A new French villa-style home in Bend, Ore. became the ideal setting for a stunning outdoor pool and spa, complete with a custom honey bee mosaic. For the pool and spa tile installation, the homeowners chose NTCA Member, Joppe Aguirre of Cascadia Tile Company LLC, in Redmond, Ore., who came highly recommended by their home designer. Known for his precision and attention to detail, Aguirre founded Cascadia Tile in 2019 to provide exceptional tile installation to Central Oregon. Starting his tile career in 2006, he honed his craft by learning from the best-of-the-best in the industry and continues to challenge himself today to improve and broaden his skill set.
The French villa owners decided to add a custom mosaic to enhance their luxury pool. Aguirre, in his typical straightforward style, informed them that the mosaic installation would be a new experience for him, but he would seek expert help to ensure success. He discovered an upcoming mosaic class taught by Angie Halford Ré, an award-winning mosaic artist and artisan member of NTCA. The class, held in Ré’s South Salt Lake City studio, Unique Mosaics LLC, was sponsored by TEC® tile installation materials. (See the story in the Business section to learn more about Angie’s workshops.)
Like Aguirre, Ré mastered her mosaic craft by working with the most skilled tile setters in the country. Her classes on mosaic techniques, tips and tricks for success are one of the ways she gives back to the industry and ensures the art form – her passion – has a bright future. During the day-long immersive training and after, Aguirre impressed Ré.
“Joppe was a star pupil in my tile professionals’ mosaic masterclass,” she remarked. “His decades of tile experience, artistic talent and motivation made him shine in Salt Lake. I’m glad that my class helped his first mosaic – the bee – go well in Oregon. It’s so rewarding to see others gain the confidence and skills needed to succeed after attending the training.”
Aguirre praised Ré’s generosity in sharing her extensive knowledge to fast-track his mosaic education. TEC® Digital Technical Manager Chris Kain also contributed to Aguirre’s growth by introducing him and the other attendees to TEC® TotalFlex® XMS Tile Adhesive, a highly-versatile and durable ready-to-use adhesive.
Kain explained, “We sponsored Angie’s training class to support her excellence in tile education. She is a master at mosaic art and installation techniques. We also want everyone to try our game-changing TotalFlex® XMS Adhesive, a unique modified silane adhesive formulated and fully warranted for challenging outdoor and submerged tile conditions.”
For Aguirre, the TotalFlex XMS product was a perfect fit for the French villa’s outdoor pool, spa and his first mosaic project. He left Ré’s training feeling confident that he had a successful process to follow, great tools to use and resources to help him successfully complete the bee mosaic.
Creating the bee
The French villa homeowners chose the honey bee for their mosaic, inspired by its symbolic significance in France for many centuries. For instance, Napoleon chose the bee as a symbol of France to represent resurrection, immortality and the unity of the French people, linking it to the Merovingian kings and the idea of a renewed monarchy.
Using a bee drawing from a graphic designer, Aguirre followed Ré’s process in his Cascadia office, enlarging the bee drawing to the mosaic’s final size of 4’x 5.5′. He placed clear contact paper sticky-side-up over the drawing. Then he carefully cut and placed mosaic
1″x1″ black, white and gold glass tiles, according to the bee design, on the contact paper. Once the layout was perfected, Aguirre applied mosaic tape on top of the tiles to secure them. He then cut the bee mosaic – now sandwiched between contact paper and tape – into five pieces for transport to the villa’s pool.
Preparing the pool, installing the tile
The pool’s gunite substrate was ready for Aguirre to apply a waterproofing and crack-isolation membrane where the tile would be installed. He chose TEC® HydraFlexTM Waterproofing Crack Isolation Membrane, a product that exceeds ANSI 118.10 and 118.12 standards. Aguirre applied the HydraFlex membrane under the bee mosaic and the waterline tiles of the large 50’ x 30’ pool; it bridges control joints, such as those needed above and below the waterline tiles. Aguirre followed the TCNA F125 full coverage method to protect the integrity of the substrate from chlorinated pool water. The mosaic could be installed shortly after the membrane application, since TEC HydraFlex cures in just one to three hours.
Next, Aguirre positioned the bee to ensure the proper location on the pool bottom and installed the mosaic, waterline and spa tiles with ready-to-use TEC® TotalFlex® XMS Tile Adhesive. The adhesive has exceptional grab and bond strength, yet can be repositioned for 30-45 minutes, depending on conditions, which makes it perfect for intricate mosaic installations. The proprietary formulation of TotalFlex XMS withstands submersion in chlorinated water and outdoor temperature fluctuations from -30°F to 194°F, so the Bend area’s typical annual temperature range of 23°F to 82°F would pose no problem for the installation.
To apply the pool and spa tiles, Aguirre troweled the adhesive onto the prepared substrate. TotalFlex XMS is easy to trowel, offering significant time-savings by requiring only one-side application, even for very large tiles. TotalFlex XMS enhances the transparency of the glass with its white color, and its flexibility – once cured – accommodates the expansion and contraction of glass.
Installing the bee!
For the installation of the bee mosaic on the pool floor, Aguirre removed the contact paper from the five mosaic pieces and aligned each section of the bee mural onto the troweled adhesive. He set the 160’ of 1″x1″ blue glass waterline tiles. The grand 10.5’x10′ spa was fully tiled with the same 1″x1″ blue glass tile and culminated in a stunning infinite edge water feature. Since TEC TotalFlex XMS Adhesive technology is moisture-curing – using the existing moisture in the air and substrate to set – it was ready to grout in just 12 hours.
Once the adhesive cured, Aguirre removed the mosaic tape on the bee mosaic. Following TEC instructions, he carefully cleaned any TotalFlex XMS from the mosaic, waterline and spa tiles. He finished the tiled areas with epoxy grout, as recommended for pools and spas. The pool’s tank was completed with blue plaster interspersed with iridescent beads, applied flush to the waterline tiles and mosaic’s borders.
Aguirre was enthusiastic about the outcome of his first mosaic art project. “This project went really well,” he said. “Angie’s training made the mosaic work go smoothly, and the bee looks fantastic. Using TEC TotalFlex XMS was easy, saved installation time and ensured the mosaic, waterline and spa tile installation will last a long time. I’ll keep using it.”
Aguirre plans to continue developing his mosaic skills and incorporating mosaics into Cascadia’s tile offerings. As with most projects, Aguirre completed the French villa’s pool and spa on time, but this project’s finish had a special significance. The new water features were ready, right on time to be the spectacular backdrop for the wedding celebration of the homeowners’ son.
