WHEN fixing large format thin porcelain tiles, it’s crucial your adhesive has speed of set, but also with longer opening and working times to allow your tiles to be carried into place.
‘At BAL, we recommend using rapid–setting adhesives such as BAL Rapid-Flex One – which offers fixers an hour pot life, plus 30 minutes open time,’ says the company. Plenty of time for fixers to cut, move, back-butter and fix large format thin porcelain tiles.
BAL Rapid-Flex One is said to have a high initial bond and with a set time of three-four hours it ensures large-format thin porcelain tiles are firmly fixed to walls or floors with no slumping or movement.
However, the key thing to remember when fixing thin porcelain tiles is the background must be sufficiently flat to SR1 Surface Regularity. Surface regularity is measured by placing a 2m straight-edge on the surface and measuring any gaps underneath with a slip gauge, says BAL.
SR1 is high standard and allows for a maximum gap at any point of 3mm. Deviations in the floor surface could reflect and show through the final tile layer, or could lead to tiles being unsupported by inconsistent adhesive bed thickness beneath the tile, says the company.
Tiles should be solidly supported by the tile adhesive. Air pockets or voids beneath the tiles are potential points of weakness owing to an impact from a heavy object.
Tile adhesive should always be applied to the substrate using a suitable notched trowel as per the adhesive manufacturer’s recommendations.
In addition, back butter large format tiles by applying a thin bed of adhesive on the back of the tiles to fill in any deep keys or heavily buttoned back tile profiles before placing into the adhesive ribs, applied using the correct notched trowel to the wall, says the company.
The need for solid bed fixing is a must, as poor contact will potentially lead to tiles cracking and/or debonding. It’s not recommended to spot fix ceramic tiles with tile adhesive.
Says Bal: ‘To achieve SR1 surface regularity on the floors, prior to fixing the tiles, fixers or contractors should use a suitable levelling compound such as BAL Level Max or BAL Level Fast.
‘Wall backgrounds should be prepared to SR1 with tile backer boards such as BAL Board or brickwork and blockwork can be rendered with a product such as BAL Quickset Render.’
For any thin porcelain project, it’s always advisable to contact BAL Technical Helpline for a full specification and project support.
03330 030160
www.bal-adhesives.com
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