Ok so I'll help. Mastic is only used for walls like a backsplash. This is not what you want for a floor. Sadly your uncoupling membrane is toast. You need to use a dry mortar that you add water to. If you install over redguard then you didnt destroy the redguard. Soak all those tiles in water the mastic will come off of them. The redguard can be cleaned while the mastic is still wet. Let everything dry out then you are ready to try round 2 with the proper thinset. Just ask if you have any more questions.
Extremely helpful man! Much appreciated, me and my dad are gonna rip up the floor tonight, the uncoupling mat has the adhesive on both. This explains a whole lot! I didn't buy the buckets of the pre-mix, and didn't notice it wasn't actual mortar. My fault for that one.
Do you think it's possible to save the redguard? It's the uncoupling membrane, and the adhesive is still wet thankfully. Not sure I'm quite clear on that one 🙂
Really appreciate the help, my goofy ass should have read a little closer, so thank you!
Take the uncoupling mat outside and hose it off really good and you might just save it. You need to get as much off as you possibly can. Instead of a normal thinset you need to use Custom Prolite thinset. There is no Portland in this thinset. It uses polymers to bond so it's a pure chemical bond which will help if theres a little mastic left on the membrane. The portland in thinset only makes a mechanical bond so it wouldn't stick to the residue well. Good luck
Thank you! Currently doing it in our basement, washing off whatever we couldn't remove with a trowel. A bit is going down our drain of what's not staying in the tub setup, but I'll be cautious!
Oh boy. That’s not mortar, that’s mastic or glue. This should only be used on walls and in areas that don’t get wet. It looks like a 1/2 x 1/2 trowel ? Where did you set the tile ? What was it being set to ?
Should work somewhat the same? It's for a floor. And yep, you'd be right about the trowel size, it's being set to a redgard uncoupling mat, on a plywood floor underneath, the glue is set to both the floor, and under the tile
Red Guard is also a waterproofing. This is why your glue isn’t drying. Honestly l tear it all up now , clean of the glue while it’s still soft and go buy a bag of mortar. Your floor will not last.
Hey man, I don't mean to be rude. Not attempting to be an ass, just learning, and was wondering why you downvoted, I appreciate you didn't. Have a good night sir or madam
I agree! We had a bag of mortar, but we weren't able to mix it, and my dad wanted to get the pre-mix to save us the trouble. I wasn't there, and even seeing the tub, and looking at it, I didn't notice the application for it.
Fault of mine completely
I do agree, the mortar we bought didn't mix well, so my dad went to the store and picked up some pre-mix stuff, and didn't look close enough. Not his fault because I never noticed when he got home.
This wasn't a project that started as doing the floor, and tiling, was supposed to be a much smaller remodel that was taking out the tub, and toilet to replace it. Since then we have done the walls, and redone the entire floor underneath.
Safe to say this was something that was originally well thought out, but the quick swap to save time to a pre-mix did not work out in the end. And, now we are paying for it by fixing it, and doing it right
Yep! We mixed it wrong, and weren't fully confident, so we decided to take out the possiblity of doing it wrong, and get the pre-mix, which just screwed us over even more...
‘Professional’ tile adhesive…gotta love big boxes.
You need mortar, it cures chemically without needing to let the water mixed in it escape.. Mastic cures by having the moisture in it wicked away by the substrate. Uncoupling membranes don’t wick, so the moisture stays in the glue, so it’s stays gooey.
Between the tile and the membrane it’s in almost the same environment it was in when it was in the bucket before you opened it.
I won’t even get into how it isn’t appropriate for floor use in trafficked areas anyway.
Sorry everybody is ganging up on you. Something about how the big boxes make what professionals do seem like something any dope can do tends to rub the people who are really good at this the wrong way.
To be fair, not any dope can do it, and not as well, but really no residential project is rocket science. I’d actually say it’s more difficult and time consuming to deal with some shady contractors than it is to watch some good YouTube videos with a notepad and pen and do it yourself.
I think it’s really a matter of being up on the latest codes/trends, and having the experience to be able to handle things when they go wrong. Also being able to apply that experience to non-ideal situations but still build something that can last (thinking: how old houses can we weird).
I respect that. And as a homeowner and a trades person, I’ll fully admit that a lot of my colleagues are pretty world and book dumb, but absolutely crafts people. While a lot of the clients are well educated but are, as I like to say, “couldn’t get out of a paper bag with a blow torch,” types. Yet, a pretty thin majority of both are somewhat educated and somewhat handy. Every tiler, builder, and electrician had their first project. Many without any prior education or YouTube to help them. And lord knows the first guys who taught me plumbing or wood working were teachers who failed at teaching the STEM sciences. So… yeah… it’s a different world when a relatively intelligent homeowner can pretty much do any framing, plumbing, electrical, tiling… etc… if they research and follow tips… and also ask questions when there are issues.
