www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Andrew wrote:Hi,

I thought I was all sorted in my tiliing decisions - I was going to get BAL Primer, Bal White Star, and BAL Microflex (basically this is because the BAL technical team told me). This is for above a bath.

Then I saw the prices and reviews of Mapei and now I'm confused. Also, the more you read the more you find out loads of other stuff! Ie everyone recommends bagged rather than tubbed, etc.

My questions:

1) Is Mapei better or the same as BAL, just cheaper?

BAL and Mapei are both good brands. BAL is only expensive if you buy from Topps at list price

2) Why is bagged adhesive better than tubbed? Especially for ceramic tiles under 300x300?

Bagged addy is cement based and sets by chemical reaction, tubbed addy dries by dispersion. Tubbed addy is fine in some situations but it has less going for it than cement bagged addy for many reasons

3) I still haven't decided whether to tank or not (onto plaster (both stud and solid wall). Everyone I know, including myself, have nver used it and never has any issues because we all work to a decent standard. It is quite expensive. Worth it for above a bath with a mixer shower? Also, can you "feather" it out to nothing because I'm not buying two lots of it but I'll be tiling a large wall, some of which won't need tanking at all (does this even make sense?)?

Tanking isn't really that expensive. Paint on tanking cost anywhere from £35-£70 depoending on brand and covers around 5 sqm meters which is normally enough from most wet areas in an average bathroom. It is only applied 1-2mm thick so no issues with tanked to non-tanked areas. £30-£70 is a small price to pay to protect the substrate in a wet area

4) Can you mix brands?

Do you mean a primer from one and an addy from another? If so then no it is not advisable to do so.

5) If I was to go down the Mapei route, what products would I need? They seem to do so many different types of adhesive!

Depends on the tiles and what you are tiling but in general a flexible adhesive, standard set to give you a bit more time. Although as I say that will depend on your tiles/substrate/area

Thanks.