Is BAL/Mapei really that good?

[ag1975]

I'm not a pro tiler but do jobs every now and again for friends and family, my question is do I need to splash out on BAL and Mapei or do I go for something cheaper? I used Dunlop on a hallway the other day and it seems fine, got it for at least half the price as the top brands. Do I only need the top brands if I tile regularly?

Cheers.

 

[White Room]

Use what you feel comfortable with, it's also whats available in your area.

I use weber because I have a local supplier, dunlop tends to be more of a lower grade type product compared to others IMO and not a product that would be my first choice.

 

[Scottell17]

I believe in using the best you can get when it comes to adhesives and grouts you really can't cut corners , I've tried many other products and have had some disasters, imo nothing comes close to mapei, worth paying the extra for ;-) but it's like what whitbeam said find the product your comfortable with

 

[Concrete guy]

Dunlop is made by BAL, or at least it used to be.

 

[Scottell17]

Both Dunlop and Bal are separate companies but probably the same product tbf but owed by the Ardex group think it's German? Not 100% sure if it is german tho

 

[Concrete guy]

Here you go:-

Brands - ARDEX GmbH

 

[Scottell17]

Bloody big company then! Ha

 

[Rookery]

I also use Mapei as my 1st choice. Today I tried Webber RSF for the first time. It seems good but I find I get better pot life with Mapei so any savings made with a cheaper brand could be lost if I have to throw part of a mix away.

 

[Ceramico tiling]

judge the quality of the adhesive based on the conditions of the job at hand. Obviously MAPEI and BAL are fine products with substantial guarantees and a must for exterior work and water effected areas etc etc,,But Dunlop is fine for kitchen backsplashes,low movement ares etc.No point in spending unnecessarily!!

 

[Ceramico tiling]

Here you go:-

Brands*-*ARDEX GmbH

Ardex is a very cool product..I recently left 10 bags of adhesive outdoors for 2 wks(5 bags mapei and 5 bags Ardex which I covered up best I could and had my reasons for leaving out) however was very impressed to find that the ardex was completely unaffected and the Mapei was quite lumpy and had to be sieved.Will always use Ardex outdoors from now on as it saved me time (minus a few swear words with the lumps I missed that landed up in the mix)

 

[cam_low]

why leave them out ? #confused