Dunlop Tile on Wood

Fraser · Post by **Fraser** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:33 am

Has anyone used 'Dunlop Tile on Wood' for fixing ceramic tiles to a plywood on a bathroom floor?

Just wondering if it's any good? Any other product suggestions would be gratefully received.

I have about 5 sqm to do and I'm going to fix plywood sheet on top of the current floor boards.

While I'm here what sized gap do I need to leave around the perimeter of the floor, I am going to tile right down to the floor on all walls and then seal the join with waterproof and flexible grout.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:48 am

Hi Fraser,

Have you seen this on the main site-

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/tiling/index.htm

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/tilin ... floors.htm

It tells you most of what you will need to know.

6mm gap all the way around.

I'm sure the dunlop adhesive will be fine, but most pro's use BAL- http://www.bal-adhesives.co.uk/bal/bal_ ... oducts.asp

You would of course need to choose a flexible adhesive, that is suitable for use on plywood, there are a couple to choose from on that link above, but dunlop should be fine!

owen · Post by **owen** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 12:51 pm

uhm, BAL owns dunlop so the products are likely to be the same

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:27 pm

owen wrote:uhm, BAL owns dunlop so the products are likely to be the same

I thought so when I got to the BAL website, but wasn't 100% sure

bathstyle · Post by **bathstyle** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:21 pm

Personally I would go for Bal Rapidset flexible white/grey for an overboarded floor, £25 per bag, trade price, then grout it with Bal Superflex wide joint grout

Only-Me · Post by **Only-Me** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:19 pm

As above

Or........fastflex.......but be prepared for a sharp intake of breath when they tell you the price

Fraser · Post by **Fraser** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:11 am

So... at the weekend I used Dunlop Tile on Wood for my bathroom floor. It went ok but I have a few questions as it was my first time.

1. I found it hard to spread the adhesive and make even depth lines of adhesive with my notched trowel. The adhesive was quick gritty and didn't grip the wood well, I dragged it around quite a lot bcause it got stuck in the notches. Is this normal with flexible adhesives and is there a technique to spreading that I didn't discover?

2. I am going to do my kitchen/diner floor with teracotta tiles and it's 21sqm (my bathroom was only 5sqm) - is BAL rapidset flexible easier to use than how I described above?, I will get that if it is.

3. I grouted the floor with a little handheld squeegee but I don't fancy the ball ache of doing this on a bigger area, what's the best way to grout large areas? - I've seen grout floats but I don't really know if they can be used for this and/or how to use one, any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Thanks for your replies, hopefully I'll be able to help someone else out soon instead of just asking questions!!

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:22 pm

So... at the weekend I used Dunlop Tile on Wood for my bathroom floor. It went ok but I have a few questions as it was my first time.

1. I found it hard to spread the adhesive and make even depth lines of adhesive with my notched trowel. The adhesive was quick gritty and didn't grip the wood well, I dragged it around quite a lot bcause it got stuck in the notches. Is this normal with flexible adhesives and is there a technique to spreading that I didn't discover?

Was it ready mixed Fraser, or did you mix it yourself?

I seem to remember when I tiled a floor that it was Gritty, but it still went down ok.

2. I am going to do my kitchen/diner floor with teracotta tiles and it's 21sqm (my bathroom was only 5sqm) - is BAL rapidset flexible easier to use than how I described above?, I will get that if it is.

You have to be careful with the rapid set stuff as it goes off so quick, but if you can lay the tiles fast enough then it should be fine. If you can't lay them fast enough then you might end up throwing some of the adhesive.

3. I grouted the floor with a little handheld squeegee but I don't fancy the ball ache of doing this on a bigger area, what's the best way to grout large areas? - I've seen grout floats but I don't really know if they can be used for this and/or how to use one, any suggestions would be gratefully received.

I have never used a grouting float, but I have a 12" inch squegee, which makes large areas much easier.

Thanks for your replies, hopefully I'll be able to help someone else out soon instead of just asking questions!!

If no one asked any questions this forum would not exist and so if you are asking or answering it makes no difference, although it is always good to have enough people that can answer

Fraser · Post by **Fraser** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:29 pm

Cheers.

The adhesive was ready mix but I don't think I'm up to rapid-set so unless anyone has used a BAL normal set flex adhesive and found it good then I'll soldier on with Dunlop.

The problem might be my worsened by my crap trowel and squeegee, they were topps tiles cheapest - I might invest in some decent ones before tackling the larger area.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:40 pm

Ready mixed products can be much harder to use, especially grout!

If you mix them yourself you can get them to the correct consistancy most of the time.