Oceanside Glass Tile Mosaics Poor Installation Practices

Cracks in glass tile mosaics are sometimes the result of poor installation practices.

The exterior of this spa experienced failure of the glass tile mosaic installation due to poor shotcrete (aka: gunite) installation and the lack of interior waterproofing.

Symptoms

The homeowner complained about cracks through the exterior of the Oceanside Glass Tile Mosaics veneer.  However, a close inspection of the glass tile revealed that there were signs of water migration from behind the tile.  

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Poor installation caused vertical cracks in Oceanside Glass Mosaic Tile.

Efflorescence is visible in cracks between tiles.  In every location of a vertical crack in the field of the tiles, they just so happened to align with the spa jets on the interior of the spa.

It was suspected that the shotcrete process failed to fully encapsulate the myriad of plumbing behind the spa jet, resulting in a void within the wall.  Poor supervision and preparation practices failed to identify these voids.

Once filled with water, the spa began to leak.  Water seeped around the circumference of the pipes, and collected in these voids.  The voids also created weak spots on the exterior of the spa.

Eventually, the water made it to the exterior, highlighting small cracks with efflorescence.

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Hollow pocked in shotcrete cause Oceanside Glass Tile Mosaic failure.

An exploratory hole behind one of the jets confirmed a large pocket of loose shotcrete.

Quality Control

Had the pool builder supervised the shotcrete installation and exercised quality control, these voids would have never occurred.

Additionally, quality control inspections and shell preparations failed to identify or seal these areas. 



Paolo Benedetti, SWD 
Aquatic Artist, Watershape Consultant, Expert Witness, International Construction Management Contact the author at: info@aquatictechnology.com or 408-776-8220 "Creating water as art."™ 
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa© ©www.aquatictechnology.com 
 All rights reserved.

Cracked Ocenaside Glass Tile Mosaics - Poor Installation

Sometimes recycled content is not to blame for the cracking of glass tile mosaics.  

Sometimes it is an installation that fails to follow the installation procedures set forth by the manufacturer, TCNA and ANSI.

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A crack in Oceanside glass tile mosaics due to installation errors.

 

This installation on the exterior of a round spa cracked due to the lack of movement joints (expansion joints).  As the glass tile heats up in the sun, they expand.  The rectangular shape of these tiles will cause them to expand more in the longitudinal direction.  This creates a lot of stress.

Glass does not handle stress well.  It cracks.

Had the installer provided vertical joints at regular intervals, and isolation joints at the top and bottom (where the tile abuts the coping and deck), this installation probably would have had only a few cracks limited to individual tiles.

Paolo Benedetti, SWD 
Aquatic Artist, Watershape Consultant, Expert Witness, International Construction Management Contact the author at: info@aquatictechnology.com or 408-776-8220 "Creating water as art."™ 
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa© ©www.aquatictechnology.com 
All rights reserved.