Can anyone please advise on a suitable adhesive for fixing 600x300x10mm thick porcelain tiles (CTD Gemini mineral quartz range) to moisture resistant (green) plasterboard walls in a bathroom; would BAL WhiteStar be suitable and should I prime the moisturecheck plasterboard first with something?

I'm also a bit worried about the weight; the tiles are 10mm thick porcelain - would these be OK to fix to plasterboard? Catalogue says they're suitable for floors and walls.

Help appreciated.

Thats pushing it mate,I'd used powdered gear at least for that weight!

No Bal white star is not suitable for those tiles. You will need an adhesive that is powder based such as Mapei Keraflex or Keraquick. If mapei is not available, BAL SPF will be sufficient. You will need to prime the pasterbaord with an acrylic primer first.

mapei keraquick flexi adhesive,i would check with manufacturer if you need to prime first.I would definetely used powdered adhesive and NOT dispersion adhesive(tubbed) you should be ok weight wise.

we all posted at once lads..lol

I agree, Mapei Keraflex. Or Ardex X7w.

longforgantiler,you might want to leave a bit of feedback about yourself in the new members section..so we can put a name and a place to who and where you are.

welcome to the forums m8.

Hi mate, find out how heavy the tiles are, acording to BAL you should not exceed 20kg per sqrm on plaster board.

Originally Posted by sranners

Hi mate, find out how heavy the tiles are, acording to BAL you should not exceed 20kg per sqrm on plaster board.

20kg on plaster or Skimmed plasterboard, 32kg on bare plasterboard.

The mineral quartz will be fine on plaster board.......

Flexi cement based adhesive and grout.....when grouting those tiles don't leave it too long before washing off , they have a rough surface and can be hard to get clean if you leave the grout too long before washing off..

British Gypsum make it and they say 32kg

I would use keraflex maxi preferably white on these. Why anyone would want to use fastset on walls is beyond me. Having to mix a new batch up every 40 minutes is not what I'd call efficient. Maxi has a pot life of 5hrs so your only mixing 2 batches a day at most.

you would use fastset on walls if you need to grout the same day..it has ite benefits..hope you understand.

Originally Posted by brian c

you would use fastset on walls if you need to grout the same day..it has ite benefits..hope you understand.

Aye. Forgot to mention thats the only time I use it

I actually did a full 25m2 bathroom using keraquick recently. 600x300mm travertine. Only used it as I couldn't buy maxi locally at the time. Never again

The guy was talking about using white star tho so I assumed he wasn't planning on groutin the same day.

John...where do you buy the kerraflex maxi?

Originally Posted by brian c

John...where do you buy the kerraflex maxi?

Tile it all. They usually need to order it in so always allow time for that. Thats how I got caught out. Shop assistant told me they stocked it witch wasn't the case. That place in Kirky could probably order it inn, they use maipei, am sure?

You can also buy it from CTD and Cosmos but thats a bit of a treck for a local job. Porelanosa also have their own version which is cheaper

cheers,same with continental tiles,they dont stock it but can get it.

Originally Posted by Dave

The mineral quartz will be fine on plaster board.......

Flexi cement based adhesive and grout.....when grouting those tiles don't leave it too long before washing off , they have a rough surface and can be hard to get clean if you leave the grout too long before washing off..

Thanks Dave; I've checked with the supplier and the weight of the tiles is 22kg/sqm; not sure what to include for weight of adhesive and grout, but total should be less than 32kg!! CTS stock BAL SPF Adhesive and have said that there's no need to prime moisture-resistant plasterboard first? BAL website recommends 2 coats of neat APD Primer on plasterboard if using cement based adhesives?? Any thoughts on the primer issue??

If using BAL, then you need to follow instructions. With spf being a cement based product it can react with gypsum products causing a potential tile delamination issue. It only needs a small break in the plasterboard paper surface to expose the gypsum product giving rise to this potential reaction problem.

As far as I am aware, BAL is the only manufacturer to recommend priming plasterboard.

I always do anyway as there are other benefits from doing so - slightly longer adjustment time being one and far easier clean of off excess adhesive being another. Also if you don't prime with the BAL products you will invalidate your warranty!