Installation instructions for fliesana ®

Thank you for choosing a quality product from fliesana. Please read these instructions carefully to avoid excessive offcuts and installation mistakes.

Before you start laying, always carry out an adhesion test with a sample piece at several points, in order to check that the tiles have been completely degreased. Only once the samples adhere well should you begin the installation.

The product must not be installed above or behind hobs.

Please place the fliesana ® packs in the room at least two days before installation so that they take on the ambient temperature completely. Because of the high energy efficiency and the resulting insulating properties, this long period is necessary. Only then may installation begin.

Please note that fliesana is not suitable for rooms with permanent sunlight, for example conservatories.

If there are no switches or sockets on the tiled surfaces, you can skip the first three points and start at point 4.

Preparation

• Switch off the fuse for the bathroom at the fuse box. Set up a lamp in the bathroom that is powered from another room.
• Unscrew the covers of the sockets and light switches, just as you would before wallpapering.
• Pull the escutcheons off the corner valves under the washbasin. If your bath or shower fitting requires it, pull or unscrew these escutcheons or screw covers as well. Some fittings have screwed escutcheons. They can only be loosened and refitted by turning the escutcheon. It is not necessary to remove the fitting completely. Never unscrew the fitting with pliers, as this can cause water damage.
• First wipe the tile joints and then the tiles with a cloth moistened with methylated spirit, so that residues and grease are removed completely, and let the surface dry.

Installation

Start with an easy wall, because you will need a little routine for the more difficult places such as pipe cut-outs. Before installing, think carefully about the bond pattern of the individual panels. How should the joints line up afterwards? There is, for example, the running bond, the half bond or the third bond. A sketch can be very helpful during installation.

• Start laying the first panel in the bottom left or bottom right corner. Always work from the bottom upwards, because the foil seal is additionally supported by gravity. In our older videos the work is unfortunately shown incorrectly from top to bottom. Working upwards makes laying fliesana ® even safer. Old silicone joints must be cut out beforehand, especially if they already show mould stains.
• Take the decor panels out of the packaging and peel off only the white protective paper on the back, at the corner without a sealing strip, for 10 to 15 cm. If you have some to hand, you can stick a small piece of adhesive tape to the protective paper at this corner to make it easier to pull off.
• When the tile is positioned correctly, press it down at the corner to fix it. Now you can reach behind the tile from the other side, pull off the remaining protective paper at the back and glue the tile down over its whole surface.
• The coloured connecting strip must never be pressed into recesses such as tile joints, lower-lying tiles or holes in the wall. It may only be pressed onto level or higher-lying tiles. The next tile has to be able to reach this connecting strip.
• When using fliesana ® you do not need to and must not pull off the transparent strip.
• Now you can place the next panel on the right-hand side and continue with steps 1 to 3. Press the area of the foil seal that is now bonding together particularly firmly, centimetre by centimetre.

Cutting out around washbasins

• Hold the panel at the same height at which it is to be fixed at the washbasin, so that it just touches the basin. The panel must be held straight in line with the upper edge. Now fix the panel at three corners with adhesive tape, or have a helper hold the panel.
• Now measure the distance the panel still is from the joint to which it is to be fitted once cut out, for example 12.3 cm.
• Using this length, measure along the contour of the washbasin at intervals of about 2 to 3 cm and mark each point with a pencil.
• On the curve ruler, select the curvature that matches the first two points. Now run the pencil along the curve ruler on the dotted line and join the individual points.
• Take the cutter knife and score the upper decor layer along the drawn line as deeply as possible. Now carefully break the part to be removed backwards along the perforation. Cut through the adhesive layer from behind and remove the cut-out.

Cutting out around cisterns and similar

For cisterns, mirror cabinets and wall-hung toilets, proceed exactly as for washbasins.

Cutting out around pipes and corner valves in the middle of a panel

• Pipes or round holes can be marked with the curve ruler using the same method as for the washbasin.
• When choosing the place where you have to cut a slot in order to set the decor in the right position, make absolutely sure that no joint runs there and that the adhesive surfaces are pressed down well, so that the seal is created. If a cross joint runs there, or if it cannot be avoided, you must fill the joint with the enclosed silicone before gluing.
• To close the cut against penetrating moisture, cut a transparent sealing strip to the length of the cut. First stick the sealing strip onto the tiles and pull off the transparent protective paper. Now place the tile in the correct position and press one corner down. Once it sits, pull the protective paper on the back of the tile off completely and press the tile down fully.

Installing around external edges, for example on window sills and stairs

At the external edge, leave an even gap of 2 mm that is not on the generally visible surface. After finishing the work, fill it with silicone using the silicone gun and smooth it with the jointing tool. It is advisable to cover the visible surface, on which you do not want to see a joint, with a 2 mm overhang to the edge first, and only then work on the other side of the edge where you want the silicone joint. On stairs the tread must not contain a silicone joint, because it is always the visible surface.

Finishing, once all walls have been covered

• Refit all covers, escutcheons, switch and socket plates.
• Apply a silicone joint in the corners and at the floor to seal against the other walls and the floor.
• Once you have applied the silicone joint, smooth it with the enclosed jointing tool. This step has to be done immediately after the joint has been applied, because silicone can form a skin very quickly and smoothing is then no longer possible.

Your new bathroom design is finished.

Removing the tile decor when moving out or changing the bathroom design

• Switch off the fuse in the bathroom.
• Remove all switch covers and escutcheons again.
• Cut a cross into the tile decor in the middle with the cutter knife.
• Pull the decor foil off from the middle outwards, so that the joints above the decor are pulled out as well. Take particular care next to adjoining fixtures such as a mirror cabinet or cistern so that nothing is damaged.
• Any remaining silicone residue can be removed with the cutter knife and silicone remover.

fliesana ® can be removed without residue. Should the adhesive have lost this property slightly after very many years, any adhesive residue remaining on the wall can easily be removed with the fliesana label and adhesive remover. Barbecue lighter fluid or lamp oil also work very well, but they have a strong smell.

Refit all covers and escutcheons, or start laying the new bathroom outfit as described at the beginning.

If your substrate has raised tile edges near a fliesana ® joint, for example because of unevenness, you can warm the affected fliesana ® panel to hand temperature with a hairdryer after installation and press it down again. This measure only makes sense if the raised tile edge is near a fliesana ® joint and the fliesana ® panel would otherwise lift slightly.

Our fliesana ® team is available for questions from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We grant a two-year warranty on our product.

Have a look at our constantly updated range at www.fliesana.com. There may be something for your friends and family too.

Good luck, enjoy the installation and have fun with your new bathroom outfit. Your fliesana ® team.

A three-part video guide is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fikUI8LB_Q