premixed adhesive tubs advice?

[lcowner]

im no expert and have only done a few splashbacks,small jobs for myself and family..what are ur thoughts on using premixed tubs of adhesive?i got turned of using them as i seen a job that a guy done on a bathroom wooden floor for a friend where he used shop brands woodies own premixed tubs and it was a disaster the whole floor had to be lifted (by me) the adhesive just never went off/cured?it was only 2 metres in all luckily and was lifted and cleaned up in 10 mins and managed to save most of the tiles,i always mix my own adhesive out of fear of the above
now maybe he did not prep right or was it the tubs of ready mix?

it would be a lot easier to use the premixed stuff as it saves time ect

 

[beanz]

Tubbed gear is fine for ceramic tiles on a splashback, or even a bathroom wall (provided it's not a wet area). Floors? No, not really, although you can get Unibond ready mixed floor adhesive. Not something I'd use personally, but you can.
i can see the appeal of ready mixed, especially if you can't get the cement based adhesive at trade prices..

 

[Stef]

There is nothing wrong with using ready mixed adhesive within the right environment.
Max tile size 300x300.
I would never ever use a tubbed addy on a floor, I know there is stuff out there but not for me thanks.
I still use GreenStar on kitchen splash backs if the tile permits this.

 

[lcowner]

yes i was thinking that!thanks guys and what about using pre mix tubs on wall tiles ?as a rule of thumb would i be best sticking to powdered based that i mix myself i take it?
also i have a little job to do on a porch now the porch is based would u of paving brick what would be the advice to tiling this?what prep ect

 

[beanz]

I thought we'd covered wall tiles!?! Lol! Ceramic (not large format)? yes. Porcelain? no. Stone? no. Glass? No. Mosaics? No. Anything bigger than 300mm? No.
I don't really understand what you're saying about the porch!?!

 

[lcowner]

ok sorry porch was a different question-i have 2 square meters of a porch to do in ceramic,problem is that the base is paving brick,how am i gunna tile onto it and what adhesive to use ect?

 

[Dan]

When you say paving brick, what do you mean? Concrete slabs?

 

[lcowner]

When you say paving brick, what do you mean? Concrete slabs?

yes mate paving brick,6" square ones lol!

 

[afright]

I have used the tub uni-bond floor adhesive the customer got a few tubs,did not want to use it but was surprised, its not that bad its a bit like bal flex it went really hard I would not use it on a regular basis though.

 

[Rich Midge]

Prime with SBR, pour over a good quality self levelling smoothing compound, fit Durabase cl, tile over. Might seem a little overkill for 2m porch but its the way I'd do it, and I guarantee every job I do.

 

[Tim@Larsen]

The long and the short of it is that all ready mixed adhesives need to dry out to gain strength. Anything which slows down the moisture loss, slows down the strength.

So if you had a big porcelain tile on a painted wall, for example, the tile and the wall act like a big flat bucket so the adhesive will take forever and a day to lose moisture go hard.

The main issue with ready mixed adhesives on floors is you can't walk on the tiles until the adhesive has dried out and gained some strength otherwise you will break the bond.

 

[afright]

Fixing porcelain onto painted walls is a big no no,and not with tubbed adhesive ! :yikes:.

 

[lcowner]

thanks for replies chaps,i think il stick with the buckets for spashbacks only and the rest il mix up my own

 

[Bradma9]

There is nothing wrong with using ready mixed adhesive within the right environment.
Max tile size 300x300.
I would never ever use a tubbed addy on a floor, I know there is stuff out there but not for me thanks.
I still use GreenStar on kitchen splash backs if the tile permits this.

Which do you rate the best for splash backs green blue or white?

 

[Stef]

Which do you rate the best for splash backs green blue or white?

Whatever's on special at CTD!!
I had a stack of GreenStar in my garage 40+ tubs & a few WhiteStar so I just worked my way through them when I got the chance.
I haven't bought tubbed addy for a long time now as I almost always use Weber powders

 

[Bradma9]

Just Iv always used white star as that's what the bloke used who iv learnt off and tile flair persuaded me to take blue instead, havnt used it yet!

 

[Stef]

Just Iv always used white star as that's what the bloke used who iv learnt off and tile flair persuaded me to take blue instead, havnt used it yet!

They are both good adhesives in the right environment.
We used to batter up shower after shower with WhiteStar with ceramics.
I very rarely use tubbed now as if you work it out its more cost effective to use powder if you get it at a good price.
I stick to Weber powders as you can use them on virtually any tile.

 

[mma]

White star is the best tubed adhesive IMO but only really use bagged adhesive now.

 

[beanz]

If I'm going to used tubbed, I just go for Supergrip. It varies from shop to shop, sometimes it's Palace, sometimes Granfix etc.. It all does the job, and it's about £9 a tub. Some are nicer than others to work with.. CTW branded is actually quite nice, not sure who makes it though!?!
prefer weber powdered though too, if I'm honest.

 

[Tim@Larsen]

Sorry for any confusion, I was only putting this out as an absolute worst case example. I would never recommend ready mixed for large porcelain tiles for the reasons quoted.