigid insulation board fixed outside the structural frame, a drained and ventilated cavity of at least 25mm behind the...
Nicole Bickley
