Did a couple of small jobs - relaying some quarry tiles and a small bathroom floor using a bag of this stuff (purchased from my local Tile Giant store-
Used the stuff a number of times and it's fine if you don't need the extra flexibility Keraquick provides. On these 2 particular jobs the stuff didn't go off untill the following day! The first job was removing and relaying some quarry tiles, only needed to break into this particular bag for the last couple of tiles and noticed that those 2 were still shifting after about 3 hours (rest were rock solid - fixed with a different bag of the same stuff), so couldn't grout and arranged to finish off the next day. Didn't really think too much about it as it was very local and I had nothing on the next day.
I remember on the bathroom floor job I used this same bag and fixed the tiles in the morning and went for a pub lunch for a couple of hours. Returned, armed with my grout and silicone, to find the tiles could be moved about as if they'd just that second been layed. In the end I turned the heating up to max and put a portable heater in the room as I really needed to get finished as I was starting another job the next day. The customer was a Barrister and when he got back from work in a smart suit the heat in his flat must have slapped him in the face as he disappeared into his bedroom and reappeared in just a pair of Bumuda shorts! :lol: Joking aside, I hung on till 7 in the evening but even in that heat and 7 hours they showed no signs of going off. Standard set in those conditions would have gone off quicker. So had to travel all that way (40 mile round trip) just to grout up and silicone the following day and explain to my next customer that I would be a day late.
Next time I was in my TG store I gave them the remainder of the bag and told them the trouble with it. The junior member of staff was nice as always and said he'd get onto Mapei. Weeks later the TG manager calls me to find out exactly what I had used the adhesive on (tile type, substrate etc...) apparently Mapei's first response was that I had mixed it incorrectly:mad2:
Popped into TG this morning for some gear and the junior staff member asked if I'd got a letter from Mapei, I hadn't. They had and it stated they had tested it and found it to be a dodgy bag and that it took 12 hours to set. It also went on to say that 12 hours is acceptable and within the necessary criteria.
Nice one Mapei!!
Conversely I had a call from a Weber Rep today telling me about a new product line they are about to introduce to the Nottingham area - a standard set, thick bed flexy that can go on up to 25mm in one hit with zero shrinkage. I told him that I could really do with some of that on the job I'm on at the moment so he took the address of the house I'm working at and told me he'll drop it off first thing Monday.
I've always praised Mapei and Weber as that's all I use and it's all good stuff but I shan't be touching Mapei's gear again on principle.
Rant over
Used the stuff a number of times and it's fine if you don't need the extra flexibility Keraquick provides. On these 2 particular jobs the stuff didn't go off untill the following day! The first job was removing and relaying some quarry tiles, only needed to break into this particular bag for the last couple of tiles and noticed that those 2 were still shifting after about 3 hours (rest were rock solid - fixed with a different bag of the same stuff), so couldn't grout and arranged to finish off the next day. Didn't really think too much about it as it was very local and I had nothing on the next day.
I remember on the bathroom floor job I used this same bag and fixed the tiles in the morning and went for a pub lunch for a couple of hours. Returned, armed with my grout and silicone, to find the tiles could be moved about as if they'd just that second been layed. In the end I turned the heating up to max and put a portable heater in the room as I really needed to get finished as I was starting another job the next day. The customer was a Barrister and when he got back from work in a smart suit the heat in his flat must have slapped him in the face as he disappeared into his bedroom and reappeared in just a pair of Bumuda shorts! :lol: Joking aside, I hung on till 7 in the evening but even in that heat and 7 hours they showed no signs of going off. Standard set in those conditions would have gone off quicker. So had to travel all that way (40 mile round trip) just to grout up and silicone the following day and explain to my next customer that I would be a day late.
Next time I was in my TG store I gave them the remainder of the bag and told them the trouble with it. The junior member of staff was nice as always and said he'd get onto Mapei. Weeks later the TG manager calls me to find out exactly what I had used the adhesive on (tile type, substrate etc...) apparently Mapei's first response was that I had mixed it incorrectly:mad2:
Popped into TG this morning for some gear and the junior staff member asked if I'd got a letter from Mapei, I hadn't. They had and it stated they had tested it and found it to be a dodgy bag and that it took 12 hours to set. It also went on to say that 12 hours is acceptable and within the necessary criteria.
Nice one Mapei!!
Conversely I had a call from a Weber Rep today telling me about a new product line they are about to introduce to the Nottingham area - a standard set, thick bed flexy that can go on up to 25mm in one hit with zero shrinkage. I told him that I could really do with some of that on the job I'm on at the moment so he took the address of the house I'm working at and told me he'll drop it off first thing Monday.
I've always praised Mapei and Weber as that's all I use and it's all good stuff but I shan't be touching Mapei's gear again on principle.
Rant over
