Masonry and Tile Setting Information and Facts
Did your contractor, kitchen designer or architect mention the characteristics of that stone or tile? How to manage an absorbent marble or stone on your kitchen floor or countertop.
Tile sealant toxicity
An extraordinary patio but do you have any problems with rain runoff or puddles?
The care and feeding of high fire, low fire and unglazed tiles.
“It’s your bed and now you’re going to have to lie in it.” This expression is particularly important if you are a tile. Mortar versus mastic.
Grout additives explained
A shower has to do more than look good. Why the new more elastic shower pan materials make more sense versus the old hot mop method.
Beautiful fireplace but how well does it work? The design of the flue or chimney, the ratio of length to opening; and the shape and orientation of the shelf are the fundamentals of good fireplace design. There is simply no reason that a well-designed fireplace can’t be more efficient and draw properly if these principles are considered when developing your plans for a new masonry fireplace.
In seismically rich California these Richter scale forces must influence the design of any fireplace, tile or masonry project.
| Richter | TNT | Example |
| 2.0 | 1 ton | Large Quarry or Mine Blast |
| 2.5 | 4.6 tons | |
| 3.0 | 29 tons | |
| 3.5 | 73 tons | |
| 4.0 | 1,000 tons | Small Nuclear Weapon |
| 4.5 | 5,100 tons | Average Tornado (total energy) |
| 5.0 | 32,000 tons | |
| 5.5 | 80,000 tons | Little Skull Mt., NV Quake, 1992 |
| 6.0 | 1 million tons | Double Spring Flat, NV Quake, 1994 |
| 6.5 | 5 million tons | Northridge, CA Quake, 1994 |
| 7.0 | 32 million tons | Hyogo-Ken Nanbu, Japan Quake, 1995; Largest Thermonuclear Weapon |
| 7.5 | 160 million tons | Landers, CA Quake, 1992 |
| 8.0 | 1 billion tons | San Francisco, CA Quake, 1906 |
Although 160 trillion tons of dynamite is a frightening yield of energy the
Earth receives that amount in sunlight every day.
To read more on chimney safety and considerations follow these links
http://www.csia.org/
http://search.usfa.fema.gov/query.html?col=usfa1+usfa2&style=st1&qt=fireplace
http://www.heartheducation.org/
Fireplace efficiency facts can be found at this link http://www.woodheat.org/