Some time ago, I asked hdere how to remove damaged tiles from a shower stall. I finally found replacement tiles that sorta match. Following the directions from the tile company and on the can of mastic sold by the tile company, the tiles are in place and drying.
The instructions on the mastic can (Garland-White GW-2) say to use "dry tile grout for grouting joints after the tiles are firmly set (at least
24 hours)".
That sounds like I can't use the mastic for grout. Right?
I do have a dry-mix gypsum-based wallboard patch (DAP Webpatch 90). I used it to fill the holes in the wallboard. Can I use that for grout?
I also have a can or pre-mix stucco patch. Can I use that?
Go to Home Depot, Lowes, or a tile store and buy *GROUT* in the color of your choice. And read and follow the simple instructions. NOTE: both "sanded" and "unsanded" grout are available. The one you want depends upon the width of the joints between the tiles...
And while you are buying grout, buy a bottle of silicone sealer and use it after the grout is totally dry. If you have considerable tile to grout, buy a grout float too; that's an inexpensive, rubber gizmo used to move the grout around and squish it into the joints.
If it's those typical bathroom tiles that butt against each other used un-sanded grout. Your tile adhesive will work as a filler but must people want to use a particular color and texture for grout.
I agree that thinset is generally a better material for setting tiles; the sole exception IMO is on plywood.
One of your cited sites says, "Mastic is an organic glue made from the sticky resin of the mastic tree". Horse hockey. That resin is known as "gum arabic" and would be no more suitable for laying tile than would wheat paste. It *is* good for some things though...I used to make aerial photo mosaic maps with it.
There is a lot of misinformation about thinset too...two sites I checked say "Thinset is a mortar, an organic substance made of portland cement, silica sand and moisture retaining agents." Apparently, they don't understand that all the ingredients they list are *INorganic*.
Your other site says, "Mastic should never be used for showers or floors! Ever! When mastic gets wet the water will re-emulsify the adhesive base."
The thing is, "mastic" is a generalized term like "adhesive". Both can be made in many ways and can have varying properties but I've never seen any mastic - even that made from acrylic resin - that will re-emulsify with water. Same for acrylic paint, same for acrylic caulk. Same for those made with organic solvents.
I recently had to repair a shower in a house my wife inherited. My dumbo step-father-in-law had put a glass block window in a shower; nothing wrong with that but he had done a bad job of it (as he did with everything) and rain water had damaged wall structure under it. In repairing that (from the outside) a few field tiles were damaged and had to be removed and replaced. In removing them, I loosened half a dozen or so bull nose trim tiles. All had been stuck to the cement board with mastic and the ones I inadvertantly loosened came loose not because mastic was used but because insufficient mastic was used.
I had many extra field tiles but no bull nose and wanted to reuse them; to do so, I had to get the mastic off the tile backs. It would scrape off with difficulty but that was quite laborious. Water wouldn't touch it nor would paint or lacquer thinner. Alcohol might have if it was latex and I had thought of it but it would have been very slow. I wound up burning it to ash with a propane torch and scraping off the residue which now came off easily.
OK, for that small an area you might be able to get away with using your dry-mix gypsum-based wallboard patch.
The grout I and others have been talking about is made with Portland cement. Portland cement is made by heating calcium carbonate. Gypsum is made by heating calcium sulfate. When water is added to either the water changes the powder back to its original form; once that happens, additional water won't "melt" it; the gypsum is softer but in your case that wouldn'tmuch matter. Should still be sealed though.
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