Adhesive not sticking

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I don't have the time to explain it all, but trust me: everything that could be wrong with the job has been done!

Chipboard+UFH+possibly floating = failure
PVA = failure
No back-buttering on large format = failure
Not 100% coverage = failure
Air gaps in the adhesive bed+ufh = failure.

It is 100% not the adhesive's fault.
 
I don't have the time to explain it all, but trust me: everything that could be wrong with the job has been done!

Chipboard+UFH+possibly floating = failure
PVA = failure
No back-buttering on large format = failure
Not 100% coverage = failure
Air gaps in the adhesive bed+ufh = failure.

It is 100% not the adhesive's fault.
Take the other factors out of the equation and tell me you'd have used a C2 adhesive on wood and ufh? ...course its partly down to the adhesive Mark
 
Take the other factors out of the equation and tell me you'd have used a C2 adhesive on wood and ufh? ...course its partly down to the adhesive Mark

You're right Andy, I would use S1 minimum on anything heated, but the original claim was that the adhesive wasn't sticking to the tiles.
C2 will definitely stick to porcelain IF the other things had been addressed.

Heck, they could have used BAL fastflex and it would still likely have failed due to the PVA, dusty chipboard and trowel technique!
 
He is a tiler by trade, but he is older. Would it have made a difference if the floor was ply or not??
 
Your floor tile failure was caused by the following factors.
Individually they could have caused failure, but combined it was a certainty.

Chipboard floor - can be tiled onto but only with very special adhesives and with 100% coverage to tile and floor.

Heated floor - can be tiled easily enough but must have an uncoupling membrane such as Schluter Ditra, to separate the adhesive bed and tiles from the expansion/contraction stresses caused by the heating - as seen readily in the adhesive cracks in your photos.

PVA - simply put, this forms a skin and prevents (not aids) adhesion.
Acrylic primers, or SBR only should be used.

C2 adhesive has polymer added to bond to porcelain (standard sand and cement won't bond) but does not have anywhere near enough polymer to increase the flexibility required for a heated, timber floor.

Timber Floor - if your floor is "floating" as I suspect it is, then 90% of professional tilers will just walk away from them. There is just too much risk of movement, both deflection (bounce) and lateral (sideways) movement. They can be tiled. but not without a lot of prep, careful checking and special materials.

Tiles aren't back-buttered. - It is recommended that large format tiles, particularly with waffle backs, are back-buttered with a thin layer of adhesive to aid "bedding in" and ensuring a solid, even bond. It also removes any risk from tiles with dusty backs.

Hope that helps explain what has gone wrong!
 
Don’t let him get away with no.1 in the excuse book, ‘I’ve been doing this 30 years and never had a problem’
 
Thank you so much for your advice, it’s much appreciated!! I’ll go back to the tiler although I’m pretty sure he is going to deny any wrong doing so it’s probs going to cost me an absolute fortune to either fix or replace
 
The chipboard sucked all of the moisture out of the adhesive. Thermal burst? Did that occur because the adhesive wasn't mixed with the correct hydrothermic lance causing an over fluctuation of the stickleum molecules or is it just BS?

Sorry I have no idea what this means lol
 

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Adhesive not sticking
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Tile Adhesive and Grout Advice
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