UNIBOND Tiling on wooden Floors

[STEVEROG]

I think this might open a can of worms but hey..... what the heck!

I am almost ready to tile my en-suite bathroom (Porcelain tiles onto 18mm WBP plywood).I willl be using Bal Fastlex with all the appropriate preparatory work on the floor.

Now the can of worms.....I have been informed that Unibond now sell a product called "Tiling on wooden floors" specifically for tiling onto wooden flooring (hence the name I suppose). There were a few hints that I might be wasting money on the BAL stuff and to use the Unibond product. I will be going with the BAL as I don't want to have to re-do the job on the strength of a few quid. I just wondered what you guys thought about the Unibond stuff, maybe it is a decent product?

Note that I have used a lot of Unibond product in other building trade areas in the past with great results.

Steve

[david campbell]

have use there rapid set for floors a few times when i've ran out(theres always a b&q handy) and i'm not a big fan of it,there tubbed gear is ok apart from it stinks,so in general i think it would be ok but bal is sooooo much easier to use!

[doug boardley]

if i'm right it's a tubbed addy and useless imo, heard of tilers who've used it and had problems

[grumpygrouter]

I think this might open a can of worms but hey..... what the heck!

I am almost ready to tile my en-suite bathroom (Porcelain tiles onto 18mm WBP plywood).I willl be using Bal Fastlex with all the appropriate preparatory work on the floor.

Now the can of worms.....I have been informed that Unibond now sell a product called "Tiling on wooden floors" specifically for tiling onto wooden flooring (hence the name I suppose). There were a few hints that I might be wasting money on the BAL stuff and to use the Unibond product. I will be going with the BAL as I don't want to have to re-do the job on the strength of a few quid. I just wondered what you guys thought about the Unibond stuff, maybe it is a decent product?

Note that I have used a lot of Unibond product in other building trade areas in the past with great results.

Steve

I used this very product to tile my kitchen floor before I took up the trade professionally. It started to crack after about six months and eventually when I got round to re-doing it (after my training) i literally lifted the tiles and swept up the crumbled, powdered adhesive that was left. took me about 1/2 hour!!!!!

[david campbell]

I used this very product to tile my kitchen floor before I took up the trade professionally. It started to crack after about six months and eventually when I got round to re-doing it (after my training) i literally lifted the tiles and swept up the crumbled, powdered adhesive that was left. took me about 1/2 hour!!!!!


good stuff then GG!
now i've found out it's tubbed gear for floors, nooooo way!

[STEVEROG]

So maybe more UN-bond than UNI-BOND!

Sounds like the old chestnut of the right tool for the job then.

Steve

[whitebeam]

Nicobond do tile onto timber, worst stuff I've ever used

[grumpygrouter]

Stick with your fastflex, I used Ardexflex 7001 when I re-tiled my floor, on top of 9mm ply. Still in place, no cracking, nothing.

[kilty55]

why not use mapei? its cheaper than bal.?

[kilty55]

ive used unibond for walls good grief.......its like trying to light a ciggy with a cornetto.

[grumpygrouter]

Only mentioned the flastflex as that was his initial choice. It all depends what is available to him, but you are right, per m2, Mapie keraquick with latexplus is cheaper.

[CJ]

Tubbed gear for floors takes about 3 weeks to go off

So if you can hold ya bladder/bowels for that time..........your'll be fine.

If not, bite the bullet and go for Fastflex

[kilty55]

aye grumps im sure this discussion was open before regardin the same job from what i remember? customer did mention bal,,sure your right he might not have mapei stockist

[tile55]

I used the tubbed Unibond gear from Homebase on special offer (customer brought it).
This was for a bathroom wall, I didn't like it at all, the consistancy was not good and it was hard to spread onto the walland took ages to go off.

[doug boardley]

ive used unibond for walls good grief.......its like trying to light a ciggy with a cornetto.

pmsl..

[BDS]

the product has been out for ages i think cos i`m sure thats what i used over two years ago when i tiled our main bathroom floor (before i did my tiling course and knew any better) and to my amazment no cracks (yet) must be lucky because the bathrooms had some serious useage over the last 2 and a bit years but i`ve seen the light now and learned about adhesives etc etc.

[STEVEROG]

Gents,

You have given me some food for thought.

I have just looked at the cost of the BAL fastflex and it is quite steep. On top of that I only have 3 by 1m tiny en-suite floor to cover so I imagine there will be quite a bit of product left over (based on a 7.5kg bag of powder and a 5l bottle of liquid).

I am now considering the other products mentioned ...

1. Ardexflex 7001.
2. Ultraflex mono s2
3. Mapei keraquick (plus the latex liquid)

I will see what I can get.

Any pointers as to the best places to get the products listed above would be great. A stockist in the Portsmouth area would be great.

Steve

[grumpygrouter]

You will use about half a bag or Ardex, and probably the same of the Mapei Keraquick. I have not used the Ultraflex Mono so can't comment. Fast flex doesn't go as far as the others so you will have less left over. The other alternatives are a little easier to use regarding clean up and stuff.

[STEVEROG]

I just had a look in my local area of lunchtime. The local tiling place is a Granfix stockist. Surprisingly he was not trying to push the Granfix stuff on me. The flexi product he has that is suitable for plywood floors is called " Granfix Fastset flexible" It comes in a 10kg bag, mix with water. its £17 for the bag. That looks like the easiest one to purchase for me but I have not really had a good look around yet.

So any comments on this Granfix stuff?

Steve

[STEVEROG]

Great news........

The Mapei stuff (keraquick and latex plus) is all available at my local Screwfix in 5kg bags for the Keraquick.

What is the coverage for a 5kg bag then?

[grumpygrouter]

Steve, the granfix stuff to use on timber should really be Ultimateflex. it is good stuff but more expensive. You will probably need 10kg of Keraquick and latex plus for your floor. Don't know of the latex plus comes in small bottles though!


....yes it does, you will need 3kg per 10kg of Keraquick.

[STEVEROG]

Right,

Decision made. I am going for the Mapei Keraquick and the latex plus. I will grab two bags of keraquick and the latex plus (5L) from screwfix for the grand sum of £26. That's pretty good compared to about £62 for the BAL option, thats BAL without delivery!

If I need a bit more kerquick I can always leg it down to screwfix for more.

Nice one Grumpy and the rest of you fine fellows.

When I am done I will bang some pictures on here so you can chuckle at the new guys tiling.

Steve