hello i wonder if someone can help me out here

we have bought porcelain floor tiles (60x60) from topps tiles. with it they sold us 8 bags of flexible adhesive at £58 per bag - thats almost half of what we paid for the tiles themselves.

is it really necessary to have such expensive adhesive?

could someone recommend anything else that is not so expensive. i understand the ready mix tub stuff may not be appropriate but surely there must be somethign that can do the same job that is not so costly.

thanks!!

need more info please how many m2 of tiles whats the substrate are they polished porc thanks

24m2 and they are not polished. matt finish
thanks

also i forgot to mention that about 20% of the floor is floorboard and the rest concrete (where the kitchen has been extended)

did they supp]y anything else and are you intending to lay tiles yourself any idea which brand oadh it seems a lot

apart from grout etc nothing else.

the brand of adhesive is Toppfix Rapidset Flexible

You have definatley paid well over the top for your adhesive mate, as for your floor i would overlay the floor boards with 12 mm exterior grade ply leave a few mill gap for expansion and fill with silicone, seal the back and sides with acrylic primer stick down with no nails and screw down every 200 centres or a hardibacker stick down with flexi adhesive and then screw down the same as ply bring the concrete up to the same level making sure you leave a silicone expansion joint between ply and concrete then overlay all the floor with either ditra matting or durabase ci decoupling mat, to put this down use a cement based flexi adhesive with a 4mm trowel spread the adhesive the same as if you were laying tiles lay mat and then use the flat side of the trowel on a angle iron out the full area of matting, then tile as normal using flexi adhesive again. Cheers Mick

hey mick many thanks for the detailed explanation - appreciated!

i have the option of returning the bags to topps but i need to know what i could get instead. they will just tell me i need the expensive stuff but i need an impartial opinion.

i am not a tiler and so do not know a lot about this except that it seemed very expensive. which adhesive would you recommend i buy

thank you!

Well over the topp ( Joke) for adhesive
Compare this and then tell me why Tops are so expensive ?
Biscem Vitriflex Flexible Floor Adhesive Grey 20kg on eBay (end time 20-Nov-09 1317 GMT)

as above would recomend getting a pro in as your floor being timber and concrete needs to be done right the prep work involved is def needed as for adh let tiler supply his own that way he can carry his garantee he should know whats best the tiles 600x600 are not the best to lay for diy as lippage can happen easily for the non pro also your tiles may need to be sealed (with an ipregnator doesnt change the appearance) if you like post job on here and a local tiler can pm you for a quote hope this helps

you should be able to get a good quality flexi adhesive for about £15 £20 per 20 KG bag £58 is a total rip off!

Originally Posted by lon1mxl

apart from grout etc nothing else.

the brand of adhesive is Toppfix Rapidset Flexible

we sell Mapei adhesive and our Single Part Flexible is £30 per 20KG bag.

mick - thanks again you've been a great help and those 8 bags are going back to topps right now"!!!!

Are the 2 floors level with each other? Its not realy the done thing to tile direct to floor boards even though adhesive companies may say you can. Much better to over board with backer boards assuming the floorboard area is free of bounce/deflection.
If the floorboards area was secure and no bounce i would over board the whole floor with Tile Backer boards. Ditra matting not strictly needed but for the smallish cost compared with the tiles i would use it for the "belt and braces" reason. As stated deffo have an expansion joint where the 2 surfaces meet. if you were adamant that you dont want that joint then is there an oprtion of removing the floorboards and screeded or concreting the floor?

That what toppsis known for we all know they charge well above MRP about time yhe office of fairtrading got involed ,would you pay £100000 for a ford escort or would you look around fist

This is a bit of a big job for D.I.Y. I'd get a pro. A pro would've got you discount on the tiles and addy too. I'd be tempted to take the lot back and get some quotes in.

if your floors are the same level i would not prime the ply but use the adhesive to stick the ply down then put screws in the floorboard part of it then tile on top but make sure you use single part flexible adhesive which is rapid set or you can use backerboards 10mm
Ps make sure you screw floorboards down first
:Pete

Not exactly the point, but my understanding is toppfix retails at £45.

Originally Posted by tkm18

Not exactly the point, but my understanding is topics retails at £45.

could make my own retail price for a ford escort to £100000 would people pay it no but the pay that for top fix cant understand it they think they are getting it cheap because it looks big and shinny
nice to see you are taking it back wish more would they then would go where they deserve

I hear what your saying, but in this instance it's Topps 'own brand', they can set the price at what they want, RRP or MRP doesn't apply here.

Originally Posted by lon1mxl

hello i wonder if someone can help me out here

we have bought porcelain floor tiles (60x60) from topps tiles. with it they sold us 8 bags of flexible adhesive at £58 per bag - thats almost half of what we paid for the tiles themselves.

is it really necessary to have such expensive adhesive?

could someone recommend anything else that is not so expensive. i understand the ready mix tub stuff may not be appropriate but surely there must be somethign that can do the same job that is not so costly.

thanks!!

I won't repeat the other lads advice...i'll just say, take the lot back to Topps and get to your nearest Tile Giant

Is that the new adhesive that has diamond dust and gold sprinkles it is......

Nearly £60 a bag, thats extortionate

Just google palace adhesives to get an understanding on what price it should be, thats all it is , palace re-branded,..

Topps retail prices are bloody shocking

Fairly good for trade

To be fair to Topps and I don't subscribe to them in any way, surely they have to meet their sales figures, if someone comes in and is green shall we say regarding prices etc then Topps will sell their products at maximum price's without any discount, that is what happens all the time, its called selling, if you don't shop around then you are liable to get stung. No doubt they had a little hearty laugh in the brew room discussing what you paid for the adhesive, right now its dog eat dog and they just did their job.
Having said all that I would get 39 bags of the same product at about a quid cheaper.

Topps - ultimate rip off, even the trade prices.
As has already been said - get yourself down to TileGiant

all i will say is "dont go to topps for anything tiling related".

Originally Posted by tkm18

I hear what your saying, but in this instance it's Topps 'own brand', they can set the price at what they want, RRP or MRP doesn't apply here.

and you paid it

Originally Posted by pjc

and you paid it

Eh, what you on about?