XL wall and floor tiles 60×120

A long tile behaves differently from a 30×30 or 60×60 square. Porcelain bends slightly during firing, usually in the middle of the long side. On a small tile your eye never notices it. Over 120 cm, even a small bow turns into lippage: one tile edge sits higher than the one next to it. On a floor you feel it under your feet. On a wall you see it when light falls across the surface from the side.

The second difference is adhesive coverage. Air pockets form easily under a large tile. If the adhesive does not cover almost the whole back, the tile sounds hollow when tapped. Under load, for example under a cabinet foot or after something heavy is dropped on it, it can crack.

The third difference is handling. One person cannot safely carry or lay a 60×120 tile. The work is done in pairs, with suction lifters and often a carrying frame. Cutting needs a long tile cutter and diamond tools. All of this affects both the pace of work and the result.

Where 60×120 is used most often:

• floors in living rooms, hallways and kitchens, often with underfloor heating
• bathroom walls where the owner wants as few joints as possible
• kitchen splashbacks between the base and wall units
• a continuous look from the interior to a terrace, if the manufacturer offers the same design in an outdoor thickness

Besides this item, the NUMIQ price list has two related items, each with its own page. It is worth picking the right one, because each assumes a different method and a different level of difficulty.

• Wall and floor tiles up to 60 cm: common sizes such as 30×60, 60×60 or smaller. One person can carry a tile, the substrate does not need to be as perfect, cuts are shorter and the work goes faster. If your tile is 60×60, it belongs here, not under XL.
• XL format wall and floor tiles 60×120 (this page): one specific long format. It needs a flatter substrate, back-buttering, levelling clips and two people working together. On walls, the weight of the tiles and the strength of the substrate have to be planned for.
• Porcelain tiles over 60 cm: other large formats such as 80×80, 100×100, 120×120 or large thin slabs. The largest sizes need a carrying frame, more people and sometimes different cutting tools. If your tile is another size above 60 cm, look there.

Why does 60×120 have its own item? In practice it is a very common XL format, and tilers have a settled routine for it. It is clearly harder than 60×60, but a normal crew can still lay it without the special equipment the largest slabs require.

With XL tiles, preparation matters more than the laying itself. Most complaints start in the substrate, not in the tile.

Flatness and strength of the substrate

The screed or plaster must be flat. For large formats the usual recommendation is a deviation of no more than roughly 2 mm under a 2 m straightedge. The tile and adhesive manufacturers give the exact values. You cannot level out major unevenness with adhesive. A very thick adhesive bed shrinks as it dries, and the tile can end up wavy. On floors a self-levelling compound is often applied first. On walls the plaster is straightened, or moisture-resistant plasterboard is used.

The substrate must be sound, free of dust and without flaking layers. Sometimes you can keep old tiles and tile over them. With 60×120 this only makes sense if the old tiles are firm, flat and do not sound hollow anywhere.

Moisture in the screed

New screed has to dry out. A cement screed usually needs several weeks depending on its thickness. Anhydrite (calcium sulphate) screed is even more sensitive to moisture. The tiler should measure residual moisture with a meter rather than judge it by eye. With underfloor heating, the system is heated up and cooled down before tiling, following the heating manufacturer's commissioning schedule. If this step is skipped, the screed can keep moving under the finished tiles.

Setting-out plan and coordination with other trades

With long tiles it pays to draw the layout in advance. The aim is to avoid thin slivers along walls and at doorways, and to place water outlets, sockets and switches so they do not land right on a tile edge. Talk to the plumber and the electrician before plastering for this reason. In practice a socket often sits 2 cm in the wrong place, and the tiler then has to cut through the full width of a tile.

Other things that should be finished or known before tiling:

• waterproofing in the shower and around the bath, including corner tapes and seals around pipe outlets
• the finished floor height, because of door frames and thresholds
• the position and type of the shower drain, if you are having a level-access shower
• fixings for heavy items on the wall, such as a wall-hung WC or basin, so nobody has to drill blind into finished tiles

Flats and building regulations

Replacing wall and floor tiles is normally routine maintenance. If the job also involves changes to pipework, partition walls or load-bearing structures, check the local building regulations with your local building authority before you start. Do not assume nothing is needed. In a block of flats, tell the building management or the owners' association, mainly because of noise during demolition and any work near shared risers. Any work on gas pipes must be done by a qualified, registered gas engineer. New circuits or moved sockets need a qualified electrician.

