Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Cement Based Tile Adhesive But Were Afraid to Ask
Cement Based Tile Adhesive
Also known as Thinset adhesive, powder adhesive.
Cement based lowes tile tile adhesive is typically available in 20kg per unit bags and is available in a few different types. Cement based tile adhesives are of a high specification and can be used on wall and floor tile installations and also with the full spectrum of different tile types. Cement by its nature is a water resistant material, so cement based tile adhesive can be used in frequently wet areas or even in total immersion of water (such as swimming pools) Also, most cement adhesives can be used externally and are frost resistant, making them suitable for fixing tiles to a garden path, patio or a porch area.
Cement cures by way of a hydraulic nature, which in basic terms means that it does not rely on air to cure it. You can use cement based tile adhesive to fix large format tiles and also tiles with a low porosity such as porcelain and glass tiles without having concerns that it will not cure in reasonable time. Cement adhesives can be built up to a certain degree also, where walls or floors may not be as flat as expected or the tiles are particularly large. Depending on the product, cement based adhesives can be used up to 6-8mm thick generally and up to 12mm thickness in limited areas. There are specialist adhesives which can be used at a thickness of 25mm which are designed for the very large format tiles that are becoming fashionable these days, or the slate tiles you can purchase that are uncalibrated and can vary in thickness wildly. Although cement based tile adhesive has a universal and broad usability factor, one important fact is that if you are tiling onto a gypsum (plaster or plasterboard) substrate, then you must prime the plaster first, this is very important and if ignored can lead to a failure. Please read our notes on priming to understand what to use.
Although cement based adhesive has hydraulic curing, you will need to use a cement based tile adhesive with some degree of polymer (ie. flexibility) to fix your porcelain or glass tiles or other low porsosity tiles. This is because although the adhesive will cure behind these tiles, it cannot cure into the body of the tile and create a good anchor (bond) with the tile. The inclusion of polymer acts basically like glue and sticks to the tile and forms a strong bond. Money saving tip: There are some cement based tile adhesives specially formulated for porcelain tiles which are cheaper than their flexible alternatives and the packaging will reflect it’s suitability. basically these adhesives have a small amount of polymer which is enough to bond to porcelain without being classed as flexible.
Rapidset cement based tile adhesive