epoxy newbie help please

[asabrush]

Managed to tile profesionaly for 9 yrs avoiding epxoy! Unfortunally due to severe case of having to do every job that comes my way now,thanks global recession! I find myself with 30m2 walls and floors to do in the stuff.

I'm a liitle daunted at the thought.My grouting skill and speed is v good with normal grout.Can anyone give me a clue as to a time scale for using the stuff.Its bal easypoxy ivory going with a 60x30 porc with 2mm joints.There'll be 2 of us on the job.

Thanks for any help,reassurance

 

[grumpygrouter]

Use this stuff for the first time recently, only on a small bathroom floor though about 5m2. My joints though were 5mm with about 12mm depth so I needed just over 2kg. The secret is to use a hard float to push the stuff into the joints, you will need to follow the joints not float it all over the tiles or you will have nightmares cleaning it off. Do small areas at a time and follow the instructions on the tub carefully. I found it cleaned off very easily with a sponge with very little residue that needed additional emulsifying scrub the next day. You will also need to leAve it the FULL 24hrs to harden. I found that after about 22 hours, altough it had "set" it was not fully hard and could be scraped with a finger nail.

Each 1kg tub has about 30mins life so you need to get it on within that time, and this also dictates the time you need to wait for the initial clean off. I took about an hour a tub to mix, apply and then clean off initially. It is not something that can be rushed.

Hope this helps.

 

[david campbell]

you can buy seperate epoxy floats,as grumpy said,a lot heavier and stiffer,and there made of gum!

 

[asabrush]

Thanks guys,I have a hard float already,an apprentice on his first trip to the shops bought it by mistake.I figured I'd need it sometime ......Grumpy,when you say to leave for the full 24hrs,do you mean 24hrs before giving it an emulsifying scru?
Ta

 

[R Montgomery]

Used epoxy grouts many times in the states so if you want I could let you know the procedures and pitfalls over there.Never used the Bal stuff though.Always Mapei or Laticrete.

 

[grumpygrouter]

Thanks guys,I have a hard float already,an apprentice on his first trip to the shops bought it by mistake.I figured I'd need it sometime ......Grumpy,when you say to leave for the full 24hrs,do you mean 24hrs before giving it an emulsifying scru?
Ta

No, your final scrub (if needed) has to be done within 24hrs. After that it becomes very difficult to remove. The grout will not be fully set at that point so you need to be just a little bit careful not to mark/damage the joint.