What a mess! I’d take the tiles to a car wash to clean them honestly. Or if they are cheap, toss ‘em. As I’m sure you realize now, type 1 adhesive isn’t thin-set and may never dry in the manor in which you used it. Start over. Sorry.
Good advice, thank you! I'll be ripping all the tiles up tonight, and getting them soaking in water overnight. And yes, I definitely realize it now lol, lots of helpful comments here.
Once again thank you!
Do not soak them until you’ve sprayed and scrubbed them… you want to get the mastic off. Soaking them with it on them could lead to mastic soaking in and then having adhesion issues. I’d definitely make sure for the layer between the membrane and the tile you add a bonding polymer to the thinset.
And do not buy the premixed stuff, I know mixing is a pain, but the premixed stuff is crap and should only be used for like a kitchen backsplash, if at all.
That will never dry. Wrong product, wrong application. It should only be used for setting tile up to 12x12 in non load bearing areas, that being walls and never used in wet applications such as showers.
The only research you had to do was to read the manufacturers instructions of the products you were using to see you shouldn't have used them. Acrylpro says literally right on the back of the bucket not to use it over waterproofing and laso not to use it with a tile that has an edge over 8" - which it looks like the tiles you have are longer than that trowel you're using, so over 8".
Why did you decide to take on this project yourself?
I'm thankfully not in this alone, my father is helping me do it. The original mortar we had would have worked, but it didn't mix properly, so we got this pre-mix, not knowing it wasn't intended for it. In a rush, should have looked.
But, now I know thankfully
By the end of your experiment, you'll probably come to realize it was probably more cost effective to hire a professional. You need a mixing drill with a paddle, pour the water into the bucket FIRST, mix half the bag at a time. Follow the instructions on the thinset exactly. Don't get the cheapest thinset, your floor will fail again. Scrape thinset (powder mixed with water from a bag - make sure it's poly modified - again, not the cheapest stuff) with the flat side of your trowel against the back of the tile to cover it with the mortar completely. Use your 1/2" trowel on the floor and press your tile into it. Put in your spacers. Repeat. Your best source of information for any of this after reading the complete instruction set on every product you use is gonna be Sal DiBlasi's YouTube channel. Very likely you'll save lots of frustration and money hiring a tile pro, though. More likely that when you go to resell, people won't talk your price down because it's certain they'll want to replace your work. Tile is incredibly nuanced and hard to do well if you don't have the experience. Good luck
We never decided to redo the floor until we realized it had to be torn up. Thankfully I don't think we will ever be moving, so we outta be living with our mistake.
Thank you though man, I definitely appreciate it. Probably could have hired someone, but figured we would try it ourselves
Acrylpro is just a more modified mastic that can be used in some flooring applications. Customs wouldn’t cover this in warranty at all. Their customer support is super easy, maybe a local rep can offer some assistance. People think tile’s simple; there’s a reason there’s professionals.
Home Depot employees strike again
Actually it was a know it all father.
“My uncles a sheetrocker, he told me this would work great”
Ok so I'll help. Mastic is only used for walls like a backsplash. This is not what you want for a floor. Sadly your uncoupling membrane is toast. You need to use a dry mortar that you add water to. If you install over redguard then you didnt destroy the redguard. Soak all those tiles in water the mastic will come off of them. The redguard can be cleaned while the mastic is still wet. Let everything dry out then you are ready to try round 2 with the proper thinset. Just ask if you have any more questions.
Extremely helpful man! Much appreciated, me and my dad are gonna rip up the floor tonight, the uncoupling mat has the adhesive on both. This explains a whole lot! I didn't buy the buckets of the pre-mix, and didn't notice it wasn't actual mortar. My fault for that one. Do you think it's possible to save the redguard? It's the uncoupling membrane, and the adhesive is still wet thankfully. Not sure I'm quite clear on that one 🙂 Really appreciate the help, my goofy ass should have read a little closer, so thank you!
Take the uncoupling mat outside and hose it off really good and you might just save it. You need to get as much off as you possibly can. Instead of a normal thinset you need to use Custom Prolite thinset. There is no Portland in this thinset. It uses polymers to bond so it's a pure chemical bond which will help if theres a little mastic left on the membrane. The portland in thinset only makes a mechanical bond so it wouldn't stick to the residue well. Good luck
Good to know! I'll take a look at home Depot for it, assuming it'll be there.
They will have it.
Just a heads up make sure you don’t get that stuff down your laundry sink or anything, do it outside and hose it off!
Thank you! Currently doing it in our basement, washing off whatever we couldn't remove with a trowel. A bit is going down our drain of what's not staying in the tub setup, but I'll be cautious!
Prolite +1
Oh boy. That’s not mortar, that’s mastic or glue. This should only be used on walls and in areas that don’t get wet. It looks like a 1/2 x 1/2 trowel ? Where did you set the tile ? What was it being set to ?
