With a proven track record of manufacturing and supplying quality construction materials for over 40 years, TAL was chosen to supply tiling installation materials for the recently constructed Celebration Retirement Estate in Gauteng. Offering secure residential units as well as a lifestyle centre, frail care facility and an indoor swimming pool, the estate is conveniently located in the greater Fourways area of Northriding, near Lanseria International Airport, Sandton’s CBD and 35 minutes from OR Tambo International Airport.
Retirement trends in South Africa have changed dramatically in recent years as people are retiring later yet moving into secure retirement estates earlier. Consequently there’s been a boom in the development and expansion of retirement/lifestyle villages nationally, offering facilities that cater for customers from a wider age group and with a broader range of interests. These trends mean that the design of units within retirement estates needs to take an ageing population into consideration and provide features such as bathrooms with grab rails, single storey units and fewer stairs, as well as well-crafted tiling and careful installation thereof, to avoid any risk of tripping and subsequent injury.
The Celebration Retirement Village project specified a total of 70 000 m2 of tiling for both low and high density units, the indoor pool and external feature walls. For the low density units, porcelain tiles (600 x 600 mm) were specified for all internal walls including showers as well as internal and external floors. Only locally-produced Johnson Tiles were used in the high density units: for the internal walls, floors, shower walls and kitchen splashbacks, Johnson Tiles Glazed Ceramic Floor Tiles (400 x 400 mm) were specified. The materials supplied by TAL included primers, tiling adhesives, grouting systems and joint sealants.
SURFACE PREPARATION IN LOW DENSITY LIVING UNITS
To ensure complete coverage, a slurry priming coat comprising TAL Keymix used in a 2:1 volume mix with TAL Keycoat was applied to all floors (minimum 2 mm thick). The combination of TAL Keymix, a cementitious powder primer, and TAL Keycoat, a latex primer, provides exceptional adhesion to dense, impervious and smooth surfaces. Prior to priming shower cubicles, the rendered walls and screeded floors were waterproofed with a cementitious waterproofer.
A mixture of TAL Goldstar 18 and water (20 kg/5 litres) was used for bedding tiles on all internal, external and shower floors. Used for fixing ceramic, porcelain, dark coloured natural stone (granite, marble, sandstone etc), TAL Goldstar 18 is a grey, rapid-setting, high strength, shrinkage-compensated cement-based adhesive.
A mixture of TAL Goldstar 6 and water (20 kg/5 litres) was used for bedding tiles on all internal walls and floors. Used for fixing ceramic, porcelain, granite, dark-coloured marble and natural stone tiles, TAL Goldstar 6 is a grey, rapid-setting, high strength, shrinkage-compensated cement-based adhesive. Shower walls and all external floors were fixed with TAL Goldstar 6 and TAL Bond (20 kg/five litres). TAL Bond, a modified latex-based additive, enhances the bond strength, flexibility and water resistance of an adhesive or grout when used as a total water replacement in the mix. Shower floors were fixed with a mixture of TAL Mosaicfix and TAL Bond (20 kg/six litres) in preparation for bedding the porcelain mosaic tiles.
SURFACE PREPARATION IN HIGH DENSITY LIVING UNITS
For the high density units, the same slurry priming coat comprising TAL Keymix used in a 2:1 volume mix with TAL Keycoat was applied to all internal floors and walkways (minimum 2 mm thick)
A mixture of TAL Professional and water was used as an adhesion system on all ‘dry’ internal walls and floors while external floors on ground level patios were prepared with TAL Professional and TAL Bond (20 kg/five litres). TAL Professional is a grey general-purpose, standard-setting, cement based powder adhesive used for fixing ceramic tiles to walls and floors. Shower walls and balcony floors were fixed with a mixture of TAL Goldstar 12 and TAL Bond. TAL Goldstar 12 is a quick-setting, high strength, grey cement-based adhesive designed for fixing porcelain, ceramic and dark coloured marble and natural stone tiles to walls and floors. TAL Bond was used to add flexibility, water resistance and strength to the installation, allowing for the balcony’s day/night expansion and contraction. Goldstar 18 was mixed with water (20 kg/5 litres) and used for bedding tiles on the walkways.
GROUTING
On all ‘dry’ area walls, tiles were grouted with TAL Wall & Floor Grout mixed with water. Tried and tested TAL Wall & Floor Grout is available in a variety of colours and offers resistance to moisture ingress and fungal growth. For surfaces subjected to moisture or ‘wet’ area walls, such as where tiles were cut as Listellos for kitchen splashbacks, as well as all internal and external floors and all suspended floors, TAL Wall & Floor Grout was mixed with TAL Bond (20 kg/six litres), again adding flexibility, water resistance and strength to these parts.
EXTERNAL WALLS
The two external feature walls measuring four and six metres in height were tiled with individual strips and pre-assembled panels of natural stone-riven walling. Surface preparations for the external walls included priming with a similar 2:1 mixture of TAL Keymix and TAL Keycoat as used on internal floors in both the low and high density living units, followed by a mixture of TAL Goldstar 6 and TAL Bond (20 kg/five litres).
Tile panel movement joints and perimeter joints were sealed using a combination of TAL Goldstar Sealmaster 1000 and TAL Sealmaster Cord. TAL Goldstar Sealmaster 1000 is a single component, permanently flexible, moisture-curing polyurethane-based adhesive and joint sealant exhibiting excellent properties for adhesion including materials with dissimilar coefficients of expansion. It is fast curing and resistant to shock, vibration and temperature change. TAL Sealmaster Cord is a flexible, readily compressible, closed-cell polyurethane backing cord available in 6 mm x 100 m rolls which is used as a sponge-like filler in the joint before adding TAL’s polyurethane Sealmaster 1000.
INDOOR SWIMMING POOL
After surface preparation with the same products used for the residential units and walls, a grouting system comprising TAL Waterbased Epoxy Mortar & Grout and TAL Acid-Resistant Grout was used on the indoor pool tiles. TAL Waterbased Epoxy Mortar & Grout is a two-component, water-based and cleanable, high performance epoxy resin non-sagging adhesive and grout, ideal for bonding and grouting tiles. It is especially suitable for installation areas where chemical resistance and good hygiene conditions are important. TAL Acid Resistant Grout is a quick-setting, cementitious grout suitable for use in mild organic acid situations.
The TAL 10 Year Warranty offered on all tiling projects meeting the company’s specific criteria, should give the developers of Celebration Retirement Estate complete peace of mind.
