Where can i buy cheap bal rapidset adhesive 20kg

[bwatt]

I am wondering if anyone can tell me where online or well known stores where i can get bal rapidset adhesive for outdoors on cement,reason i ask is i have a job ongoing and,when i went to topps tiles i said i had around 19/20 square meters of area to do.
He said i would need about four 20kg bags as each bag does about 5/6 square meters and this stuff does not do that area amount he said,my father has kept the base to as low as he possibly can and does not get to far with these bags to tell you the truth about two bags does about three square meters.
And this is with the base as low as possibly he can do,as i have already used 4 bags and just purchased another 4 bags this stuff is not half costing me.
I did get a great deal on my tiles and had no idea to start with what sort of stuff etc was needed for laying them but after asking etc i had a better idea,and as i was told 4 bags of this stuff was fine.
But it seems to never end and now as its too late and job already started etc i had known i would need more bags maybe would have got someother kind of tiles and methods of fixing them.

As porcelain ones are not the cheapest method around but this has to be a joke on the cost of this stuff,Its beeing purchased from topps tiles and is costing £25 a bag thats 8 bags so far £200 and im pretty sure by the time i finish the job i will need at least another 4 bags if not more will know better when further on.

The stuff for laying on is costing me more than the tiles alone and i am hating having to buy these bags at this price,i am hoping to get them cheaper somewhere else or at trade costs if only i knew what other well known stores do them,topps is where i got my tiles and my bags but wanted to know who else.

If i could have turned back clock or i had a job to lay tiles again i would not go porcelain as its a very expensive way of laying tiles,i would not mind paying these prices if it was for something you see etc but for something thats hidden under tiles its not so funny.

So would be greatfull if someone could help in where i could buy these maybe cheaper than topps,i did read on some site that ask them if i could get at trade price,i did ask today and with no luck,they said i needed a trade card.

 

[gcol]

Unless the surface you're tiling is very uneven, a 20kg bag should do you about 4.5 square metres. If you're only getting 1.5 square metres then you're applying it far too thick.
If you're tiling outside then you really want porcelain tiles. A decent flexible adhesive is gonna cost you (joe public) around £25 for a 20kg bag anywhere.

 

[bwatt]

Unless the surface you're tiling is very uneven, a 20kg bag should do you about 4.5 square metres. If you're only getting 1.5 square metres then you're applying it far too thick.
If you're tiling outside then you really want porcelain tiles. A decent flexible adhesive is gonna cost you (joe public) around £25 for a 20kg bag anywhere.

Its not flexible stuff im using its the bal rapidset adhesive,as for the ground uneven its pretty even and i cant see him putting too thick on and said if he puts any less down it will not be worth putting down.
He seems only to be getting the same amount of tiles laid with same amount of bags and i told him that the topps sales guys and others have said that there should be at least 6 square meters to a bag,but its getting nowhere near that.

When you mention that the joe plublic pays around £25 for this stuff,trade prices are less and i am hoping to find some places that will sell to traders that maybe some friends or family can get from,would jewsons sell this stuff?

The flexible stuff you mention is £45 a bag and i have heard trade cards buyers getting them for about half price and i am hoping somehow i can get the same if i knew what places did sell these,been into b&q no bal stuff.

I just cant understand why i need so much stuff to put under tiles,i reckon by the time its all done maybe 12 -20kg bags to do the job at cost of £25 each,i just wish i was the owner of the adhesive company more so at that price.

As my tiles was reduced a good bit as discontinued i saved a lot off the price and saved at least £300 on the price of tiles,which is a bonus but already the adhesive has already cost more and i would not be bother if i had something to show for it but this stuff hides under the tiles and i have nothing to show the the price of it,apart from it maybe being good adhesive??

 

[Jasonb]

I did tell you that Topps do a trade discount, as your farther is a "builder" he should be able to get the discount.

I also told you that you would only get about 4 sq mts and that BALs quantities were optimistic.

Is he using the trowel you were told to use or not?

Jason

 

[gcol]

If you're not using flexible then you just want bog standard stuff that's ok to use outside. Go to a builders merchants and you should be able to pick up a 20kg bag for under a tenner.
If he's only getting around 1.5 sq metres and it's a flat surface then he's putting it on too thick. That's gotta work out at around a 10mm solid bed! Your dad's wasting your money.

 

[bwatt]

I did tell you that Topps do a trade discount, as your farther is a "builder" he should be able to get the discount.

I also told you that you would only get about 4 sq mts and that BALs quantities were optimistic.

Is he using the trowel you were told to use or not?

Jason

My father yes is a builder but part time, its not his main job now but could build full time with the work he get offered.

But as for the 4 square meters a bag its going nowhere near this and i would say 2 bags was doing about 3 square meters,so something is not right?He has done plenty of building and tileing jobs in the past,maybe not as much outside but inside and knows how its done and is makeing a good job,but when i told him about what area this bags should do he said thats crap.
He said he cant mix it any weaker as its so weak and cant lay any less on the base as any less would not be worth putting on and not recommended.

He says companys sometimes put on guides as to approx how much a bag would do etc but are not always right,but im getting half of what is said?
You can understand where i cam coming from if i knew in advance how many true bags i needed and the overall cost i would have got different tiles and maybe cheaper bags etc as £25 a go is not that cheap.
Problem is now that job is ongoing and i am already using the bal stuff i think i am best to keep using bal as say there is problmes later with the adhesive side of the product and i have bal and other stuff bal would not look at me but if all bal then would,and things can happen with faulty stuff.

