“The vast majority of commercial tile installations, and a significant percentage of residential ones, are bonded directly to concrete slabs. This means when concrete workers are finishing slabs slated for tile, they’re forming the tile installers’ substrate. The flatness of these slabs — the concrete installer’s workmanship, effectively — can be measured in different ways. Herein lies the challenge for design professionals, general contractors, and concrete and tile contractors. Concrete industry requirements for slab flatness differ from tile industry requirements. Many slabs that meet the former don’t meet the latter, and specifications typically don’t call out which trade is responsible for bringing the concrete into tolerance with tile industry flatness requirements, tolerances that are in place in order for the tile contractor to be able to provide a flat installation. “

Click the link below to read more!

“2013 TCNA Handbook Addresses Concrete Slabs That Don’t Measure Up”
By: Stephanie Samulski
Tile Magazine
July 1, 2013

Link for more information: 

http://www.tile-magazine.com/articles/87395-tcna-handbook-addresses-concrete-slabs-that-dont-measure-up