Rapid Set Adhesive With Marble ?

[charlieorrin]

got a job coming up with white marble , 12mm thick . Walls and floors , ordered slowest adhesive as I usually use with marble .
The customer has gone to Topps to pick up there tiles and he has told her I should no way use slow set and use rapid or it will come through and stain the tile ?
Now I can see that happening with grey adhesive or for it was thin marble ?
Any advice as the customer is really stressing me about it

Thanks

 

[Chazz Unrau]

Hi mate

Seal your tiles first and let it soak in and dry properly, stick with your slow set your the tiler at the end of the day your customer should take your advice over a salesperson. Just keep your joints well washed down when your laying and don't dot and dab

 

[hmtiling]

Some stone will show adhesive bleed rapid or slow set. Ardex do adhesives which chemically bind the water to stop this. X7001 is one I believe.

 

[Flintstone]

I use marble quite a lot and always use slow set tile master. No problem

 

[kevsalt]

do a test tile with slow see what happens

 

[Stef]

You shouldn't really use a slow set on stone as it could bleed through in sensitive stone.
Use this & always back butter the tile.
TileMaster semi rapid, goes off in 6hrs.

 

[Tile seller]

The Topps Shop assistant was just playing it safe, as would I.
There's been a fair bit going around the industry lately regarding only using rapid on natural stone.
It doesn't sound like using slow set commonly causes problems however, I'm presuming somewhere there must have been problems to set off these technical reports that go around.

 

[Lithofin BOB]

I get lots of problems, generally slow set on naturals ,drying times can be far extended as the white marbles can show, as it migrates through the stone,I would not recomend you pre seal the tiles either as this then can trap the moisture and can lead to water staining (tiles stay dark ,non removable)
Most stone suppliers tend to use a rapid set.im sure
Would this not be laid as most naturals , lay , leave to release all moisture, this may take several days or more, impregnate, grout, re seal.

 

[Stef]

The way it should be done Bob..

 

[Qwerty]

I would never risk using slow set. Semi rapid from Tilemaster would be the slowest setting I would be prepared to use. A big loss if it doesn't work out!
Even the smallest of marble floors can take a week from start to finish when all of the setting, drying, grouting & sealing has finished

 

[Just Rizzle]

i never use slow set on any thing rapid for me back butter the tiles is essential when fixing marble by back buttering you are stopping any trowel marks showing through

 

[hmtiling]

You don't do much geo work then Ray?

 

[Flintstone]

I have fitted white marble with slow set many times with no issues, always back buttered.

 

[charlieorrin]

Ok thanks guys , the customer has supplied all the adhesive think they have gone with Topps powder , now with experience with there rapid there's no way I want to be using that on walls! Although I have a few bags for the floor . Will mixing a bit of rapid speed it up a bit , or is that not recommended ? Thanks

 

[ExplodingPudding]

Hi mate

Seal your tiles first and let it soak in and dry properly, stick with your slow set your the tiler at the end of the day your customer should take your advice over a salesperson. Just keep your joints well washed down when your laying and don't dot and dab

Sealing the tiles first can cause any muck on the surface of the tile to become sealed in also. I've personally not sold our slow set adhesive for natural stone products but that's because of the drying time not being preferential to either the customer or tiler but I personally haven't heard of any issues with addy bleeding through.

Just make sure that if the customer has purchased a light colour tile, they have also purchased a white slowset to minimise any risk.

Ok thanks guys , the customer has supplied all the adhesive think they have gone with Topps powder , now with experience with there rapid there's no way I want to be using that on walls! Although I have a few bags for the floor . Will mixing a bit of rapid speed it up a bit , or is that not recommended ? Thanks

If I were your salesperson I would say no as there's no guarantee that would pan out very well.

 

[Tilekraft Aussie]

I usually do a test on a tile prior to starting
Spread your adhesive on half of the back of the tile and leave overnight to check for moisture sensitive or shadowing issues
Personally id go for the rapid setting adhesive with white carrera marble