It must be noted that external tiling installations – floor tiling or wall 
cladding – requires a far stronger and more flexible adhesive system. All 
external installations will be exposed to building movement, thermal 
expansion and contraction, as well as inclement weather conditions (rain, 
dew, frost, etc). It is therefore essential that latex modified adhesive and 
grout systems be used when tiling externally to cater for these 
movements. TAL BOND must be incorporated in the adhesive and grout 
mix, as a total water replacement, with a solid bed of adhesive behind or 
beneath each tile, and the tile panel movement joints should be located 
at closer centres.  

It is also essential to provide for all extremes of climate during the entire 
tile installation and for as long as possible after grouting has been 
completed.  Cold weather conditions and/or frost can retard or even 
circumvent the curing process; rain can cause serious damage before, 
during or immediately after grouting, and very hot / dry exposure may 
adversely affect the curing of fresh adhesive or grout.

In addition to the above, the following must be noted when undertaking 
external wall cladding installations:

If the top of the cladding installation is not going to be ‘capped’ with a tile, 
we recommend that the installation be protected against the ingress of 
water behind the tiles by either applying a wide bead of TAL GOLDSTAR 
SEALMASTER 1000 polyurethane joint sealant or a suitable waterproofing 
compound over the adhesive ‘joint’ between the tile and background.

When tiling walls the adhesive system must be assisted by means of a 
form of mechanical fixing at maximum 2 metre intervals.  This mechanical 
fixing/support can be in the form of non-corroding metal angle strips, 
slightly smaller in dimension than the thickness of the adhesive and tile,  
firmly fixed to the substrate with non-corroding bolts or screws at 2 metre 
intervals on the horizontal plane, or as per Engineer’s recommendations.

Heavy and/or large format tiles should also be well supported by means 
of a batten or some type of mechanical device until such time that the 
adhesive has set.