Movement Joints - The Right One For the Job (Part Two)
The reason there are so many different systems available, is to ensure there is a joint which is suitable for every conceivable individual application.
Most tilers know movement joints must be installed in certain areas and positions to prevent tiles or grout from cracking, and in some cases, the tiles tenting and becoming debonded from the substrate. But certain features make a particular joint absolutely right for one application, and wrong for another.
Some joints which are designed and engineered specifically for residential, offices, or light commercial use just wouldn't be able to cope with the mechanical stresses of heavy duty applications such as airport terminals and railway stations, for instance. For those sort of uses, you would need a much stronger profile which is also capable of withstanding greater degrees of shear stresses.
Here, we look at a selection of movement joints covering a wide variety of different applications. Figure 1 features an aluminium profile with a central movement zone. When installed, the visible profile is 6mm wide, which corresponds to the width of the average grout joint. This type of profile is suitable for commercial and heavy duty applications.