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.

 (click on the image to enlarge it)

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."™ 
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