Tile and slab facades on PEKATEX®, like any good facade, protect against weather as well as noise and render themselves ideally for architectural decoration. Regarding weather protection, the first question that usually arises is, can tiles compete with bricks four times their thickness? Roof tiles, perhaps more than facade tiles, are exposed to the elements. Nowadays, roofs are, as a rule, ventilated in just the same way as facades on PEKATEX® always are. However, roof tiles are rarely thicker than one centimetre and the manner in which they rest hollow on roof battens can expose them to damage.

In contrast, PEKATEX® can accept tiles or slabs more than two centimetres in thickness. Moreover, they are always supported over the whole area by a thick mortar undercoatíng reinforced twice. This effectively makes tiles or slabs on PEKATEX® even thicker and consequently a good deal more robust.

PEKATEX® supports and joins facades with the load-bearing wall. Facades on PEKATEX® are mounted at and on the load-bearing wall and will not require ground foundations. Furthermore they do not need window or door lintels. Compared with brickwork facings of identical materials, tile facades on PEKATEX® are, at the utmost. half as heavy.

Taking into account that all floors and storeys, the roof and loads such as those subjected by wind, snow and internal movement etc., have to be carried by the load-bearing walls, it becomes apparent that the weight of tile facades on PEKATEX® represents a magnitude, which hardly affects the static of the building at all.

Furthermore as far as thermal insulation and the provision of effective ventilation is concerned, facades on PEKATEX® require less volume.

PEKATEX® is available from the factory already equipped with non-combustible mineral wool, affording the highest level of thermal efficiency in the thicknesses required. In addition, the factory integrated venting plain excludes thermal bridges, as well as ensuring that the mineral wool cannot slip down or forward, or be clogged by mortar. 

PEKATEX® is mortar bedded directly onto the load-bearing wall. If the wall will not allow sufficient mortar adhesion (refurbishment), it may be necessary to use dowels and special clamps, which grip only onto the side of PEKATEX® that faces the load-bearing wall. In this way the dowels do not penetrate through PEKATEX®, so that they will not form wet, thermal or sound bridges.

The outward facing side of PEKATEX® receives
a mineral coating, 15 millimetres (.6 inch) in thickness, which is reinforced by a glass grid fabric nearer to its outer surface. This positions the venting plains between the integrated mineral wool and the back of the undercoating over the whole facade area.

When the undercoating has been flattened and hardened, the one to two and a half centimetres thick tiles or slabs (.4 to 1 inch) as chosen by the architect, will be mortar bedded one by one and subsequently pointed by the tiler – all in the proven manner, of course. Facades on PEKATEX® are always fully ventilated: in the venting plain, air drawn from the outside, convectively flows from the bottom entry slots towards the upper exit slots, which are placed across the full facade width. Diffusive moisture from the inside, as well as water which has penetrated from the weather outside, is directed back into the atmosphere again, keeping the external wall and facade consistently dry.

On average, the thickness of the substructured and vented tile or slab facades is six, more usually, only five centimtres (two centimetres for the venting plains, one and a half for the undercoating and one to two and a half for the tiles or slabs) (.8 plus .6 plus .4 to 1 inch), which means as a rule they are only half the thickness when compared with brickwork facings.

Charcteristics of tile or slab facades on PEKATEX®
 Sound insulation: PEKATEX® not only joins facades to the load-bearing wall, but also secures tile or slab facades free from restraint, so that they are afforded a level of freedom to contract or expand under changing weather conditions. The resultant bridgefree, two-shell structure

reduces outside noise level penetration to the interior of the building by about a half (3 dB).
Thermal insulation: PEKATEX® is available from the factory with integrated best grade, non-combustible mineral wool, in thicknesses to meet legal requirements, They are always free of thermal bridges, which could be caused by through going ties, trays or dowels.
Moisture protection: Tile or slab facades on PEKATEX® protect themselves and the whole substance of the outer wall from settling moisture in three ways, namely by being pointed up, the undercoating behind, and furthermore by the ventilation as referred to above.
Durability: Tile or slab facades are joined to the PEKATEX® substructure and the reinforced undercoating. They are held in their position free of bridges and without through going metallic ties or dowels, which are prone to corrosion. They are also able to expand or contract, largely free from restraint, according to the changes in weather conditions. The protection by effective ventilation, as explained above, ensures that the facades and the wall substance are kept dry. The tile or slab facades on PEKATEX® offer the ravages of time little chance. Whithout question, tile or slab facades on PEKATEX® have all the prerequisites for outstanding maintenance free durability.

Tile or slab facades on PEKATEX® meet the requirements for:
flexibility in architectural design,
the allowance of more daylight incidence, sound and thermal insulation,
protection against weather conditions, all within the limits of physical laws;
warranting a brighter, permanently healthy and comfortable interior living atmosphere.

Furthermore substructured and vented tile or slab facades on PEKATEX® have been proven non-combustible, one reason for they having been certified for buildings of up to 100 meters in height.
Survey: Tile Facade on PEKATEX® versus Brickwork