I'm midway through a DIY bathroom project and need some guidance. I've been reading through the forum and think I've picked up lots of sounds tips.

1) I am fitting 1000 x 333mm porcelanosa tiles to file to plasterboard. I was going to use a 10mm U notched trowel for this - does this sound ok?

2) The tiles are rectified and I want to use the small spacers 2mm - any problems with that?

3) I think I will need to use bagged adhesive, never used that before, would I be able to get away with a tub of Bal?

4) I may have confused myself but do I need to use any primer on the plasterboards?

5) How thick should I expect the adhesive bed to be once I've applied the tile?

Cheers

hi wilmslow, a 10 mm solid bed trowel is good practice as it will give a solid bed although I just tend to use a solid bed trowel in the wet areas. 2mm spacers will be fine with porcelanosa tiles as I find them to be very uniform in size although you'll have to be careful that you don't get any lippage. Bagged adhesive is a must with tiles this size as the adhesive sets by chemical reaction rather than by air. If there's any bare gypsum on your plasterboard that will need to be primed, but if there are no bare edges then it's ok not to prime. Your adhesive bed should compact to about 6mm solid

Welcome to TF. You are being very brave attempting to fit those tiles! I can't add to Doug's post above, but, what are you using to cut the tiles?

to TF, as Bri you are very brave.

The majority of bagged adhesive is a max 6mm bed of adhesive, this is the finished adhesive bed and not the trowel depth...

On that size tile you will deffo have to back skim to achieve good contact to the adhesive bed..

A single part flexible CT2FT or CT2TE would be a perfect choice..

Originally Posted by Bri

Welcome to TF. You are being very brave attempting to fit those tiles! I can't add to Doug's post above, but, what are you using to cut the tiles?

I have a cheap electric/table top tile cutter, I was going to buy a new disc for it.

I have fitted some that were 600mm x 300mm, but they were fairly cheap compared to these Porcelanosa ones. I wasn't really too concerned about cutting them (just hanging them was causing me abit of concern), is there something that I need to know about cutting them Bri?

Many thanks for responding, I'm really grateful for your expertise.

Thanks for responding Phil, if you have any pointers on cutting them or fitting them can you let me know. Cheers

Hi Dave, many thanks for your comments really appreciated. Can you let me know what a CT2FT or CT2FE (I'm guessing its a type of adhesive but I've googled it and can't find anything relating to tiles).

In my opinion, and having worked with these tiles, you will need a good manual cutter. Most Porcelanosa stores hire out the rubi tx1200, so I'd ask your store if they have one. I really don't think a small cutter will cope with the tiles or give you a clean straight cut, which in turn will give you a finish you probably wont be happy with.


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I'd be using a fast adhesive for that size tile IMO.

Hi Wilmslow

You are right, C2TE/C2TF does refer to the type of adhesive. This is defined in British Standards (EN 12004). Google this and you'll find the info.

The first chatracter is the type: Cementitious C, Dispersion (the ready mixed tubbed stuff) D, Reaction Resin (eg Epoxy) R
The number indicates whether the adhesive is improved/modified 2 (eg by adding polymers) or not 1
The T stands for Thixotropic which means it is normally thick/viscous but is more liquid when mixed; this gives the anti-slip characteristic
Then the E is for extended open time / F for fast set

So

C2TE is a Cementitious adhesive with improved characteristics, slip-resistance and extended open time
C2TF is a Fast-setting cementitious adhesive with improved characteristics and slip-resistance

You may see S1 or S2 appended which means deformable / highly deformable - for substrates which flex.

The bags of adhesive will have this spec on them (and there is a similar spec for grouts)

Best of luck