Tile Adhesive

[Floorist]

The local big box pushes tile adhesive. You have to wonder if they have ever read the label.





Limitations
Do not bond directly to hardwood, Luan plywood, particle board, parquet, cushion or sponge-back vinyl flooring, metal, fiberglass, plastic or OSB panels.
When setting moisture sensitive natural stone, cement or agglomerate tile, check with Custom Technical Services; use EBM-Lite™ Epoxy Bonding Mortar 100% Solids or CEG-Lite™ 100% Solids Commercial Epoxy Grout.
Not recommended for installing tile larger than 6"x6" over waterproofing membranes.
Do not use to install resin-backed marble of stone; use EBM-Lite™ Epoxy Bonding Mortar 100% Solids or CEG-Lite™ 100% Solids Commercial Epoxy Grout.
Recommended for interior use only. Do not use for steam rooms, shower floors or underwater. For those installations, use CUSTOM® Polymer-Modified Mortar Systems.
Not for use over radiant heat systems.
Installation dry time varies depending on tile size and density, substrate porosity and ambient conditions.
Do not use to install fixtures, ungauged natural stone, gauged stone thicker than 3/8" (9.5 mm), transparent glass tile, Saltillo pavers or lug back tile on floors

 

[havasu]

Are you referring to the tile adhesive in the quart containers, which needs no mixing? I've used that stuff on luan, drywall, concrete and Styrofoam, and once set, a chisel is needed to remove it. I just experienced this last week.

 

[Floorist]

I've seen many a failure with that stuff. Thinset should be used.

 

[havasu]

I agree 100% Rusty, but when there is only a small repair or extra grip is needed, I always grab the "glue in the bucket".

 

[Kman]

There's only one application for which I'd used mastic, and that's a backsplash, as long as it's not a tub. Floors and showers, never. Too much of a chance of it re-emulsifying and coming loose.

I can't remember the last time I even bought a bucket of mastic. I can fill up a five-gallon bucket with thinset for $15 and ten minutes of mixing, but a 3.5 gallon bucket of mastic is more than twice that amount. The only advantage to mastic is that you can put the lid on it and use it again later.

Now apply what I just said to the application of installing large tile: you put mastic on the floor with a notched trowel and then cover it with an 18" porcelain tile. How is that any different than putting the lid back on the bucket? In either case, the mastic won't dry. With the bucket, that's a good thing, but with a tile, that's a disaster.

 

[havasu]

Yeah, I would never use the bucket stuff on any large tile or any large job. I do know that mastic works when the moisture is removed, and it becomes rock hard. My ex-wife used the bucket mastic for primarily mosaic tile jobs, and has tiled concrete tables, wood tables, glass flower pots, clay flower pots, etc. There was a running joke that if I layed still enough with her, I would soon have tile covering my body.

 

[Floorist]

Yeah, There was a running joke that if I layed still enough with her, I would soon have tile covering my body.

My ex would have just covered me with dirt.

 

[havasu]

I actually cleaned it up from the original version, and believe she would tile a certain appendage.

 

[DarisMulkin]

I actually cleaned it up from the original version, and believe she would tile a certain appendage.

That must have been your little---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------long pause here----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------finger.

That's what my wife always tells me.

Daris

 

[Floorist]

That must have been your little---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------long pause here----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------finger.

That's what my wife always tells me.

Daris

I thought you always turned off your hearing aid.

 

[DarisMulkin]

I thought you always turned off your hearing aid.

Depends on what she is saying. She calls it selective hearing.

Daris