Floors

After checking the substrate, the tiler applies a primer. It evens out absorbency and helps the adhesive bond. The tiler then marks the setting-out line from the plan and lays the first row dry to check how it meets the doors and walls.

The adhesive is spread with a notched trowel with a larger notch, usually 10 to 12 mm. A thin layer also goes on the back of the tile. This is called back-buttering. The ridges of adhesive on the floor should run parallel to the short side of the tile, so air can escape when the tile is pressed down. The tile is placed, slid slightly and pressed in, often with a rubber mallet or a tile vibrator.

Levelling clips and wedges go between the tiles. They pull the edges into one plane while the adhesive sets. Once the adhesive has hardened, the clips are snapped off. Now and then the tiler lifts a freshly laid tile to check that the adhesive covers the whole back. If it does not, the method is adjusted.

Walls

On walls, tiling starts from a horizontal support batten fixed above the floor. This stops the first row from sliding down. The bottom row goes in last, once the finished floor height is clear. Because 60×120 tiles are heavy, a non-slip adhesive and a strong substrate are essential. Plasterboard must be rated for damp areas. It is usually fitted in two layers so it can carry the load its manufacturer specifies.

On walls, 60×120 tiles can be laid portrait or landscape. Portrait gives fewer horizontal joints and makes the room look taller. Landscape makes it easier to end the tiled area neatly at the height of a full row.

Cuts and holes

Straight cuts are made on a manual cutter with a rail longer than 120 cm, or on a water-cooled bridge saw. Holes for pipes and boxes are drilled with diamond core bits. Cut-outs are made with an angle grinder. External corners are often mitred, with the cut edges ground at an angle, to give a clean corner without a trim. A shower floor with a fall can be done in two ways. The tiles can be cut into an "envelope" towards a central drain. Or a linear drain is placed along the wall and the whole floor falls in one direction. With 60×120 the second option usually looks better, because the tiles stay whole.

Grouting and movement joints

Grouting starts once the adhesive has hardened, usually the next day at the earliest. With rapid-setting adhesives it can be sooner, according to the manufacturer. Joints are narrow, usually 2 to 3 mm, but never zero. Internal corners, the joint along the bath, the floor perimeter and movement joints are not grouted. They are sealed with sanitary silicone.

How long it takes

Laying 60×120 is noticeably slower than laying smaller tiles. Every tile is back-buttered and set with clips, and two people handle it for every cut. After laying, you can usually walk carefully on the floor after about 24 hours. Adhesive manufacturers usually recommend waiting several days, sometimes weeks, before full loading and switching on underfloor heating. On top of that comes the time for levelling compounds and for the screed to dry, which is often the longest part of the whole schedule.

The tile

• Rectified edge: the edges are ground perfectly square, so the tile can be laid with a narrow joint. For 60×120 this is normal.
• Thickness: usually around 9 to 10 mm. Thicker outdoor tiles are heavier and harder to cut. Thin versions are lighter on walls but more fragile to handle.
• Surface: a polished finish shows every bit of lippage and unevenness. A matt finish hides more. For bathroom and kitchen floors, also check the slip resistance stated by the manufacturer.

Adhesive

Large formats are laid with a flexible cement-based adhesive. It is usually classed C2 under EN 12004, with reduced slip (T) and extended open time (E). For underfloor heating, plasterboard or balconies, choose an adhesive with higher deformability (S1 or S2). There are also more fluid floor adhesives that fill the space under the tile better. The tile manufacturer's instructions always come first.

Levelling system

Clips with wedges or with screw caps are close to essential for 60×120. They do not fix a bad substrate, but they hold neighbouring tile edges in one plane while the adhesive sets. Wedge systems are quick. Screw systems allow finer adjustment.

