Bal Flex - prices and experience

[tapir]

Hi all

We'll be undertaking our first tiling project soon, not nervous or anything

We'll be laying quarry tiles onto a suspende timber floor, covered with 18mm WPB ply, on top of which we'll have underfloor heating (cable type)

As we'll be requiring a flexible adhesive, I've been looking at what's out there, and I think that Bal Flex may be the best for what we need. Trouble is, I have no idea how much it costs- Topps (sorry to infuriate the purists!) have no price info, and the staff we tied up with other customers when we visited. We need to tile an area 3.0m x 4.4m, and I have no idea at all as to how much this will cost (in adhesives), I have no idea how much the Bal Flex &kg bag+ 5ltr bottle will cover.

any advice greatly appreciated!

Also, one for the purists vs novices- is there much difference between mix yourself adhesives, and the ready mixed tubs of adhesive? I noticed that Unibond sell a flexi floor adhesive, so I'm looking into that

cheers, and apoligies if my questions have been answered elsewhere - I've searched but couldnt see anything directly related
:t:

 

[gcol]

I haven't used that stuff, but I have used Bal Rapidset Flexible Adhesive. That was £48 for 20kg from Topps. 20kg will do about 10m sq.
I used it on ply with no problems.
Always mix your own floor adhesive.

 

[Hallsy]

I used Bal flexible adhesive (not rapidset) and that was about £40 for a 20kg bag, again should cover around 10m2 but all depends on bed thickness.

If the quarry tiles want a thick bed it won;t go quite so far.

 

[tapir]

Thanks for the quick replies, appreciate your help!

Out of curiosity, and the need to learn new things, why is it better to mix your own adhesives? Is it simply being able to control the consistency and strength of the adhesive, or have I missed the real reason?

 

[Hallsy]

Generally I buy dry cements/adhesvies as they are cheaper than ready mixed. Also they can then be mixed to your own preference, if you prefer a slight thinner or thicker adhesive to work with you can mix it to suit.

 

[tapir]

hi all, thanks for the comments and advice - we'll definately mix our own adhesives now, so depending on various factors, I may be back over the weekend asking 'how do I unstick upside down tiles' as we start our first ever floor tiling project

Thanks again :t: