Natural stone tiles laid onto ply, not drying!

Hello,

Hopefully someone can help! As is so often the case I guess; I'm looking after the problem has arisen as opposed to checking first , we've laid tiles onto a ply floor previously without an issue but this time the adhesive won't set. We used a wickes flexible ceramic tile/quarry tile adhesive suitable for wood flooring, the tiles are marble. They've been down more than 24 hours and they are showing no sign of setting, and even more irritatingly one has now cracked. Please can anyone advise?

Many thanks in advance!

My guess would be an out of date adhesive. If this is not the case then it could be contamination from another source (resins in the ply or another substance which has reacted with the adhesive?)

Oh, and welcome

Hi Jessica and welcome to TF,,,,was it a rapid or standard set adhesive that you used...let's take this one step at a time.

It said 24 hours on the adhesive, so I would think standard setting, the adhesive was newly bought a few days ago so I suppose it would be in date as it's a busy Wickes.

Ermm does this adhesive come ready mixed in a bucket ?

Yes it does, I've gleaned this can be problematic reading around.....

As per Sir Ramic, are you sure that the adhesive is suitable for porcelain & natural stone?

Daz

Daz - yes it does say that it's suitable for stone.

I've gotta say..never come across a tubbed adhesive that is truly suitable for use with stone Jessica.

How big are the tiles?

Originally Posted by Sir Ramic

Ermm does this adhesive come ready mixed in a bucket ?

Oh dear. I googled "Wickes flexible adhesive" and up popped a bagged cement adhesive. Weird!......hence why I suggested it being out of date or contamination.

Good news is that it is more than likely all still wet, so may be salvageable to be re-fitted with a cement bagged flexible adhesive. No tubbed adhesive is suitable for floors Im afraid. Sorry

Good luck

Well at least they sound salvageable, can anyone recommend a good bagged adhesive for this purpose? Thanks!

what specialist tile shops are near to you Jessica?...apart from Wickes,,B&Q,,etc

The tiles may well be salvageable, but you seriously need to start the cleaning process asap. The worry is that you have contaminated the plywood and that it will now require replacement. Did you seal / prime the plywood prior to tile application?

Daz

There's a topps tiles and that's about it! The floor had previously been tiled, so we just took the old tiles up and then laid the new ones.

Only near to a topps tiles and then the standard DIY stores. Tiles were previously on the floor, we just removed and then laid the new tiles.

Shame there is no Tile Giant near you as they sell Mapei adhesive which is excellent. B&Q do sell Buildfix adhesive which is made by Mapei, and although more expensive, may be worth looking at. As for the tiles..... as Daz said, you need to act asap. I would replace ply, and overboard it with cement board personally

screwfix also sell mapei adhesives and grouts you can order online or drop into a store or buy BAL adhesives from Topps, i do agree the sub-floor should have been changed prior to fitting with cement board if possible, primed then fitted preferably with ditra matting as it uncouples the tile from subfloor which helps prevent cracking from excessive movement. Also what room temperature are you fitting the tiles at as that can have an effect on the adhesive also