As an example my old man wall papered his bathroom and next day paper shrunk and started to come off and he has done wall papering for years and could not understand why it went like this,after complaining to the shop the paper was sent to the makers and found faulty and so they where given money to replace costs,so things can go wrong with products but not often so i was thinking as job is now ongoing i keep with the same stuff.

I am greatfull of the advise on using cheaper stuff but most have said to use the bal and i think i am rather late now to get cheaper stuff,i just hope the cost of this stuff i am using that these tiles never move in its days i own the house as its expensive enough and sure should do a good job.
I have probably purchased the top end of adhesive and i bet others less expensive are just as good,as there is always products higher and less in price and end of days its normally the name your paying for and not the quality of stuff.
I know next time when i do a job like this i will not be doing porcelain outside a very expensive way of doing a job not so much the tiles they where about same as anything else but the stuff to stick it is just too much for what its for.
Them dam guys could a least give me them at trade price more so on the money i have spent with them so far.grrrr

 

[gcol]

It's not the fact that your dad isn't mixing it right, it's the fact that he's putting it on too thick.
Measure the distance from the surface you're tiling on to the underside of the tile and report back with the measurement.

 

[Jasonb]

gcol, I suspect hes not using a solid bed trowel. The OP was on about his dad using one of his building trowels. Problem is if he has already laid some with too thick a bed, the others will have to be done at this level as well

Jason

 

[gcol]

That's what I'm thinking too.
Depending on the amount he's laid though, he should be able to reduce the amount of adhesive over a couple of rows without it showing, then he can get back to using a proper thickness.
Sounds like his/her dad has cost him/her about double the adhesive cost to me.
I put down 17 sq metres (fiddley metres too) of porcelain tiles in a house last week and it took just short of four 20kg bags. The fact that it's inside shouldn't make a difference. The daddy is wasting adhesive for sure.

 

[bwatt]

It's not the fact that your dad isn't mixing it right, it's the fact that he's putting it on too thick.
Measure the distance from the surface you're tiling on to the underside of the tile and report back with the measurement.

well i measured the distance and i am getting about 4/5mm of a base i did notice that the first few he did lay was a little more,but since then has reduced the amount as i said this stuff should go further but average most are around 4/5mm.
Even when he has slightly reduced the stuff to go further he still says its not going the square meter i was told or people are saying.

He must be eating the stuff as i am puzzled as not only guys on here have said it does a bigger area so did the guys in the topps store,And i am getting annoyed haveing to keep buying these bags more so at there price.
Maybe as the job goes on he can reduce less,but then why do this as the better the base the better the hold etc.
I have used 4 bags to date and have another 4 bags are ready to be used and really i dont want to be buying more,but really i can see that happening as still a bit to do.
Even though he has maybe reduced the amount of stuff used in the bed since the first few tiles he is still at the end of day laying the same amount of tiles per 2 bags.
The tiles are 40cm x 40cm and he laid about 20 tiles with two bags and about the same again with other two bags,and i probably have say 75/80 or whatever to be laid yet and i am getting a little worried i will need to get more after these bags,to date 4 bags used and 4 just purchased to be used.If i was able to buy them at trade price i would not be as bothered as i beleive you get them half price or near that,but £25 a shots it an expensive way of laying tiles more so its not going as far as should.

 

[gcol]

4 or 5 mm is still too much, 3 is enough.
I could stick those tiles down using just over £40 worth of adhesive and that's for five 20kg bags.
Can you confirm (as Jasonb asked) what trowel he is using?

 

[bwatt]

4 or 5 mm is still too much, 3 is enough.
I could stick those tiles down using just over £40 worth of adhesive and that's for five 20kg bags.
Can you confirm (as Jasonb asked) what trowel he is using?

But that would not be bal adhesive bags as they cost 25 a bag,unless your getting them at trade price?
I only got bal as i think here or another forum i was told its what to get now i wished i had used cheaper stuff,as im sure they are pretty much all the same.
As for the trowel,i said to him i need to get a trowel for the job,he said no need for one just another waste of money and i think he is using his own one.I said they made these trowel in these styles for a reason but i cant argue with him.end of the day he is doing the job for me for nothing which is a help but not if he is going about it wrong and having used and using more adhesive than required,what difference does it make having it done for nothing as i am spending a fortune on the adhesive.
Never mind job is already ongoing and no turing back now,will just have to pay whatever it takes to get it done.
Would it be wise to now buy cheaper stuff to finish it off if required,but then that would be a mix of bal and other maker and if any problems accured then i might have problems as they have guarantee, and i dont think that would be the case if part one company and part another.

 

[Jasonb]

As you were advised on here and other forums to use a flexible adhesive and a thick bed trowel any deviation from this spec which is based on what the adhesive manufacturer suggests will have invalidated any gaurantee .

Basically you have used the wrong adhesive and wrong method of applying it so you can't expect it to be gauranteed

Jason

 

[bwatt]

As you were advised on here and other forums to use a flexible adhesive and a thick bed trowel any deviation from this spec which is based on what the adhesive manufacturer suggests will have invalidated any gaurantee .

Basically you have used the wrong adhesive and wrong method of applying it so you can't expect it to be gauranteed

Jason

You tell me why its not the right adhesive?It is the right adhesive i dont need flexable,thats only needed when there is movement under tiles as mentioned before its on cement base and i even asked topps and explained and ws told the rapidset is all i needed.

 

[Jasonb]

It's whats under the cement that is the problem. Timber joists, timber deck and built up felt roofing. All three of these will have movement thats why Flexi is best.

Give BAL technical a call and tell them the construction of your veranda/flat roof and see what they say.

Jason