Natural stone continues to be specified for its appearance and durability. However, it also brings its own set of challenges including the additional care required to ensure it lasts a lifetime as well as its ongoing maintenance to ensure long-term performance.
This feature brings together a range of perspectives on working with natural stone, including product – led approaches and practical advice on cleaning and maintenance.
Installing natural stone tiles – look no further than BAL
STONE tiles are a popular choice for tiled areas in almost all internal areas, as they add a touch of elegance and sophistication to any space.
When installing natural stone tiles, they require special care and attention to ensure they last for many years. This is where BAL tiling products come in. They offer a range of products that make the installation of natural stone tiles easier and more efficient, says the company.
One of the top reasons to use BAL tiling products for natural stone installation is said to be its quality. BAL says it has a reputation for producing products that are designed to last over its 60 years as one of the UK’s market-leaders for tiling systems. Their products are described to be made from the best materials and undergo rigorous testing to ensure they meet the highest standards. This means that when you use BAL products, you can be confident that your natural stone tiles will be installed correctly and will last for many years, says the company.
BAL offers various products that are designed to meet the needs of different types of natural stone tiles. This means that no matter what type of natural stone tile you are installing, there’s a BAL product that’s perfect for the job, says the company. For example, BAL have a range of adhesives that are specifically designed to work with different types of stone tiles – including BAL XL Floor One.
‘BAL XL Floor One is a suitable choice for those looking to install natural stone tiles. It’s a high-performance, flexible, and semi-rapid setting tile adhesive that offers bond strength. It’s also specially formulated to meet the needs of large format and heavy tiles, with several key features and benefits including 25mm max bed depths (perfect for uncalibrated tiles) and longer open and working times (45 minutes and 90 minutes respectively).
This gives you longer time to cut, handle and move large format natural stone tiles – without worrying the adhesive will go off in the bucket or skin over on the floor’, says the company.
Additionally, BAL XL Floor One is described to be easy to mix and apply, including the ability to be poured over a large area, allowing for a stress-free installation process.
The larger bed depths also make for easier tiling when installing externally direct onto tampered concrete beds.
In addition to its adhesives, BAL says it also offers a range of grouts suitable for natural stone – including BAL Micromax3 ECO. Rapid-drying in 2-3 hours, Micromax3 ECO is formulated with rapid-hardening chemistry, where the water is maintained within the grout, ensuring a more consistent finish, and eliminating the risk of water staining on natural stone. Easier clean-off and less haze, even on textured tiles or stone, make for easier grouting, says the company.
If you need to protect your tiles from staining by pigmented grouts, use BAL Protective Sealer. A water-based temporary sealer, it protects surfaces against discolouration and can be removed by washing-off after grouting.
If you are planning to install natural stone tiles, using BAL products will ensure that your luxury tiling will remain elegant and sophisticated – and guaranteed to last for many years, says the company. It adds: ‘With BAL, you’re installing value.’
www.bal-adhesives.com