Grout

In dry areas a good cement-based grout (CG2) is enough. In showers and on kitchen splashbacks, epoxy grout is often chosen because it does not absorb water or grease. It is harder to work with and sets faster, so it takes experience.

How demanding the job is, and therefore what it ends up costing, depends on what the tiler finds on site. The work gets easier with:

• a flat, dry substrate that needs no levelling
• a large rectangular area without alcoves or columns
• a layout agreed in advance and outlets in the right places
• easy access, a lift or a ground floor where the tiles can be brought in without trouble

The work gets harder with:

• a small bathroom with many corners, niches and cuts around pipes
• wall tiling up to the ceiling, where heavy tiles go up from a scaffold or ladder
• mitred corners instead of trims
• a shower floor with a fall and envelope cuts
• pattern matching, if the tiles have marble-style veining that has to flow across several pieces
• carrying tiles up several floors without a lift, because 60×120 boxes often do not fit in a lift anyway

When ordering, allow extra for cuts. Long tiles and awkward rooms usually produce more waste than small formats, and you may not be able to buy the same production batch later.

• Half bond: an offset of half the tile length looks natural, but with bowed tiles it makes lippage stand out. Manufacturers therefore usually recommend an offset of no more than a third of the length. Check the technical data sheet before you choose the pattern.
• Dot-and-dab fixing: adhesive applied only in blobs leaves voids under the tile. Later you get a hollow sound, a crack or a loose tile.
• Levelling with a thick adhesive bed: unevenness is filled with adhesive instead of levelling compound. The result is often a wavy surface and cracks as the adhesive shrinks.
• Missing movement joints: without a flexible joint around the edge and at doorways, the floor can lift or crack as it expands and contracts, especially with underfloor heating.
• Almost no joint: the tiles touch at the edges, have no room to move and chip.
• Tiling onto damp screed: the moisture later shows up as white efflorescence in the joints, or the tiles come loose.
• Thin slivers at the walls: without a plan you get a strip a few centimetres wide at the door. It looks like a mistake and breaks easily.
• Weak wall substrate: single-layer plasterboard or old plaster may not carry the weight of XL tiles. The problem appears after a while as cracks in the joints.

If you already have experience with smaller tiles and want to try the XL format, start with a flat floor in a simple room without a shower. Bathroom walls and showers with a fall are better left to a professional. You will need a helper, double suction lifters, a long cutter, levelling clips, a large-notch trowel and a paddle mixer.

1. Check the substrate with a long straightedge and level any unevenness with self-levelling compound.
2. Vacuum the substrate and prime it according to the manufacturer's instructions.
3. Draw the layout plan and lay the first row dry.
4. Fix edge isolation strip around the perimeter of the room.
5. Mix an adhesive suitable for large formats exactly as instructed and let it stand.
6. Spread adhesive on the floor with the notched trowel and apply a thin layer to the back of the tile.
7. Place the tile with your helper, slide it slightly and press it in.
8. Insert the levelling clips and tighten the wedges.
9. Lift the first tile and check the adhesive coverage.
10. Remove excess adhesive from the joints before it hardens.
11. Once the adhesive has hardened, snap off the clips and grout.
12. Seal the perimeter and movement joints with silicone.

If the substrate turns out to be too uneven, or the first tiles will not sit level even with clips, stop. Fixing badly laid XL tiles is harder than having them laid properly from the start.

Look at the finished surface in daylight, and also with a torch or lamp placed on the floor so it shines flat across it. Light from the side shows lippage and waviness far better than ceiling lights. At handover, go through:

• Flatness under a long straightedge, with no visible humps or dips
• No lippage between neighbouring tiles that you can feel with your finger or foot
• No hollow sound when you tap the tiles with a handle or a key
• Even joint width and straight joint lines
• A bond pattern that matches the agreed plan, with an offset that follows the manufacturer's recommendation
• Cuts around pipes, boxes and door frames without chipped edges
• Flexible silicone joints in corners, around the edge and along the bath or shower tray
• A fall in the shower so water runs into the drain and does not stand anywhere
• A clean surface without adhesive or grout residue
• Spare tiles from the same batch handed over for future repairs
• Clear information on when the floor can be fully loaded and the underfloor heating switched on