In the thread "Is it OK to Tile and Grout the same day", I was concerned about the way in which a 'professional' tiler was going to do a job for me. I'm suspicious enough now that he's not getting the job. Since other tilers I've phoned can't do the job for weeks, I'm considering doing it myself.
I've tiled part of my kitchen before myself and it seems ok 4 years on, but this job is to tile round a bath and shower area, which I'm not sure I'm up for.
As a small test, I tiled onto a spare bit of WBP (as is round the bath area) to see if I can do the job acceptably. I used Unibond Waterproof Tile Adhesive. (I didn't grout it.)
After about 48 hours I tried to force a screwdriver underneath a tile, and it came off whole with virtually no effort, leaving the adhesive on the WBP. This area hadn't been primed with PVA. On another area which HAD been primed, the tile still came off intact.
I'm now confused - in John Schmitt's Tiling FAQ he says
"Sand/cement fixed tiles can be "pinged off" intact, tiles correctly fixed with modern adhesive will not come off in pieces bigger than 1"sq. "
So how come mine came off so easily? Do they need a lot longer to really set?
I'm also bearing in mind the comment by The Natural Philosopher in the above thread that
"It needs the merest dab of adhesive to keep it from falling down - all the vertical load is taken by the grout."
Am I too concerned, or am I just rubbish at putting a tile onto a bit of adhesive!?
Finally, is there any particular brand of waterproof tile adhesive that is highly recommended?
Any help much appreciated, and sorry this post is so long!
Eno