Perfection is the trademark of F. LIST GMBH: the internationally active company from Thomasberg in Austria that plans and produces high-quality interiors for private jets, yachts and luxury homes. For his own company, Chairman Franz List also sets the highest standards in terms of style, high-grade materials and a modern atmosphere. The newly constructed company restaurant “franz”, with its futuristic design, bears witness to these standards. The bright, open room with large glass areas offers space for 220 people in exclusive surroundings. The floor covering in the 1,400 square metres of the restaurant is formed by 240 x 120 centimetre slabs which are only six millimetres thick.

List awarded the contract for this demanding floor covering to the tiling department (Keramik Bau Weiz) of building company Lieb Bau Weiz GmbH. For Department Manager Hansjürgen Kulmer, the main focus was not only on proper tile laying but also on the planning of the project. To ensure that the team could lay the tiles, weighing some 60 kilograms each, without any risk to their health, a special laying crane was used. As regards tile fixing materials, Keramik Bau Weiz has already opted for PCI products for many years. Especially when laying large-format tiles, reliable, high-quality products are essential for the safe completion of the project. “In order to lay these large formats reliably, with full-area bedding, and create a durable floor covering for F/LIST, we needed a tile adhesive combining a long working time with fast setting,” Hansjürgen Kulmer explains.

The foundation: a very smooth, very level substrate

The only substrate preparation needed in the company restaurant was priming; levelling was not necessary. The product selected was PCI Gisogrund 404, a solvent-free, very low-emission special primer with a violet signal colour ensuring even application. The high adhesive tensile strength of the primer ensures firm bonding to the substrate. The primer also protects the tile adhesive applied later against excessively rapid drying on absorbent substrates and prevents the formation of shrinkage cracks.

The challenge: laying large tiles with full-area bedding

The tilers used PCI Carrament grey tile adhesive with PCI Lastoflex polymer-modified additive to lay the large fully vitrified slabs. The medium-bed mortar, which is deformable and has a creamy, plastic consistency, is easy to spread with a large notched trowel. The buttering-floating procedure was used to lay the large-format tiles without air inclusions and cavities. PCI Carrament was combed onto the substrate using a 15-millimetre notched trowel and the slabs were back-buttered with a smooth layer of adhesive. As PCI Carrament effectively binds water into the crystal structure, it is especially-well-suited for large formats. The fast setting of the adhesive ensures rapid progress with laying: the floor covering can already be walked on and grouted after six hours and subjected to full loading after about one day.

The laying crane meant that work in the company restaurant could be completed faster and more easily. Especially the lifting, carrying and positioning of large-format tiles pose a health risk for tilers. Using machinery, the work involved in the buttering-floating procedure can also be shortened. The craftsmen do not need to turn the slabs over with considerable manual effort for back-buttering and it is also not necessary to apply vacuum lifting devices to the front of the tiles. The position of tiles that have already been inserted into the adhesive bed can also be corrected easily without any strain on the craftsmen’s backs. Working and waiting times are shortened, with significantly lower physical stress.

The icing on the cake: grouting with premium mortar

Despite their low share in the overall surface area, the joints also play a key role in the appearance of a floor covering, even if large-format tiles are used. The project owner and tiling contractor selected PCI Nanofug Premium, a joint grout that features a fine surface and brilliant colours. Furthermore, a floor covering in a company restaurant is subject to considerable stress and must withstand frequent cleaning. PCI Nanofug Premium features the “easy-to-clean” effect and is also extremely resistant to attack by acidic household cleaning products. There was a feature that was especially appreciated by the team headed by master tiler Hansjürgen Kulmer: “Thanks to a working time of about 40 minutes, PCI Nanofug Premium is very convenient to use. Nevertheless, it sets rapidly without hardening on the tile surface,” Kulmer reports. “We were extremely satisfied with the tile fixing products we had selected. The tile adhesive and joint grout set rapidly at the same time as allowing an unusually long working time. They are also in line with the high standards of the building owner and are very-low-emission products that take into account requirements for a healthy living environment.”