Henry MarbleFlex 316 Thinset Mortar

[Jay Pique]

I took a whack at installing some granite tile tonight and ended up aborting the process. I mixed up a 12.5 pound box of Henry brand MarbleFlex 316 thinset mortar. It called for 1.5 quarts of water, and I mixed it well with a drill/paddle.

When I applied it though, it dried in a HURRY. Should I have wetted the Hardibacker before troweling on the mortar? The consistency looked good to start, but man did it dry out - even in the bucket - in a real hurry. It was crumbly after 10 minutes tops.

Does the temp of the water matter? Should I wet the backs of the tiles and the floor first? Thin the mixture, even though it says not to on the box?

Thanks.

JP

[Ed]

This is a "Fast Setting" morter. Actually that name on the box is:

[HENRY 316 MarbleFlex Fast Setting Thinset Mortar]

Fast Setting being the give away here.

The pot life of HENRY 316 MarbleFlex Fast-Setting Thinset Mortar is 30 minutes at 70°F at the most.

Regards, Ed

[Jay Pique]

Yeah, I read the box. I might could have worked with 30 minutes, but it was more like 10 before it became way too dry to work. Thermostat set at 63.

Next time I'll try a little more water I guess. Plus, I'll let the tap run to ice-cold and see if that'll help.

JP

[RicodJour]

Unless you have a compelling reason to use fast setting materials, the extra working time is far more valuable. Fast setting materials rarely make the work go faster and can often make it take _much_longer and cost more.

R

[buffalobill]

[Jay Pique]

The guy at the store said that is what I was supposed to use with granite. I think I'm going to use the regular stuff this time.

JP

[RicodJour]

Not every salesman has extensive installation experience or knowledge. The Henry stuff seems to be an alternative to epoxy thinset used for marbles that curl when wet. Granite doesn't do that, at least none that I've ever heard of.

What exactly are you putting down and where?

R

[PipeDown]

Only for certain sensitive stone types. Particularly green or red marble. For most jobs, white modified thinset will work out fine. HD sells 50lb bags of Masterbond for about $21.

[thetiler]

Yes you should dampen hardibacker before setting to it, and as has been mentioned, there's not reason to use quick setting thinset unless you have to. Why a salesman would sell a DIY'er quickset- I don't know. Quickset materials rarely last more than 10-15 minutes despite what the directions say. I only use it when repairing a few tiles in a high traffic area that is difficult to keep people/animals off of for more than a couple of hours.

thetiler