When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I've used the wrong adhesive on the floor tiles, arghhh.
Question, will I get away with it?
I self leveled the floor two weeks prior so the floor is absolutely level, therefore it was easy to level the tile with the adhesive, and I know I have very good even coverage with the notched towel
i wasnt brave enough to seal down all my revised bathroom plumbing like this
Wall adhesive on the floor. I've made the plumbing accessible for the waste, and all the supplies are plumbed well and are burried behind backer board so should be okay.
Originally Posted by dpb
i used mapei flexible floor and wall grout , this was shower wall tiles above tray
I've got this mate, so no issue there.
Originally Posted by alanbell
If its a timber floor, Id take up and use flexi, Tidy job, shame to redo, but if it,s not set take up now, imo.
Concrete mate, no signs of cracks/movement in the original for, and I've since levelled it to make the job easier, just wrong adhesive - I blame Liverpool as I was doing it when they were playing, or at least attempting.
I've got the walls to do, so I'll walk on them whist doing these (will cover with a sheet of course) and watch for any loosening or cracks before grouting.
I'm absolutely adamant the floor is level, a 5 foot float was perfect with no gaps under in every direction, and I've notched troweled the adhesive onto the floor and back of the tile evenly (over kill) but that's what I always do to ensure full coverage.
So the only problem I have is weight compression I think, will they take the foot traffic..... Time will tell, I'll buy some spare boxes just in case and store them,, it's only £50 worth as it's a relatively small area.
Does mapai have a technical helpline? It's a long shot that you'll talk to somebody that knows, but they could be able to tell what the technical differences between their floor and wall adhesive is.
I have no idea but ultimately it has to be either porosity, strength/grip, or resistance to pressure/deflection. Or is there some ingredient included to prevent reaction between plaster or screed?
Obviously the product won't be warrantied, but will it work? It's a good product and some wall tiles can be as heavy as floor tiles. And plasterboard flexes ALOT.
Worse case is redoing it all, but how much are the tiles? You are going to end up with breakage, especially if you have to chip adhesive off the tiles. If they are cheapies I maybe inclined to leave it, especially if the fracture easily.
Does mapai have a technical helpline? It's a long shot that you'll talk to somebody that knows, but they could be able to tell what the technical differences between their floor and wall adhesive is.
I have no idea but ultimately it has to be either porosity, strength/grip, or resistance to pressure/deflection. Or is there some ingredient included to prevent reaction between plaster or screed?
Obviously the product won't be warrantied, but will it work? It's a good product and some wall tiles can be as heavy as floor tiles. And plasterboard flexes ALOT.
Worse case is redoing it all, but how much are the tiles? You are going to end up with breakage, especially if you have to chip adhesive off the tiles. If they are cheapies I maybe inclined to leave it, especially if the fracture easily.
They were cheap mate, I think sub £15msq so I ain't bothered about the cost, more about the time it would take to redo if I have too as the two cuts around the shower were a pita, ended up using an angle grinder with a gentle touch as the time cutter was too aggressive.
As said earlier I think I'll leave it for now and fit the wall tiles, so whilst I'm foot trafficking on them I guess I might see how they cope. I'll also get some decent card and cut a template of the two corner tiles so it'll save me some time later if I've to redo it.
Gut feeling says they won't last..... But hey hoo.......
I'll report back in a few days when I've done the walls.
Waiting on a plane has resulted in me gaining a more in depth knowledge of adhesive than I ever needed ....
Turns out there's three types: Dispersion, Cement and Resin. To confuse things the latter is a hybrid that can use dispersion and cement components but is usually a 2-part product.
I've only ever used cement-based; Having to re-tile mosaics on the floor of a swimming pool a few years after it being built, due to what was suspected as a badly mixed/expired batch of adhesive being used (soul destroying).
Dispersion adhesive seem to be of ready ready-mixed variety, so I guess that's what you have, it seems to be the key for that to work is its ability to dry as its water-based so need to allow evaporation to go-off and set (cement will set regardless of moisture -to a point).
So I guess the issue here is the ability for it to dry, and/or it reacting with whatever it is on the floor. I know you said concrete but that can mean anything, if it's had sealer put on top or a expoxy self-leveller etc. Concrete alone likes to holds moisture it can also react (sulphation, efflorescence etc.) so the issue here I'm guessing is its going to take longer to set and gain full strength before you can put weight on it and before you can grout, and if the concrete reacts with the moisture in the adhesive it may never make a strong bond anyway. So that's probably why the pro's will say no.
I've only ever used cement based and never used ready mixed - Only ever done floors and pools. So I could be totally wrong
Thanks everyone particularly Ali for going above and beyond with research. Contrary to what's been said, I was advised to leave the joints exposed so it allows air to get to the adhesive where possible, but I do understand what you guys are saying. I'll probably grout them in a few days.
I PVA/water mixed the walls this morning, and i've just drawn my lines for the walls so I'll get this finished tonight, and in the process I'll be walking over the floor tiles so they will get plenty traffic. Up to press I've not seen any movement or sinkage.
Ref the question on the concrete, the original screed was sealed before I self leveled the floor, and then two weeks later I PVA/water the new substrate before affixing these tiles, so yes sealed, but not with solvent.
I'm a little more optimistic that I might get away with this.... But have succumbed to the possibility of redoing it if required, time will tell I guess....
Pictures as it is now, ready for the walls, it's a second downstairs bathroom so not the end of the world of I've to lift them, but as you can imagine it will be a pain and I might need to level again to flatten the surface delaying things further. Anyway I've just bought more "WALL" adhesive for the "WALL" tiles haha. Pictures of one of the vanity units, obviously going where soil is, but just thought I'd show what i'm putting in.
Waiting on a plane has resulted in me gaining a more in depth knowledge of adhesive than I ever needed
I do love the way a thread like this results in a whole load of people learning more about the subject in question as they search around trying to find information to help the OP. I've inadvertently learned about all manner of things via the "Non-related" sub forum threads over the years
Great job Rob!Worth the effort.It looks good.
I especially like the loo with the extra 'Curry Night' extractor fan option.Gotta get me one of those.
Haha yeah mate.
There is an extractor above the loo which I haven't shown, that was an angle grinder cut job!!
Pretty pleased with the result, just fed up with it now!
Hopefully finish the window surround tiles tonight and get grouting this week so I can finally start to see it come together.
So close from what was a f_cking nightmare!
I wasn't going to do this bathroom until winter this year as I have enough on, but the room adjacent was showing signs of damp, which was strange as I built another stud wall 6" away from the original bathroom wall so the damp issue must have been bad, and the only way to tell was to rip the tiles off the wall......
Well I finally managed to finish this room off, just need to clean down the tiles at some point.
Please to say there is no movement in the floor tiles, but I suppose time will tell.
Last few jobs took me a while as I simple ran out of steam due to doing other jobs on the house. Fit Shower (PITA), Skirting boards, tile around window with trim, extractor fan, mirror, painting architraves and skirting boards - job done!
The final result is not as glamorous as I was hoping for, but it will do!
Do your tiles go underneath the shower ? ( i cant recall )
doesnt look as though need skirting
No I sand and cemented the shower tray in, then cut the tiles around it to try and keep the step into the shower as minimal as possible. Quite easy to do really with a little patience, I used some card to make the templates first and used an angle grinder to finely cut away what I needed.
I put skirting against the two walls that don't have tiles on them as I plastered those walls to the floor as I didn't want too much tiling the room to help with temps. I also didn't bother with an under floor heating as this is the second bathroom so its not likely to be used a great deal for showers etc.
Tilers - I need your help.
....
