Basic travertine help please.

[DJS]

Depends on size of floor. I used the keraflex on walls because of the extended open time, as I was doing the cuts as I went along.

With keraflex maxi on floors, you have to leave them 24hrs, before it's ready for light foot traffic. So if you lay the last one at 3pm, strictly speaking you should leave it until 3pm the next day before you can start to finish!

I used keraquick on the floor, as it's good for light foot traffic after 3 hrs. So I had enough time, I cut & dry laid all the tiles first. Then I mixed up the addy and stuck them all down with one mix. Then I knew I could confidently walk on it next day. Was 3.5m2 in brick bond.

How big is your's (ahem!) floor I mean? :lol: If its small enough go with a rapid set. But if you want to play it safe, and go with an extended open time adhesive give it 24hrs or whatever it says on the bag instructions.

 

[block]

Only 4.5m so I might get the quick variety and get all the cuts done first. Just went to local b&q for Mapei and they didnt have it. Going to Donny morrow so will get some from Tile Giant or somewhere. B&q do a Mapei Buildfix which I read somewhere is the same like an 'own label'. Is it or should I just get the genuine stuff. Dont know the price but I presume it would be cheaper.
Ta.

 

[White Room]

The B&Q stuff is made by mapei but is slightly down graded for the large wharehouse group but still usable

 

[block]

Thank you all.
Bought the Buildfix Mapei and made a start but have a question regarding mixing it. I dont have a proper mixer for the drill so I did it by hand. Read somewhere the mix needs to be thick enough for the trowel to stand up and slowly fall over. Did this but it didnt go off after about an hour when I finished. Im guessing it needs to be thicker but how much? It doesnt say on the bag.
Thank you.

 

[DJS]

Do you mean there are no mixing instructions at all on the bag? Should be somekind of guidance as to what ratio of water/powder. I always try to steer clear of the warehouse stuff, overpriced for what it is, your just paying for the convenience. And I'm not just talking about adhesive.

I guess your just mixing small amounts and not a full bag at once then? I found it hard to judge like that at first too. About 2 years ago when first learning, and before I put my first mix on, I used measuring jugs, measuring cups and conversion tables to work out exactly what the right ratio would be for smaller mix's. Even then I still got it wrong, and have only improved with time and experience.

If you have no experience with powder stuff it can be hard to tell how stiff, stiff should be!! Some adhesives recommend the use of a paddle mixer, and there are different type's of addy too. It wasn't until I worked with a real tiler, until I got it right myself - about 18 months down the line from my first steps! My only tip I can put into words is that when you scoop it up with your bucket trowel, you should feel some resistance and it should be firm enough to stay on the bucket trowel, yet loose enough to be worked off the notched trowel.

Hope that helps. I'm out, you said the B&Q word rrr: :lol:

 

[block]

Ha!!!
The Buildfix version of Mapei from %^& was bought for a few reasons. It was cheaper but also gave a longer 'pot' life of 30 mins which I thought might be helpful, I was right. The price difference bought my grout.
There is mixing instructions but it gives you amount of water for a full bag which obviously would not have been a good idea! I think I mixed it too thin as it hadnt gone off after about an hour. Nice and solid today though.
Just finished although 2 tiles cracked so gonna redo them asap.
Thanks for all your help, very much appreciated.

Paul