Located about 20 miles north of San Diego, Del Mar Heights, CA, was the site of two Class A office buildings, a new three-story structure and an existing four-story building that was reskinned with core improvements for energy efficiency. Project Township 14, a best-in-class corporate plaza development, was able to combine the goals of green building and single source manufacturing with the need to install a wide variety of large-format tile. On top of that, the project had a highly compressed schedule and a lot of moisture-sensitive limestone.
East County Tile and Marble of Santee, CA, installed both limestone exteriors and Building One’s interior tile. “Custom Building Products has been a supplier I’ve used for over 32 years,” said Orin Barretich, owner of East County Tile and Marble. “As always, their technical assistance on this project was extremely helpful.” Custom’s Emerald System products were employed on the project to meet the environmental standards of the builders with contributions to LEED certification and Carbon Offset Credits. Wirtz Tile did the installation on the second building
The project used approximately 20,000 square feet of 8- x 36-inch Chenille White limestone supplied by DalTile throughout the design. East County Tile asked Custom to test the limestone in their lab and recommend the best installation system. Custom’s technical services department examined samples, reviewed testing results and determined that a rapid setting mortar such as ProLite RS Premium Rapid Setting Large-Format Tile Mortar should be used. One of the factors considered was the limestone’s moisture sensitivity, which can present challenges if the tile is not set and sealed with appropriate products.
The exterior walls were prepared with Custom’s regard Liquid Waterproofing and Crack Prevention Membrane. RedGard creates a continuous moisture barrier that protects the building from water intrusion and helps prevent cracks from transmitting into the tile. Prior to setting and grouting, the limestone tiles were immersed in rapid-curing Aqua Mix Sealer’s Choice Gold to provide six-sided sealing protection.
All of the limestone was grouted with Prism Color Consistent Grout. Prism is a fast-setting, lightweight, polymer-modified grout that delivers ANSI A118.7 high-performance benefits. The interior lobbies and other common spaces were set with large-format porcelain tile measuring from 12 x 24 to 12 x 36 inches. Custom’s Large Format Tile-LFT Fortified Medium Bed Mortar was chosen for its non-slumping, lippage-eliminating properties. Since the completion of this project, Custom’s Large Format Tile-LFT Fortified Medium Bed Mortar has been discontinued and replaced with ProLite RS. The interior tile was supplied by Spec Ceramics, the 12- x 24-inch tile was Crema Europa and the 12- x 36-inch tile was Chanterelle.
As with the signature limestone veneer, Prism grout was selected to finish the porcelain tile installation in these prominent, public-facing areas. The porcelain tile and grout were sealed with Aqua Mix Penetrating Sealer to help resist stains from foot traffic.
RedGard liquid waterproofing membrane was applied prior to tiling the intermittently wet areas of the buildings. This included all bathrooms, the showers in the fitness center and an onsite gourmet café. The tile installed varied from 2- x 2-inch ceramic on the shower floors to quarry tile in the café kitchen. These smaller tiles were set with VersaBond Professional Thin-Set Mortar, an all-purpose, polymer-modified mortar. They were grouted with PolyBlend Sanded Grout for hard, dense joints that will resist shrinking and wear. Movement joints both indoors and outdoors were treated with Custom Commercial 100% Silicone Sealant, which remains permanently flexible to protect the tile. Township 14 has received Gold LEED-NC certification from the U.S. Green Building council for Building One and LEED Silver for Building Two. LEED contributing products such as Custom’s ProLite and Prism helped to earn points for this application. Installing an Emerald System also qualified the project for over 7,000 Carbon Offset Credits.
