Installation Guide

cm) tile] to balance the layout. After you have balanced the room to achieve larger pieces at the borders, make two
new perpendicular lines on the subfloor intersecting at the new starting point near the center of the room.
Normally you will apply adhesive to 1/4 or 1/2 of the room area at a time so that you can start the installation where
the guidelines intersect.
Begin at the starting point and install the tile along the chalk lines, laying the field area first in step fashion.
Complete installation of full tile in all quadrants of the room. Do not slide the tile into place. Press tile firmly into
the adhesive.
NOTE: Tile spacers do a very good job of maintaining tile alignment; however, the installer must also re-
check for proper alignment by using measurements or creating additional lines on the subfloor about every 4'
(every 3 rows of tile) to ensure straight lines and rows of tile. This is very important on larger installations.
Next, cut and fit the border tile at the perimeter. Mechanical tile cutters are available for cutting larger format tile.
The score and snap method of using a utility knife to score through the wear surface also works well. Be sure to
allow for the grout joint and a 1/8" (3.2 mm) gap at perimeter walls when cutting the border pieces.
For irregular cuts, make a pattern out of Kraft paper or cardboard and transfer it to the tile. Score along the markings
and snap off small pieces. Ceramic tile nippers or a coping saw are useful in making more intricate cutouts for
complicated fittings.
After the ALTERNA is installed, remove all tile spacers and immediately roll the entire floor with a 100-lb. roller.
Roll the floor diagonally across the tile joints in both directions. Use a hand roller in confined areas where the large
floor roller will not reach, such as under toe kicks.
For Alterna Reserve Installation
 Open several cartons
 Refer to room layout to mark quadrants
 Sort product into groups of similar design and color
 For the best results, dry layout the first quadrant by randomly selecting and placing tiles from each group
 Once desired look is achieved pick up tiles and lay adhesive to quarter of the room
 Repeat in additional quadrants
 Follow installation instructions below
Applying Adhesive/Spacers
 Apply adhesive to a quarter or half of the room area at one time
NOTE: adhesive MUST be applied with the recommended trowel notching and the adhesive MUST be
DRY TO THE TOUCH before installing the tile. None of the adhesive should transfer to your fingers this
will depend on room temperature, humidity and airflow
 Do NOT use fans on adhesive/ substrate to accelerate drying
 Standard room balancing and layout procedures have to be followed prior to installation of tile
 Lay tile spacers 1/16˝ to 1/4˝ to allow for grouted installation. Do not use tile spacers if installing without
grout.
For Alterna Plank Installation
 Whenever possible, plan the layout so that the joints in the planks do not fall on top of joints or seams in the
existing substrate. The end joints of the planks should be staggered a minimum of 6" apart. Do not install
over expansion joints.
 To minimize repeats always work out of three cartons at time.
 Determine which direction the planks will run. Find the center of each of the end walls (the walls
perpendicular to the long dimension of the planks) and place a pencil mark on the floor. Connect these
points by striking a chalk line down the center of the room. Do a dry layout of planks from the center line to
the wall running parallel to the long direction of the planks to determine the width of the last row of planks.