A 1600×3200 slab covers more than five square metres and weighs over a hundred kilos. Installing it is a handling job first and a tiling job second — plan the lift before you open the adhesive.
Large-format walls fail for boring reasons: a slab that flexed during the lift, adhesive that skinned before contact, or a wall with no room to move. None of these are material defects, and all of them are preventable.
Use a two-person suction frame rated for the slab's weight, and keep the slab vertical in transport — never flat on a trolley over a bumpy floor. One flex across the middle can crack a thin slab before it ever reaches the wall. Plan the route: door widths, lift sizes and turning circles, before delivery day.
Large slabs do not forgive a wavy wall. Check flatness with a 2 m straightedge and level or patch until it is true; a hollow behind the middle of a slab becomes a drum sound at best and a crack at worst. The substrate must also be clean, dry and primed to the adhesive maker's instructions.
Butter the back of the slab fully as well as the wall, and use a notched trowel in one direction so air can escape. Spot-fixing (dabs of adhesive) leaves voids behind a large slab; the first impact lands on an unsupported point. Press from the centre out and check with a suction cup or tap test for hollow spots.
Adhesive alone suits most interior walls. For ventilated facades, high walls, ceilings and seismic zones, add mechanical anchors or a rail system to the engineer's specification — adhesive is the bond, the anchor is the safety net. Follow local building rules, not habit.
Large formats move with temperature. Respect structural joints, add perimeter joints, and never grout a slab tight into a corner, a ceiling or a dissimilar material. Seal movement joints with a flexible sealant, not rigid grout.
Tell us the wall size and fixing method and we will confirm which slab formats suit it.
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