Seven Days of Creation Mural

Project Spotlight

For Syverson Tile & Stone, although there were eight panels to install, they actually had 16 different areas to prepare on the one-story high vertical terrace where the murals now rest. Using the double indirect method with LATICRETE materials to transfer the paintings to the mosaic sheets and finally to the concrete masonry unit wall substrate, the collaboration came through with impressive results. 

The 16 different CMU areas were first prepped by roller applying two coats of HYDRO BAN® to provide waterproofing and anti-fracture protection. HYDRO BAN is a revolutionary, liquid-applied membrane that does not require the use of fabric† in the field, coves or corners. The single-component membrane applies quickly with a paint roller, brush or trowel, and meets or exceeds ANSI A118.10 and A118.12 requirements for both waterproofing and anti-fracture protection up to 3mm. Perhaps even more innovative than not requiring fabric even around pipe penetrations or drains on any given project, HYDRO BAN can be flood tested in just 2 hours† once the second coat has cured to a lighter olive green colour.

For each particular mural depicting the Seven Days of Creation on each panel, Syverson Tile & Stone treated the substrate for the glass mosaic sheets by applying a skim coat of 254 Platinum thin-set. When the skim-coat had cured, the pixelized SICIS mural, all boxed up and numbered accordingly, was set in place by May and Harris, sheet by sheet, beginning with the bottom rows and working up 10m to the very top edge. 254 Platinum thin-set, Stammer’s “favorite setting material,” represents the ultimate one-step, polymer-fortified thin-set adhesive mortar for interior and exterior installations such as the Mergia’s Seven Days of Creation. 254 Platinum has a long open time with unsurpassed adhesion that far exceeds all industry requirements, and the premium thin-set has been specially-formulated for easy workability in even the most trying conditions. With a proven track record on high-profile building projects around the world, 254 Platinum is ideal for challenging installations such as vertical exterior façades with difficult to bond glass mosaic tiles. 

Another revolutionary LATICRETE® product was used by Syverson Tile & Stone to grout all eight panels of the vertical terrace murals for Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. To grout the mosaic sheets from SICIS consisting of three different tile collections, SPECTRALOCK® PRO Grout was used in the colour Smoke Grey, offering the high performance, durability and stain resistance of an epoxy grout with extraordinary ease of use. SPECTRALOCK PRO Grout applications result in perfect colour uniformity and full, attractive tile grout joints that stay that way for the life of the installation. Ideal for interior and exterior installations on both floors and walls, LATICRETE SPECTRALOCK PRO Grout never requires additional sealants to keep tile designs looking brand new year after year. 

The performance of SPECTRALOCK PRO Grout is magnified by how easy it is to use, a feature that once again played a critical role in the installation of the Seven Days of Creation mural. With the given challenges of installing a detailed piece of artwork on a vertical exterior façade, Syverson Tile & Stone also faced trying mid-summer conditions during the five-weeks it took to complete the work. With the heat and humidity in mind, Syverson Tile & Stone opted to use SPECTRALOCK PRO Grout in the more residentially-geared mini-units to help stay ahead of the cleanup stages and avoid a more difficult to remove grout haze from the iridescent glass mosaics. 

“We just really like working with LATICRETE products,” said Stammer. “We use LATICRETE on every project that we can. We use HYDRO BAN on most of our projects whether it’s to prep the substrate for a tiled floor or for waterproofing and anti-fracture protection in wet areas. My installers love using it. In a more general overview, we’ve never had any issues using LATICRETE products on any type of job. And when you have no issues you’ve found an awesome line of products.”

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For more information about using LATICRETE in your projects, product demos, samples or technical support please contact LATICRETE UK Ltd on: 0151 486 6101, email sales@laticrete.co.uk or visit www.laticrete.co.uk