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Manufacturer’s recommendations
Manufacturer’s recommendations and remarks
Before mounting, tiles should be checked for: the uniformity of tone and dimensions, as well as the flatness and quality of the surface. In order to do this one should compare tiles from different boxes. After mounting, any complaints regarding the aforementioned defects will not be accepted.
Fitting Stonewood tiles
In case of tiles of the STONEWOOD collection, the manufacturer recommends to mount tiles with the staggered placement of the tiles, with one tile against another amounting to no more than 1/3 of the length, in order to preserve proper visual qualities. Due to the tolerance of the surface flatness, which is allowed by the PN-EN 144411 Standard, annex G, it is recommended to mount STONEWOOD collection tiles keeping a minimum of 3 mm of grout.
Polished tiles
In order to protect polished tiles against staining it is necessary to impregnate the surface using available building chemistry protective agents (polished gres tiles impregnating agent). The process of impregnation must be carried out before or after mounting the tiles, and before repointing.
Transport
Nowa Gala stoneware tiles should be put for transport vertically, with one layer, and packages close to one another. Spaces between boxes with the product should be protected against moving during transport.
Selection of tiles
To select the proper tiles, you should take into account not only the esthetical factors: colour, shade or surface structure, but – above all – you should consider their usability:
- technical parameters of use,
- amount of labour and costs associated with their maintenance and keeping them clean.
The Nowa Gala floor tiles should be selected with regard to their technical characteristics and features suitable for the anticipated mode of utilization in a particular room. In the case of glazed floor tiles, special attention should be paid to the abrasion resistance class that defines the scope of their use.
Depending on the abrasion resistance, six abrasion classes (0,1,2,3,4,5) are distinguished for glazed tiles:
- Class 0 – glazed tiles of this type are not recommended to use on floors.
- Class 1 – covering for floors which are walked on with soft-soled shoes or barefoot and which are not exposed directly to abrasive materials (e.g. bathroom, living room or bedroom not entered directly from the outside).
- Class 2 – covering for floors which are walked on with soft-soled or normal-soled shoes and which are exposed to small amounts of dirt or abrasive materials (e.g. living rooms in flats, excluding kitchens, entrances and rooms exposed to high traffic).
- Class 3 – floors in rooms with medium traffic, which are walked on with normal-soled shoes and exposed to small amounts of dirt, dust or abrasive materials (e.g. kitchens, halls, corridors).
- Class 4 – floor surfaces with normal traffic, exposed to small amounts of abrasive material but also to more severe conditions than those of class 3 (e.g. entrances, hotels, exhibition halls, stores or kitchens in sales departments), excluding places of particularly intensive traffic, e.g. in front of counters, cash desks.
- Class 5 – floor surfaces exposed to increased and permanent pedestrian traffic, exposed to permanent carrying in of abrasive material (e.g. airport corridors, public facilities, shopping centres, hotel rooms, etc.) Floors paved with glazed or polished tiles should be protected by the use of doormats.
Polished stoneware tiles are more slippery than other finishing materials, therefore polished stoneware is not recommended for floors that may have contact with rain or snowfall.
Purchasing tiles
Having chosen the Nowa Gala stoneware tiles, make sure that the markings on each package are the same. The batch you have chosen must all have identical marks of:
- calibre –differences in markings of the same parameter mean that there are different real sizes of the tiles which have the same working size, e.g. 30x30,
- shade – differences in marking of the same parameter mean that the tiles of various packages differ with colour saturation among themselves.
Substrate
Improperly prepared substrate is the most common reason for loosening or cracking of tiles.
The substrate must be cleaned of dust, dirt, grease, paints, etc. It must be compact and clean. All irregularities of the substrate should be evened with levelling mortar. Expansion joints in the layer of tiles should correspond to the existing expansion joints in the substrate.
The substrate must be cleaned of dust, dirt, grease, paints, etc. It must be compact and clean. All irregularities of the substrate should be evened with levelling mortar. Expansion joints in the layer of tiles should correspond to the existing expansion joints in the substrate.
