1st Job: Adhesive for thin 4.5mm porcelain tiles 600x300mm

[pjuk]

I picked up some thin (4.5mm) porcelain tiles 600x300mm last weekend to tile the bathroom walls and never had any experience with tiling large tiles on the wall.

My only experience tiling has been with small 100x100 kitchen tiles and tiling the floor with larger 300mm tiles, so any advice would be appreciated e.g. type of adhesive and any tips on cutting porcelain (even though it is quite thin).

Thanks,
Pj

[Mike]

you need to use cement based flexible adhesive, slow set would be best if you're up to speed. make sure the walls are well prepared, i.e. nice and flat and use the correct primer, not p.v.a.

[diamondtiling]

Hi PJ and welcome to the forum.

What are you tiling onto as there are weight restrictions to allow for. Assuming that you are within the limits then you need to prep the walls using SBR bond. A bagged adhesive is essential, and should be flexible due to the use of porcelain.

A bit more information regarding substrate would be useful.

[Mike]

Hi PJ and welcome to the forum.
What are you tiling onto as there are weight restrictions to allow for. Assuming that you are within the limits then you need to prep the walls using SBR bond. A bagged adhesive is essential, and should be flexible due to the use of porcelain.
A bit more information regarding substrate would be useful. .

i doubt there would be weight issues as they're only 4.5mm thin. even on pink they'd be fine.

[diamondtiling]

i doubt there would be weight issues as they're only 4.5mm thin. even on pink they'd be fine.

Its still better to check Mike, 600x300 porcelain will be heavier than ceramics. I would avoid fixing these onto skimmed plaster if I could help it.

[pjuk]

Hi,
Thanks for the quick responses! The tiles are really light (~2kg/tile) and they are going up on what I presume is some kind of skimmed wall. The previous tiles were 300x400mm but about twice the thickness and were a little heavier.

Any recommendation on an actual product would be ideal since I will pop out sometime this week to pick up the adhesive and any tools.
Cheers,
Pj

[Del W]

Are you going to tile just dry areas or are you tiling shower area aswell ?

[Mike]

if they're 2kg a tile then they're under the tolerance of 20kg per m2 on a skimmed wall, even with adhesive. as for adhesive go to your local tile store, tile giant, ctd etc, there's many good makes around, bal, weber, mapei etc. i usually use granfix as that's what my local store stock. be careful if you go to the large building sheds as they'll sell you anything and tell you anything too! as del is about to tell you, if you're having a shower on the tiled wall you would be strongly advised to tank the wet area. this is a paint on waterproof membrane which protects the substrate from water ingress. a kit is around £60

[TileGiant Macc]

Hi pjuk,
The best advice you can get is through Mapei technical support. That way if anything does go wrong you have the backing and support of the company. They can be contacted on;
0121-5086970 option 2

Hope this helps!

[kilty55]

these tiles are being sold in b and q....they have a tiled board with these tiles on top of them half showing botyh layers...they claim these tiles are suitable for tiling onto tiles with and thats how they are being pushed/advertised...bad bad info imo what happens if it fails and a kid is hurt.....b and q thanks

[pjuk]

Haha...My bathroom is small enough and I don't want to lose anymore space by tiling on top of existing tiles (plus I wouldn't trust it!)

[kilty55]

thats the game pj