Slower setting floor Adhesive

[danmasey]

Until now iv only used fast rapid setting floor adhesive like Bal supercover ect but i'm finding it frustrating having to stop and mix half way through floors. Mixing drill gets plastered and i often waste adhesive. (im not the quickest). Does anyone recommend using a slower setting adhesive instead like CTF3/4 and waiting 24 hours before walking on it or even then is it still not advised to walk over?? Any help or advice would be great. Dan

 

[bugs183]

Good question.
It seems that slow set adhesive has been put to one side to a degree. It is lovely to use ,no mixing hassles, much kinder on your hands etc. In summer especially with conservatories etc you have no choice but to use it.
If you're a Bal fan try Single part flexible, Gold Star and CTF3 (old school adhesives, but still ace!),and Dunlop Standard Set and Dunlop Standard Set Plus. I've been using Mapei Keraflex lately as i can beat the Bal prices hands down, and its the nicest standard set i've ever used.
So if i have a job that i know will take longer than a day, and there is no chance of some pudding walking all over it i always use standard set, but have some rapid set in the van if i need to fix and then grout in the same day.

 

[Ian]

There's another thread going about Mapei proflex, I use this 90% of the time now as it is still a rapid set, but has a long pot life. It would appear that this may be a problem though! I never grout the same day so even if it takes a little longer to go off, it's not an issue.

 

[FrankM]

Reading through the forums over the last couple of days I was surprised how much rapid set adhesive you guys use. I can't remember the last time I bought a bag of rapid set. Sure, I can understand how it would be helpful in winter time, but the short pot life would drive me insane any other time.

I' d be looking at Keraflex or Keraflex Maxi.

 

[bugs183]

You have to bear in mind how different the air is here, it colder and has far more moisture here, i worked over in Spain, and all they used was slow set and sand and cement, rapid set was totally useless there!

 

[Ian]

Reading through the forums over the last couple of days I was surprised how much rapid set adhesive you guys use. I can't remember the last time I bought a bag of rapid set. Sure, I can understand how it would be helpful in winter time, but the short pot life would drive me insane any other time.

I' d be looking at Keraflex or Keraflex Maxi.

Unless it's a floor that needs to be walked on, I avoid rapid set if I can. Sounds silly but, rapid set makes me rush and generally that makes me make mistakes.

 

[bugs183]

And on big jobs the slow set adhesives are much more friendly on your hands, so you can work without gloves, if you find them annoying, or irratate the skin.
Bri is right, it does take the rush out of the job as you aren't fighting with the adhesive. I bung 2 20kg bags into my Raimodi Iperbet, leave it to run for about 7 mins and you have lovely creamy adhesive that you can use when need it, very nice!

 

[peteablard]

We've been using rapid set all week in a department store tiling round some escalators and it's been a nightmare. The air con goes off at night and it was boiling.There was no adjustment in the tiles after 5 mins and you could walk on them after 10 mins! The next phase is a further 1000m2 and some pallets of standard set have been ordered....

 

[Ian]

I've been using two Part this week and I couldn't get to the bottom of the bucket before it went off so, I had to get the scales out and split the powder and latex into 2 parts!

 

[danmasey]

It's even silly things. I like to wash my mixing drill paddle off before I start laying tiles. This can take 5 or 10 mins and that's a lot of wasted time. I waste quite a bit of adhesive this way to not to mention buckets.

 

[bugs183]

I dunno what gear you use Pete, but if your doing those big jobs I'd look into the Raimondi Ipurbet (mixer) and the Raimondi Pedalo (washboy). These bits of kit will help you no end. I use my ipurbet from floors from 20m2 upwards, it would be invaluable on that that big job. I was lucky and only paid £400 + Vat, but shop around. And with the pedalo i can easily grout 50m2 on my own in a couple of hours! Stood up as well.

 

[peteablard]

I dunno what gear you use Pete, but if your doing those big jobs I'd look into the Raimondi Ipurbet (mixer) and the Raimondi Pedalo (washboy). These bits of kit will help you no end. I use my ipurbet from floors from 20m2 upwards, it would be invaluable on that that big job. I was lucky and only paid £400 + Vat, but shop around. And with the pedalo i can easily grout 50m2 on my own in a couple of hours! Stood up as well.

I've been thinking about buying a Pedalo. One of the other guys I sometimes work with has got one and said I could borrow it. Will probably give it a go in the next week or so and get myself one if I like it

 

[bugs183]

Ace piece of kit, if you buy one (got mine off ebay) be prepared for the rubbish two part pole to break, so get a new broom handle for it! I've got two of the sweepex heads, so if i'm grouting a big area one of us can just sweep over the drying grout and emulsify it, and the second geezer can come along after and wash off the residual. Very quick system.

 

[Mortorman]

Is the set bonding strength of standard set as strong as rapid set? Or is that a ridiculous question???

Cheers

 

[bugs183]

Not a daft question at all!
They are as strong as each other, but obviously rapid setting adhesives reach their highest bond strength quicker.