its exterior building pieces that come loose and turn into projec- tiles during extreme conditions. The International Building Code doesn’t allow anything larger than 3 square feet to be attached to the outside of a building because the adhesives used would cure before the cladding pieces are properly placed – especially in the area’s warm climate. This would make cladding more prone to fly off dur- ing storms. To meet all code and preserva- tion requirements, the Kobi Karp design team specified Crossville’s I Naturali collection of gauged por- celain tile panels to cover the exte- rior walls of the Bhojwani Tower. The team also advised Miami-Dade County officials that the Crossville material would meet stringent building codes and come in on budget if mounted with HyCOMB USA’s innovative cladding system. The installation of large-format tile presents a unique set of challenges for installers. Demands upon the set- ting mortar require a product that wets out the back of the porcelain tile or stone as well as the substrate. The mortar needs to produce superior bond strengths while delivering the deform- ability to accommodate a higher degree of expansion and contraction resulting from larger tile sizes. MAPEI’s Thixo Technology LHT mor- tars exceed these large-and-heavy- tile installation requirements with products that perform multiple func- tions. Thixotropic formulations allow MAPEI’s Ultraflor™ Plus, Ultraflex™ LFT ™ and Ultraflex LHT to be used as both standard thin-set mortars and large-and-heavy-tile mortars with non- slump performance. Ultraflex LFT and Ultraflex LHT mortars also meet ISO non-sag performance require- ments for vertical applications. All three LHT mortars hold ridges when larger-sized trowels are used, provid- ing maximum support and coverage. www.mapei.com. LARGE-FORMAT TILE –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Dan Slain of HyCOMB with HyCOMB’s unique stone and porcelain cladding solution. 108 TileLetter | October 2018