apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Ceramic tile facades are extremely common on homes and commercial buildings in Japan - I wonder why we don't use them more here in the US instead of wood/aluminum/vinyl siding or cheesy stucco?

that is gorgeous! I can just imagine how lovely that shimmering gold is as you drive by...

I wonder though, about freeze/thaw cycles in Northern climates -- i.e., you don't have much thinset (or whatever product the manufacturer recommends) holding it onto the surface, and cracking is bound to occur.

In this picture for example, the tiles are used in a rather protected location...can't tell where it is though (california?)

"I wonder though, about freeze/thaw cycles in Northern climates -- i.e., you don't have much thinset (or whatever product the manufacturer recommends) holding it onto the surface, and cracking is bound to occur. "

Freeze/thaw degradation only occurs when water infiltrates materials, then freezes and expands. Grout and mortar used for tile installation is not much different from the mortar used on brick or stone walls - and although they do require repointing every couple of decades, you don't see them falling apart every spring...

This home is in Boulder, Colorado. I was lucky enough to tour it during a Boulder Solar Tour weekend. It is stunning.

Other work by Vast has been featured in Dwell Magazine.

what a handsome dog.

what is the color of those tiles? i don't see a match on the fantastix page but i love that color!

That's such an interesting idea.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

bebsef --

glass mosaic tiles are typically only 1/8" thick, and so the thinset is only 3/16th" -- making them a very thin sheath of an exterior finish and thus far more fragile than solid brick.

It wouldn't take much to get a crack which would allow water to enter; cracks are almost inevitable. This case seems somewhat similar to that of brick and stone cladding, which have a high failure rate in comparison to solid brick (and they too are much thicker than a wall of mosaic glass tile).

You wouldn't tend to re-thinset the same glass mosaic tiles as you would re-mortar bricks -- it would be an extremely expensive undertaking unless you are dealing with a priceless work of art -- it would be cheaper to simply replace them.

I am hard-pressed to think of any examples of exterior glass mosaic tile murals in northern climates; can only think of ones in warm climates...

I'm not saying it can't work, but I think it is pretty risky...

"glass mosaic tiles are typically only 1/8" thick, and so the thinset is only 3/16th" -- making them a very thin sheath of an exterior finish and thus far more fragile than solid brick."

And that's the point: If one installed these outside as if one were putting up a kitchen backsplash using thinset, there's bound to be material failure. Any tile used as exterior cladding would have to be installed using a mortar to ensure a durable bond.

As I mentioned above, the Japanese have been using ceramic tile as exterior cladding for decades - it's durable in all kinds of weather and is practically maintenance free.

Pixie, she's/he's an Australian Cattle Dog aka Blue Heeler. I have a girl doggy named Leah who looks just like him/her. She is gorgeous and loyal and energetic.

And an after thought... they also come in orangey-red rather than his/her colour blue (Red Heeler)