Flexible ceramic tiles are a cladding material for building facades and interiors, characterized by pronounced flexibility, durability, and lightness.
Facade Installation with Flexible Ceramic Tiles
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Mounting Wall
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Primer (base coat) for walls
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Mineral wool adhesive
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Mineral wool (thickness 50–200mm, density 135-160 kg/m³)
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Base reinforcing layer
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Fiberglass mesh (160 g/m²)
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Surface leveling layer
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Adhesive primer (base coat)
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Cement adhesive ( C2TES1, ISO 13007 )
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Flexible ceramic tile
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Metal dowel with thermal cap
Wall Surface Preparation
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Before applying flexible ceramic tiles, the wall geometry must be assessed. A control profile should be installed along the building perimeter at the lower edge of the tiles. The wall surface should be checked for evenness in all directions, cleaned of dust, and primed for quality adhesion.
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The vertical and horizontal alignment of the wall should be corrected. Four markers are installed (2 at the top, 2 at the bottom), and two parallel vertical strings are pulled.
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Distances of 6 cm from the wall are marked (for 50 mm thick mineral wool) and fixed with spacers.
Applying Mineral Wool and Penoplex
- If the weather is favorable, with no wind or rain, it is possible to strike the dowels or anchors 3-4 days after the plasterboard installation.
- It is recommended to check the flatness of the plasterboard surface with a level. Any raised areas on the surface should be smoothed with the appropriate tool, and respiratory protection should be worn, such as a mask.
- The heads of the anchors should not protrude from the plasterboard surface. Six anchors are sufficient per square meter.
Steps for applying the base reinforced installation layer
- Apply a thin layer of cement adhesive onto the plasterboard.
- Lay the reinforcement mesh (≈160 g/m²) on top and press it as deeply as possible into the cement adhesive. The mesh should be laid continuously so that each subsequent piece overlaps the previous one by at least 10 cm along the vertical line.
- The next layer of cement adhesive should be applied in a way that fully covers the mesh.
- The corners of all door and window openings should be reinforced with plastic corner beads, to which mesh is attached, with a width of at least 10 cm.
- The corner beads should be covered with cement adhesive along with the mesh strips.
- Next, mesh segments of at least 20×30 centimeters should be applied along the perimeter and covered with a thin layer of cement adhesive.
- The wall, smoothed with cement adhesive, should be treated with a special primer after 3-4 days. The wall must be cleaned of dust, and the primer should be prepared according to the instructions.
- The primer should be applied with an appropriate roller to ensure an even distribution across the surface, achieving high-quality adhesion.
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Apply cement adhesive to the back of the tile using a trowel.
- It is important that during the application of the cement adhesive, it is spread on the wall with horizontal lines, which should be done using the appropriate notched tool.
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After aligning the tile horizontally and vertically, for better adhesion, it should be pressed firmly against the wall surface using the appropriate tool, which has a rubberized working surface.
- When joining flexible ceramic tiles at the wall corner, they should be pre-cut with a bevel at a 30-45° angle, which can be done using a corner grinder.
- After tiling the wall, plastic spacers should be installed between the tiles, taking into account the desired joint width.
