Talk about standing the test of time. - Tile Advice

[afright]

Just done a night making good to a floor in a local seaside coffee bar, it has not been touched since the early 70s.The floor is marble mosiac area about 120m2,the mosiac was layed in 71 and fixed with Bal Flex on Hardboard :yikes: yes Hardboard !.It has thousand's of customer's in the summer very busy and although the mosiac is starting to break down it is still stuck fast,44 years does make you think.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Bal flex was a 2 part mixture that smelt like cats pee and stuck like dogs poo!
The most flexible adhesive ever in my opinion but larger format tiles would have cracked along the substrate seams a long time ago. It mixed like Aero chocolate and set like compressed rubber.
Oil tempered hardboard was use​d on vinyl tiles and no doubt with mosaics it was considered correct in early 1970s.

 

[afright]

Yes I have used it plenty of times it came in 5 gallon tins and large bag ,had a tiler who had an old cortina he used chicken wire and balflex to fill in the side of his wing them painted it ,he had that car for a few years and it never came of.

 

[cam_low]

some of the hardest jobs I've prepped have involved removing tiles from hardboard.

 

[afright]

The job was done by my old firm thats how I knew what year it was done but I never worked on it,I was still learning then and my boss would not let me work on the job ,all mosiac work was done by the elite tilers

 

[Time's Ran Out]

The job was done by my old firm thats how I knew what year it was done but I never worked on it,I was still learning then and my boss would not let me work on the job ,all mosiac work was done by the elite tilers

How times change - now you can go on a forum and your a tiler!

 

[Andy Allen]

That stuff would stick wings to an aeroplane..... got my hands covered with it once....took weeks to get it off...

 

[mike1979]

Bal flex was a 2 part mixture that smelt like cats pee and stuck like dogs poo!
The most flexible adhesive ever in my opinion but larger format tiles would have cracked along the substrate seams a long time ago. It mixed like Aero chocolate and set like compressed rubber.
Oil tempered hardboard was use​d on vinyl tiles and no doubt with mosaics it was considered correct in early 1970s.

I used the bal two part when I was an apprentice 16 years ago and got the stuff everywhere black it was if I remember correctly

 

[afright]

Swafega used to get it of ,it was more of a dark blue

 

[Time's Ran Out]

I used the bal two part when I was an apprentice 16 years ago and got the stuff everywhere black it was if I remember correctly

It mixed up silver grey and dried black.
Had a very short pot life of 30 mins and was brilliant and evil stuff at the same time.

 

[afright]

Went back today to get paid and was asked to give a price for the bathroom above the shop the bathroom is to be made into a showeroom,the bathroom suite has been there for 70 years and is in amaculate condition bright pink and the basin is the size of the bath.

 

[ttt tiling]

That's funny , we inherited a pink suite when we moved a year ago , still got it and probably will another year on!