Not Sure What Adhesive To Use....help!

[kevinwatkins]

Hi all, I've been reading the net for a few days and seem to be going around in circles. I'm a DIYer and like the mapei products.

I'm tiling through from the kitchen to dining room with porcelain tiles in an opus pattern. The kitchen is a concrete floor to which I've applied Mapei ultraplan self levelling compound. In the dining room, the floorboards were lifted, extra noggins put in and boarded with 18mm ply so it's now the same level as the kitchen.

My question is, which adhesive should I use?

My local screwfix has Mapeker which I have picked up a few 20kg bags of (£14 odd), but I've been reading a lot about Keraflex S1, Keraquick + latex plus (s2) etc and now I'm a little confused on what to get.

Keraquick is available in screwfix but its only 5kg bags at £11.49!

I hope you guys are able to point me in the right directuon, thanks.

 

[Rich Midge]

I'm not a mapei user myself so can't give a valid opinion on the specific adhesives. What I would say though is on the concrete section the adhesive obviously doesn't need to be flexible it only needs to be polymer modified/enhanced for porcelain. Most tilers prefer not to fix to ply but if that's the route you are happy with then if the budget allows go for the s2. You'll need to make sure the ply has been sealed on rear face and edges and gaps have been allowed for expansion. Some adhesives will say prime the face that's to be tiled, others not, check the bag. You'll also need an expansion strip where the 2 different substrates meet. As with every job, the right prep is essential. Double check the ply for bounce, movement, rigidity.

 

[Tile seller]

Mapeker will be fine for the screed.

Keraflex S1 is a slow set that will be fine for ply. Keraquick will also be fine but is a fast set like the mapeker.

Either will do so just pick according to whether you want fast or slow set.

The Latex plus is expensive but will make the Keraquick more flexible(S2). Not necessarily needed and S2quick is a cheaper S2.

Hope this helps

 

[kevinwatkins]

Great, thanks for the advice!