See The Difference a Little Dazzle Can Make!

LATICRETE SpectraLOCK Dazzle can be mixed with any of our 40 vibrant colours to produce hundreds of stunning design combinations

5 different LATICRETE SpectraLOCK Dazzle components to choose from: 
Available in Dazzle Gold, Dazzle Silver, Dazzle Copper, Dazzle Mother-of-Pearl and Dazzle Glow-in-the-Dark 

Great for interior or exterior applications for floor or walls 

Vibrant, consistent colour – Perfect colour uniformity; no blotchiness or shading 

Will not discolour from neutral household cleaners 

Will not fade or deteriorate 

Ease of maintenance – Never needs sealing; excellent stain resistance; helps keep tile installation looking brand new for years 

Can be used in swimming pools, fountains and permanent wet areas.

Custom Home Project in Maui

A custom home project recently completed by Higher Standard Tile & Stone, in beautiful upcountry Maui. Various stone, porcelain, and glass tile were used throughout the home. Every bathroom was a different design and required various types of installation materials.

Isaac Homza from Higher Standard Tile & Stone said:

We used a lot of LATICRETE 4-XLT (especially helpful for the 15mm thick stone on the master bath shower ceiling!) Also LATICRETE 317 with LATICRETE 333 Super Flexible Additive, LATICRETE 253 Gold and LATICRETE 220 Marble and Granite Mortar. LATICRETE Glass Tile Adhesive was used for all the glass tile backsplashes and accent rows.

All the showers and tub surrounds were waterproofed with LATICRETE Hydro Ban and LATICRETE Hydrobarrier was used as anti-fracture membrane over the concrete substrate for the bathroom floors.

Six colours of grout were used in LATICRETE PermaColor, LATICRETE 1600 Unsanded with LATICRETE 1776 Grout Enhancer, and LATICRETE SpectraLOCK PRO Grout for the pebble shower floors. LATICRETE Latasil 100% silicone for change of plane and movement joints.

The great service from our local Maui LATICRETE distributor - Hawaiian Ceramic Tile (Susan, Sally, Jason, Kel, and Joe) and the excellent advice from some of your (LATICRETE) top tech people (Art Mintie and Mark Brooks) helped make this project a success.

Another Use For LATICRETE 3701 Fortified Mortar Bed

Sandy Robertson from OZ Mosaics is a fantastic and continual LATICRETE advocate. Sandy's recent project involved the need to create a female torso and what better to create it with (in Sandy's mind!) than LATICRETE 3701 Fortified Mortar Bed... Well done Sandy!

An Interesting Article: Avoiding Impact Damage to Tiling Installation

The ability of a tiling system to meet its designed performance and service requirements is affected by various factors, amongst some of which include: the structural integrity of the tile; the structural adequacy of the substrate; the choice of the correct adhesive or bedding system; the correctness of work methods and the quality of the workmanship. 

In discussing ways to avoid impact damage to tiling installations, I would like to focus on two of these factors: the choice of the correct adhesive; and the correctness of work methods and the quality of the workmanship. 

For instance, AS3958.1 states that “Adhesives should be applied to the substrate and then spread using a notched trowel of an appropriate size and shape. Optimum coverage requires pressing of tiles into the adhesive bed and moving them perpendicular to the direction to the direction of the adhesive notches”. “The contact coverage of the adhesive should be maximised”. Minimum contact coverage for commercial floors should be 90%. It also goes on to say “The coverage should be sufficiently distributed to give full support to the tile with particular attention to this support under all corners and edges of tiles”. 

These and other like methods/processes are designed to achieve maximum adhesion, provide full support of the tile and in turn enable load transfer to the substrate. It therefore follows where the tile is not supported correctly; the tile will be susceptible to forces or loadings that could cause fracture or failure if the tile through rolling loads, impact or shock. In areas of heavy duty use and perhaps as a matter of course coverage should be targeted at 100%. 

Therefore it is vitally important the tile work is executed in accordance with AS3958.1 & 2 and the like manufacturers guidelines that mandate work methods that are in place to ensure successful enduring installations. 

As much as the tile should be fully bedded to transfer loads and absorb shock, it’s the adhesive that has to do all of the work. After all it has to provide the enduring bond that can absorb differential movement from various sources while being subjected to the same duty, impact and shock the tiles is subject to. 

Just like oils ain’t oils, adhesives ain’t adhesives. Project service requirements dictate: the performance level of the installation; subsequent installation methods; and installation materials that will deliver the required outcome. Currently in the case of floor tiling, AS3958.1 categorises performance levels into three groups Industrial, commercial and Residential whilst in the US the TCNA Handbook, I think sensibly, categorises them as, Extra Heavy, Heavy, Moderate, Light and Residential. Therefore it makes sense that adhesives are designed to perform within the scope of the performance requirement specified a particular project. 

LATICRETE are the manufacturers of Tile and Stone adhesive systems that are lighter, stronger, more flexible, and are suitable for just about any service duty, tiles are expected to endure. LATICRETE 4237 Latex Additive gauged with LATICRETE 211 Crete Filler Powder is a good example of an adhesive to use where “Extra Heavy Duty” is required.

Fred Gray

LATICRETE Australia Technical Service Manager

International LATICRETE Guest's Kangaroo Encounter!

Recently LATICRETE Australia had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. Sujit Singh (General Manager of LATICRETE/RAK in UAE) visit for our Annual Sales Meeting. 

As it was Mr. Sujit Singh's first time visiting Australia, a few "true blue" experiences were on the agenda, such as a day out with LATICRETE Australia's R&D Chemist, Dr Surendra Patel at Australia Zoo and also picking some strawberries!

LATICRETE prides itself on the exchange of knowledge and experiences between LATICRETE team members across the globe.

Beautiful Pool in Kiama

A beautiful tile installation using LATICRETE 335 Premium Flexible Adhesive and LATICRETE SpectraLOCK PRO Grout, installed by Marcello and Fabio Capochiano in NSW.

• For more information about LATICRETE 335 Premium Flexible Adhesive click here.
• For more information about LATICRETE SpectraLOCK PRO Grout click here.

August Promotion

Get half a pallet of LATICRETE 86 LatiLevel FREE when you purchase 5 pallets total any combination of LATICRETE LATAFLEX Gold Adhesive or LATICRETE 335 Premium Flexible Adhesive.

LATICRETE 86 LatiLevel is a cementitious powder that is mixed with water to produce a free-flowing self-levelling underlayment mortar for the rapid levelling of interior sub-floors. Can be poured from feather edge to 10mm in one pour. LATICRETE 86 LatiLevel will produce a smooth and flat surface with excellent durability, which is ready for foot traffic in less than 4 hours at 21°C. The primer will increase bond and strength to substrates.