Slab Formats, Thicknesses and Finishes

Five formats in production, three thicknesses and six surface types. The rule is simple: 6 mm for walls and facades, 9 mm for small areas, 12 mm for anything that carries load.

The choice starts not with size but with thickness: thickness determines which applications are permissible. Format is then selected within the chosen thickness.

Formats in production

3200 × 1600 mm at 12 mm — matt, polished, soft, full body and color body finishes. 3200 × 1600 mm at 6 mm — matt, polished, soft. 2800 × 1200 mm at 6 mm — matt with microtech, polished, soft. 2700 × 1200 mm at 6 mm — matt, polished, soft. 1200 × 1200 mm at 9 mm — matt with microtech.

Thickness determines the application

6 mm — floors, walls, ceilings and facades, indoors and out. At 15 kg/m² and up it allows existing walls to be clad without stripping the old finish, and lowers the load requirement on facade sub-framing.

9 mm — floors in smaller areas, indoors and out. Weight 22 kg/m².

12 mm — floors, stairs, worktops, facades and car parks. The only thickness for loaded scenarios: treads, worktops with cut-outs, parking deck surfaces. Weight 29 kg/m².

Choosing by task

Kitchen worktop — 12 mm, because sink cut-outs weaken the slab. Stair treads — 12 mm and preferably full body, so the edge matches the surface. Bathroom walls — 6 mm: the 2800 × 1200 format covers the full height without a horizontal joint. Ventilated facade — 6 or 12 mm, six where weight is constrained. Car park floor — 12 mm and necessarily R10–R11, meaning matt or soft. Floor in a small area — 9 mm in the 1200 × 1200 format.

Practical arithmetic

A 3200 × 1600 mm slab is 5.12 m². At 12 mm and 29 kg/m² it weighs around 148 kg: moving it needs lifting frames and a crew, not two people. At 6 mm the same format weighs about 77 kg.

Surface finishes

Matt — an even, glare-free surface, class R10–R11. The default choice for floors, facades and high-traffic areas: it does not flare under artificial light and shows less wear.

Polished — a gloss polish with a mirror effect. It emphasises the pattern and the depth of colour and visually expands a space. Class R9, dry rooms only. Fingerprints and micro-scratches are more visible on a polished surface.

Soft — a light semi-matt sheen, pleasant to the touch. A compromise between matt and polished: it keeps R10–R11 while giving more colour depth than pure matt.

Microtech — a relief synchronised with the printed pattern: where the image shows a vein, the surface physically follows it. Unlike ordinary embossing the relief is not random but matched, so the imitation reads by touch as well as by eye.

Body construction: full body and color body

Full body — the pattern runs through the entire thickness. A cut section looks the same as the surface. This is critical wherever the edge stays exposed: treads, chamfers, worktop ends.

Color body — the base colour is introduced into the body. The pattern does not repeat in section, but the overall tone holds: a chip or a cut does not leave a contrasting pale line.

In a wet area the choice of finish is a safety question, not an aesthetic one. The R class is determined to DIN 51130 by a ramp test, and the difference between R9 and R11 is measurable.