What do you do with a 29’ long wall with a vaulted ceiling? -Install 3' x 10' Panels

It is hard to imagine what my wall looked like just a few days ago, now that I have my Laminam porcelain oxide series (Nero) panels up on my wall—what an amazing transformation!

First of all I have to thank Jose’ and his crew from Bryant Tile and Marble, Inc.; West Palm Beach, FL for a job well done.  I was truly amazed how they were able to make these 3’ x 10’ look like a work of art on my wall—requiring a great deal of skill and patience.  Since these thin-body large format tiles are relatively new to the marketplace, many consumers are not aware of all of the steps required to ensure that a panel of that size is flat and aligned with the adjoining tiles.  To give you an idea of the size of these tiles, typically a 24” x 24” tile is considered to be large format, but it would take approximately 100 of these tiles to set my 400sq.ft.wall—contrast this with only 13 or 14 full 3’ x 10’ panels.  Now you can begin to appreciate that there was very little ‘fudge factor’ in making any adjustments—if the wall was not ‘true’ or had a lot of high or low spots.  Let me walk you through a quick overview of the installation steps required to end up with a happy customer—ME!

Depending on the type of substrate you are starting with, in my case it was painted drywall, with patching compound residue left on the surface, it is key to provide a surface that the mortar can bond and grab to both chemically and mechanically.  MAPEI’s ECO Prim Grip was the perfect primer for my wall.

As they began installing my tile, I really got a first hand appreciation of the ledger board row of tiles in ensuring a true reference point for installing the rest of the tiles—giving an aesthetically pleasing finish to the entire project.  As you will note in the photo, it was important that the Ultralite S2 Mortar was troweled on the entire surface, both the wall and tile, to maximize the contact from the back of tile to the substrate without any voids under these large tiles. 

Even something that might seem simple takes great skill, such as cutting in an electrical outlet or fitting each panel to a sloped ceiling that started at 17’ and ended in a span of 29’ at 10’.

All of this had to be figured into the overall 50% offset brick pattern while maintaining consistent grout joint lines and ensuring no lippage from tile to tile while setting.

And finally, since the allure of using these tiles is a more seamless look, having a minimal joint size (1/16”) using MAPEI’s Flexcolor CQ (cocoa) gave it that polished look, tying all of the panels together.  Wonder how well this wall fit in with my décor?—check out the upcoming article in MAPEI’s Realta 21, “MAPEI’s Ultralite™ family: Top contender in the lightweight division”  

I hope that taking a look at my installation, helped to inspire you to the limitless possibilities available to both the residential and commercial sector—looking beyond paint or wallpaper for your next wall project!