Tile adhesive rip off???

[lon1mxl]

hello i wonder if someone can help me out here

we have bought porcelain floor tiles (60x60) from topps tiles. with it they sold us 8 bags of flexible adhesive at £58 per bag - thats almost half of what we paid for the tiles themselves.

is it really necessary to have such expensive adhesive?

could someone recommend anything else that is not so expensive. i understand the ready mix tub stuff may not be appropriate but surely there must be somethign that can do the same job that is not so costly.

thanks!!

 

[jay]

:welcome: need more info please how many m2 of tiles whats the substrate are they polished porc thanks:8:

 

[lon1mxl]

24m2 and they are not polished. matt finish
thanks

 

[lon1mxl]

also i forgot to mention that about 20% of the floor is floorboard and the rest concrete (where the kitchen has been extended)

 

[jay]

did they supp]y anything else and are you intending to lay tiles yourself any idea which brand oadh it seems a lot :8:

 

[lon1mxl]

apart from grout etc nothing else.

the brand of adhesive is Toppfix Rapidset Flexible

 

[foxman]

You have definatley paid well over the top for your adhesive mate, as for your floor i would overlay the floor boards with 12 mm exterior grade ply leave a few mill gap for expansion and fill with Silicon, seal the back and sides with acrylic primer stick down with no nails and screw down every 200 centres or a hardibacker stick down with flexi adhesive and then screw down the same as ply bring the concrete up to the same level making sure you leave a Silicon expansion joint between ply and concrete then overlay all the floor with either ditra matting or durabase ci decoupling mat, to put this down use a cement based flexi adhesive with a 4mm trowel spread the adhesive the same as if you were laying tiles lay mat and then use the flat side of the trowel on a angle iron out the full area of matting, then tile as normal using flexi adhesive again. Cheers Mick

 

[lon1mxl]

hey mick many thanks for the detailed explanation - appreciated!

i have the option of returning the bags to topps but i need to know what i could get instead. they will just tell me i need the expensive stuff but i need an impartial opinion.

i am not a tiler and so do not know a lot about this except that it seemed very expensive. which adhesive would you recommend i buy

thank you!

 

[Gazzer]

Well over the topp ( Joke) for adhesive
Compare this and then tell me why Tops are so expensive ?
Biscem Vitriflex Flexible Floor Adhesive Grey 20kg on eBay (end time 20-Nov-09 13:44:17 GMT)

 

[jay]

as above would recomend getting a pro in as your floor being timber and concrete needs to be done right the prep work involved is def needed as for adh let tiler supply his own that way he can carry his garantee he should know whats best the tiles 600x600 are not the best to lay for diy as lippage can happen easily for the non pro also your tiles may need to be sealed (with an ipregnator doesnt change the appearance) if you like post job on here and a local tiler can pm you for a quote hope this helps :8:

 

[foxman]

you should be able to get a good quality flexi adhesive for about £15 £20 per 20 KG bag £58 is a total rip off!

 

[Matt]

apart from grout etc nothing else.

the brand of adhesive is Toppfix Rapidset Flexible

we sell Mapei adhesive and our Single Part Flexible is £30 per 20KG bag.

 

[lon1mxl]

mick - thanks again you've been a great help and those 8 bags are going back to topps right now"!!!!

 

[Gazzer]

Are the 2 floors level with each other? Its not realy the done thing to tile direct to floor boards even though adhesive companies may say you can. Much better to over board with backer boards assuming the floorboard area is free of bounce/deflection.
If the floorboards area was secure and no bounce i would over board the whole floor with Tile Backer boards. Ditra matting not strictly needed but for the smallish cost compared with the tiles i would use it for the "belt and braces" reason. As stated deffo have an expansion joint where the 2 surfaces meet. if you were adamant that you dont want that joint then is there an oprtion of removing the floorboards and screeded or concreting the floor?

 

[Perry]

That what toppsis known for we all know they charge well above MRP about time yhe office of fairtrading got involed ,would you pay £100000 for a ford escort or would you look around fist