bal mosaic ok for floor?

[pr1970]

Hi all

About to start tiling my bathroom. I have a ply covered floor and also some shelving to tile, the floor will be 33x33 ceramic tiles and the shelving 33x33 mosaic tiles sheets.
Now I`m thinking of getting Bal Mosaic , I see it comes in a 20kg bag which is going to be more than I need. Would it be ok to use the remander for the floor , in other words, would it be flexible enough for that? Otherwise shall I go with Bal rapidflex for the floor?

One last question. Reading through the forum there seems to be conflicting remarks about if ply needs to be primed and/or bonded. Any suggestions on which to do?

cheers

Paul

[GazTech]

Originally Posted by pr1970

Hi all

About to start tiling my bathroom. I have a ply covered floor and also some shelving to tile, the floor will be 33x33 ceramic tiles and the shelving 33x33 mosaic tiles sheets.
Now I`m thinking of getting Bal Mosaic , I see it comes in a 20kg bag which is going to be more than I need. Would it be ok to use the remander for the floor , in other words, would it be flexible enough for that? Otherwise shall I go with Bal rapidflex for the floor?

One last question. Reading through the forum there seems to be conflicting remarks about if ply needs to be primed and/or bonded. Any suggestions on which to do?

cheers

Paul

If the plywood overlay is 18mm then mosaic fix is fine, no need to prime the boards, but seal the back and edges with BAL Bond SBR first before screwing down. Mosaic fix is available in 5kg, 10kg and 20kg from Topps....Gaz

[pr1970]

Thanks Gaz.

The ply is only 6mm thick which i`m going to screw down to the floorboards which seem pretty rigid.

Paul

[GazTech]

Originally Posted by pr1970

Thanks Gaz.

The ply is only 6mm thick which i`m going to screw down to the floorboards which seem pretty rigid.

Paul

In which case Paul I can only recommend Fastflex 2 part adhesive, not mosaic fix....Gaz

[garythetiler]

[quote=pr1970;104213]Hi all

About to start tiling my bathroom. I have a ply covered floor and also some shelving to tile, the floor will be 33x33 ceramic tiles and the shelving 33x33 mosaic tiles sheets.
Now I`m thinking of getting Bal Mosaic , I see it comes in a 20kg bag which is going to be more than I need. Would it be ok to use the remander for the floor , in other words, would it be flexible enough for that? Otherwise shall I go with Bal rapidflex for the floor?

One last question. Reading through the forum there seems to be conflicting remarks about if ply needs to be primed and/or bonded. Any suggestions on which to do?

cheers

the reason why there is conflicting remarks about sealing ply wood is all the adhesive manufactureres have different specifcations for tiling onto wooden surfaces and even through their product ranges information can vary ,wood is not a good substrate for bonding directly to it, thats why there are so many different uncoupling membranes ,backer boards etc the truth is there is no guaranteed method of fixing on to wood as no-one can stabilise the atmospheric pressure, humidity or how well your joists are fixed. best practice as gaz tech has told you is to fit 18mm ply but by saying this he probably means if you have to go down the ply wood route, you would be better off buying yourself some backer board and fix this to your bathroom floor even then make sure yor sub floor has not got any bounce in it

[pr1970]

how about if I got some 12mm ply would that surfice for the mosaic fix, not really wanting to go upto 18mm because I dont want a step up from the hallway flooring.

thanks

[garythetiler]

Originally Posted by GazTech

In which case Paul I can only recommend Fastflex 2 part adhesive, not mosaic fix....Gaz

bal flex is a brilliant adhesive i love the stuff just make sure you have a hand brush to clean your joints out as you work with it as it is black in colour and can grin through the joints and washing over with water before it sets is not advisable

[garythetiler]

Originally Posted by pr1970

how about if I got some 12mm ply would that surfice for the mosaic fix, not really wanting to go upto 18mm because I dont want a step up from the hallway flooring.

thanks

just get some 6mm backer board if the floor is sound like you say it is ,you will be fine with the mosaic fix and hardibacker

[pr1970]

thanks gary

so would another option be to put the 6mm ply down, bed of adhesive then on top 6mm hardibacker?

[garythetiler]

if your floor boards are really well fixed and are screwed down so the floor is sound you can put 6mm ply down and do what gaz tech suggested with the fast flex

[GazTech]

Originally Posted by garythetiler

just get some 6mm backer board if the floor is sound like you say it is ,you will be fine with the mosaic fix and hardibacker

If the floor is solid, this may be ok, but BAL will only guarantee our mosaic fix this way if the backer board is 10mm minimum.....Gaz