APPOINTMENTS & COMPANY NEWS; STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS 67
Vent-Axia backs BEAMA’s Climate Commitment
Vent-Axia is strengthening its Net-Zero commitments by supporting the BEAMA 2050 Connected Climate Commitment. Signing the Climate Commitment builds on long-standing work to reduce its environmental impact and support more sustainable manufacturing. The company aims to achieve Net Zero by 2040, a decade ahead of the UK Government’s
target. Vent-Axia’s strategy is built around three pillars: Product – Engineer Sustainable Solutions; Planet – Improve Environmental Performance; and People – Connect People Together.
0344 856 0590
www.vent-axia.com Protection designed for the life of your house
Agrément certifi ed compliant sustainable solutions satisfying Building Regulations, NHBC & LABC directives form part of the extensive range of protective preformed cavity trays from Cavity Trays Ltd. Claiming the longest-established proven track record unmatched by other tray specialist, the company designs and manufactures standard
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cavitytrays.com NEWS FEATURE
Take advantage of the design opportunity in external porcelain tiles
Nick Bratt, national technical sales manager at tile adhesive
manufacturer Palace Chemicals says that the exterior porcelain tile sector provides a popular design opportunity for architects, but correct installation is key to achieving a good result.
T
he 20 mm thick exterior porcelain tile sector is currently one of the fastest-growing areas of the tiling market. Smaller housebuilders are leading this trend, using high-quality outdoor fi nishes to differentiate their offer from their competitors. Traditional concrete slabs are increasingly seen as outdated, offering limited aesthetic appeal and posing ongoing challenges in terms of maintenance and cleaning. From an architect’s point of view, the use of porcelain tiles allows for much more freedom in design, colour and style. The tiles can mimic natural stone or have any other aesthetic effect, but with the added benefi ts of being porcelain, which cleans more easily, is easier to maintain and offers better slip resistance than pavers. The trend is gaining signifi cant traction among landscape professionals and is a hot topic on social media. Timber decking has increasingly been superseded by composite or porcelain alternatives, driven primarily by their durability and longer lifecycle.
The impervious nature of porcelain tiles does however necessitate a more considered installation approach. The convention is that you have to lay a minimum of 100 mm compacted hardcore, with a 50 mm bed of mortar and then the back of the porcelain has to be primed with a slurry bond coat to create a key between the tile and the mortar. However there are systems on the market, such as Palace Chemicals’ own Rock- Tite system, which do all of that, but will also allow you to reduce your mortar bed depth to 25 mm, meaning less dig-out, less mixing and less material – and you also get a guarantee over the whole system. From an architect’s point of view, the design possibilities are endless. If you have dwarf walls, for example, in an outdoor hospitality area, which has been laid with porcelain tiles, you can have corresponding and matching 10 mm tiles on the vertical surfaces. For fi xing you use an S1 tile adhesive which is suitable for outdoor use. All tile fi xing has to be solid bedded (dot and dab is not acceptable). It is important to stop moisture getting behind the tile and causing damage. An SBR primer should also be used in order to create a key between the mortar bed and the tile vertical substrate. If porcelain tiles are installed correctly, from a design point of view the potential is enormous, enabling the fi nish of the whole area to be completed in any colour and texture that you want!
Supplied by Nick Bratt, national technical sales manager for Palace Chemicals
ADF APRIL/MAY 2026
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