For large format floor tiling, particularly over large areas such as commercial projects, the use of a pourable tile adhesive should definitely be considered.
Pourable tile adhesives, such as BAL Pourable One, are specifically formulated so it has good consistency for easy mixing and easy pouring onto floors – it’s in the name really!
And despite what you may think, Pourable One actually uses less water in the mix (4ltrs for 20kg) than standard rapid-setting tile adhesives. For example, BAL Rapid-Flex One requires 5ltrs of water for a 20kg bag. This is down to the use of polymers and other additives to create the required viscosity when the product is mixed.
As well as being easy to pour, pourable thick bed tile adhesives are easy to spread with a 12mm notched floor trowel – and what’s more, because of it’s consistency, tiles do not need to be back buttered and fixers will still achieve 100% coverage. Some pourable tile adhesives are rapid-drying, e.g BAL Pourable One which can be trafficked and grouted after only three hours after fixing. This creates significant time savings for the contractor – helping to ensure that jobs are completed in time and on budget.
Unlike thin bed floor adhesives, pourable thick bed tile adhesives can be built up to 25mm, meaning they can be used with large format tiles, particularly uncalibrated natural stone where the bed thickness can vary hugely and 10-20mm bed depth is required so solid bed fixing is achieved.
Pourable thick bed adhesives will cure and not shrink even when applied at a higher thickness than typically recommended by the industry, ensuring that all voids beneath the natural stone are filled and proper adhesion is secured.
As many pourable adhesives (such as BAL Pourable One) are flexible, they can also be used over underfloor or under-tile heating systems encased with an appropriate BAL levelling compound e.g BAL Level Max.
As well as being used as a traditional tile adhesive, pourable adhesives can also be used for patch repair. This means they can be applied into crevices and indentations in screeds and once the surface is hardening it can be simply finished with a wood float and allowed to dry. The repair can then be tiled after three hours.