Mounting tiles
Before mounting the Nowa Gala stoneware tiles, you should inspect the whole batch you have bought with regards to: surface quality, shades and sizes – comparing tiles of different packages, in order to make sure no mistakes were made as the goods were delivered. To make sure the batch is uniform, lay the tiles on the surface to which they are going to be placed and assess them visually. After tiles are adhered, no complaints will be accepted. The tiles should be mounted according to the recommendations of construction chemicals manufacturers, to the Standard PN-10121 “glazed ceramic tile linings”, to the Standard PN-63/B-10145 “Floors of stoneware tiles,” as well as construction handbooks or other professional literature.
Joint
It is recommended to lay the Nowa Gala stoneware tiles with joints, as the tiles laid without grouted joints form a tiling layer which is very susceptible to all types of stresses or substrate deformations. It must be borne in mind that ceramic tiles also demonstrate linear expansion caused by water penetration into the tiles.
Thus, the tiles should be laid with a grouted joint. The joint width should be proportional to the tile side length and it should equal 3 mm for the 30x30.4 cm size, 4 mm for the 40x40.6 cm size and 6 mm for the 60x60 cm size. Grouting should be performed according to good construction practice and recommendations of the construction chemicals manufacturers. We recommend using grouts of recognized manufacturers of construction chemicals, who offer approved products. After grouting, in the time defined by the manufacturer, the whole surface laid must be washed with clean water carefully, so as not to wash out the fresh grout. If you fail to wash the grout, which is an integral part of the tile laying works, you will incur additional costs of specialist agents for removing the remaining grout.The grouted joints have the following function:
- esthetical,
- protective – the joint gathers the high-friction materials (e.g. sand from shoes) which influence the lifespan and esthetical value of the tile. The grouted joint also absorbs stresses and substrate deformations.
Tile adhesive / tile adhering cement
We recommend using tile adhering cements of recognized manufacturers, approved and certified, as well as a consulting selection of cement type with the sales person (informing him or her about the place of adhesion or the purpose of the product). The adhesives should be used according to the construction chemical manufacturer’s recommendations, particularly taking into account: the method of application, thickness of layer, setting time and purpose (outside or inside use).
Tile adhesive, prepared according to the instruction, is to be applied with a trowel onto the previously prepared substrate (the adhesive must completely fill the space between the substrate and the tile). The size of the trowel notches must be selected to the size of tiles.
If possible, avoid smudging the face surface of tiles or filling the joints with adhesive. If the surface is smudged, remove the grout with a wet cloth, avoid scratching the tiles.
Smudges of various types of adhesives, left on glazed or non-glazed tiles, should be removed with appropriate agents.
If the smudges dry on the tile surface, they must be removed with cleaning agents of corresponding manufacturers. This also concerns removing caked grout. If you lay tiles on heated floors, gypsum boards, balconies or terraces, adhesives adequate to the substrates should be used, according to the chemicals manufacturer’s recommendations.
Having finished the tile laying, wash the whole surface carefully using active cleaning agents.
Tile adhesive, prepared according to the instruction, is to be applied with a trowel onto the previously prepared substrate (the adhesive must completely fill the space between the substrate and the tile). The size of the trowel notches must be selected to the size of tiles.
If possible, avoid smudging the face surface of tiles or filling the joints with adhesive. If the surface is smudged, remove the grout with a wet cloth, avoid scratching the tiles.
Smudges of various types of adhesives, left on glazed or non-glazed tiles, should be removed with appropriate agents.
If the smudges dry on the tile surface, they must be removed with cleaning agents of corresponding manufacturers. This also concerns removing caked grout. If you lay tiles on heated floors, gypsum boards, balconies or terraces, adhesives adequate to the substrates should be used, according to the chemicals manufacturer’s recommendations.
Having finished the tile laying, wash the whole surface carefully using active cleaning agents.
Maintenance
It is recommended to maintain the non-glazed tiles (particularly the polished ones) with appropriate agents (impregnating agents) in order to protect them against absorption of various types of dirt.
Adhering to the above recommendations guarantee long use of the Nowa Gala stoneware tiles.
Adhering to the above recommendations guarantee long use of the Nowa Gala stoneware tiles.