For Internal Use Only

7/30/08 Steven Fine Senior Scientist LATICRETE INTERNATIONAL

Robinson Floor Test on TI Pro Board Project Number RLS 2271 Requested by Ken Barnum, Product Manager

Revision A

7/30/08 For Internal Use Only Steven Fine Senior Scientist

LATICRETE INTERNATIONAL, Inc. Page 2 of 12

Section I – Executive Summary Many Dal Tile distributors have started carrying a product called TI Pro Board. TI Pro Board is a plastic decking material for residential decks. It is designed to be covered with ceramic tile. Only Merkrete has a specification for tile setting materials over the TI Pro Board. The goal of this project was to develop a LATICRETE system for installing tile over TI Pro Board. A system consisting of LATICRETE® 226 Thick Bed Mortar mixed with LATICRETE 3701 Mortar Admix as a mortar bed, LATICRETE Hydro Ban™ as a waterproofing membrane, LATICRETE 254 Platinum as the thinset adhesive, and LATICRETE SpectraLOCK® Grout was tested and qualified. The system received a “Heavy Service” rating as per Tile Council of North America performance levels using ASTM C-627 Robinson Floor Test. This report will be forwarded to the Product Management Department so they can arrange to have a proprietary specification written.

7/30/08 For Internal Use Only Steven Fine Senior Scientist

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Section II – Goal The goal of this project was to determine the Service rating as per Tile Council of North America performance levels using ASTM C-627 Robinson Floor Test on the system of LATICRETE® 226 Thick Bed Mortar mixed with LATICRETE 3701 Mortar Admix as a mortar bed, LATICRETE Hydro Ban™ as a waterproofing membrane, LATICRETE 254 Platinum as the thinset adhesive, and LATICRETE SpectraLOCK® Grout installed on TI Pro Board. Section III – Procedures

1. A wooden joist system consisting of 4 joists placed 16 inches on center was assembled on the Robinson Floor Tester. The joists were 2 x 4 lumber. See photo in Appendix.

2. The TI Pro Board was screwed to the joists as per the manufacturer’s directions. See the photo in Appendix.

3. The LATICRETE 226 Thick Bed Mortar mixed with LATICRETE 3701 Mortar Admix at a liquid to powder ratio of 0.1 was screeded into the TI Pro Board. See the photo in Appendix.

4. The mortar bed was allowed to cure overnight and LATICRETE Hydro Ban was installed. See the photo in Appendix.

5. 12 in. x 12 in. Dal Tile porcelain tile was installed using LATICRETE 254 Platinum at a water to powder ratio of 0.229. The grout joints were ¼ inch wide. See the photo in Appendix.

6. The grouts spacers were removed and the tile was grouted with LATICRETE SpectraLOCK® Grout. See the photo in Appendix.

7. The grout was allowed to cure 28 days. The Robinson Floor Test was run as per ASTM C-627.

7/30/08 For Internal Use Only Steven Fine Senior Scientist

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Section IV – Results

TI Proboard Robinson Floor Test

Cycle Type of Wheels Total Weight per Wheel Comments

1 Soft

Rubber 100lbs No damage

2 Soft

Rubber 200lbs No damage

3 Soft

Rubber 300lbs No damage

4 Soft

Rubber 300lbs No damage

5 Hard

Rubber 100lbs No damage

6 Hard

Rubber 200lbs No damage

7A Hard

Rubber 300lbs Broken wheel - impact to tile but no noticeable damage

7B Hard

Rubber 300lbs No noticeable damage

8 Hard

Rubber 300lbs Impact point and cracking on

tile where wheel broke 9 Steel 50lbs Increase cracking at impact 10 Steel 100lbs No further damage 11 Steel 150lbs No further damage 12 Steel 200lbs No further damage 13 Steel 250lbs No further damage 14 Steel 300lbs Chipped tile at grout joint

Piece of originally damaged tile

missing Further opening of cracks

See Appendix for photo of broken wheel (7A) and chipped tile (14). Please note, it is very unusual to have a hard rubber wheel break. I believe the wheel was defective. Section V – Conclusions The system received a “Heavy Service” rating as per Tile Council of North America performance levels using ASTM C-627 Robinson Floor Test. Section VI – Actions This report will be forwarded to the Product Management Department so they can arrange to have a proprietary specification written.

7/30/08 For Internal Use Only Steven Fine Senior Scientist

LATICRETE INTERNATIONAL, Inc. Page 5 of 12

Appendix

Joist System with Ti Pro Board Installed

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TI Pro Board installed overhead view

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Mortar bed installed

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LATICRETE Hydro Ban™ being applied

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Tile installed with LATICRETE® 254 Platinum

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Grout installed with LATICRETE® SpectraLOCK® Grout

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Broken wheel at Cycle 7

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Chipped tile at Cycle 14