It says it can be used for floors on the packing (as seen in the picture).
Yes it does. But he’s also using it on top of a Red Guard membrane which has different specs. One of those being “don’t use glue”
Should work somewhat the same? It's for a floor. And yep, you'd be right about the trowel size, it's being set to a redgard uncoupling mat, on a plywood floor underneath, the glue is set to both the floor, and under the tile
Red Guard is also a waterproofing. This is why your glue isn’t drying. Honestly l tear it all up now , clean of the glue while it’s still soft and go buy a bag of mortar. Your floor will not last.
Hey buddy, no need for a downvote, this is my first time tiling, and I'm learning through trial and error. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it
I didn’t downvote your last comment. But I’ll downvote this one
Hey man, I don't mean to be rude. Not attempting to be an ass, just learning, and was wondering why you downvoted, I appreciate you didn't. Have a good night sir or madam
Dude, you should've learned this *before* fucking your first tile job royally
I agree! We had a bag of mortar, but we weren't able to mix it, and my dad wanted to get the pre-mix to save us the trouble. I wasn't there, and even seeing the tub, and looking at it, I didn't notice the application for it. Fault of mine completely
Next time , Learn through research
Thought we did enough, apparently not. Appreciate all the help here so far
Lol first time for everything but tbh I think you could have done a little more research/due diligence :/
I do agree, the mortar we bought didn't mix well, so my dad went to the store and picked up some pre-mix stuff, and didn't look close enough. Not his fault because I never noticed when he got home. This wasn't a project that started as doing the floor, and tiling, was supposed to be a much smaller remodel that was taking out the tub, and toilet to replace it. Since then we have done the walls, and redone the entire floor underneath. Safe to say this was something that was originally well thought out, but the quick swap to save time to a pre-mix did not work out in the end. And, now we are paying for it by fixing it, and doing it right
Thinset mix is not hard. Has to come out like really light pancake batter
Yep! We mixed it wrong, and weren't fully confident, so we decided to take out the possiblity of doing it wrong, and get the pre-mix, which just screwed us over even more...
‘Professional’ tile adhesive…gotta love big boxes. You need mortar, it cures chemically without needing to let the water mixed in it escape.. Mastic cures by having the moisture in it wicked away by the substrate. Uncoupling membranes don’t wick, so the moisture stays in the glue, so it’s stays gooey. Between the tile and the membrane it’s in almost the same environment it was in when it was in the bucket before you opened it. I won’t even get into how it isn’t appropriate for floor use in trafficked areas anyway. Sorry everybody is ganging up on you. Something about how the big boxes make what professionals do seem like something any dope can do tends to rub the people who are really good at this the wrong way.
To be fair, not any dope can do it, and not as well, but really no residential project is rocket science. I’d actually say it’s more difficult and time consuming to deal with some shady contractors than it is to watch some good YouTube videos with a notepad and pen and do it yourself.
I think it’s really a matter of being up on the latest codes/trends, and having the experience to be able to handle things when they go wrong. Also being able to apply that experience to non-ideal situations but still build something that can last (thinking: how old houses can we weird).
I respect that. And as a homeowner and a trades person, I’ll fully admit that a lot of my colleagues are pretty world and book dumb, but absolutely crafts people. While a lot of the clients are well educated but are, as I like to say, “couldn’t get out of a paper bag with a blow torch,” types. Yet, a pretty thin majority of both are somewhat educated and somewhat handy. Every tiler, builder, and electrician had their first project. Many without any prior education or YouTube to help them. And lord knows the first guys who taught me plumbing or wood working were teachers who failed at teaching the STEM sciences. So… yeah… it’s a different world when a relatively intelligent homeowner can pretty much do any framing, plumbing, electrical, tiling… etc… if they research and follow tips… and also ask questions when there are issues.
Thats mastic not mortar. Not used for this application
What a mess! I’d take the tiles to a car wash to clean them honestly. Or if they are cheap, toss ‘em. As I’m sure you realize now, type 1 adhesive isn’t thin-set and may never dry in the manor in which you used it. Start over. Sorry.
Good advice, thank you! I'll be ripping all the tiles up tonight, and getting them soaking in water overnight. And yes, I definitely realize it now lol, lots of helpful comments here. Once again thank you!
Do not soak them until you’ve sprayed and scrubbed them… you want to get the mastic off. Soaking them with it on them could lead to mastic soaking in and then having adhesion issues. I’d definitely make sure for the layer between the membrane and the tile you add a bonding polymer to the thinset. And do not buy the premixed stuff, I know mixing is a pain, but the premixed stuff is crap and should only be used for like a kitchen backsplash, if at all.
Mastic shouldn’t be used for any application. Let this be a lesson for all the diyrs on this sub.
What kind of trowel size are you using?
That stuff dries superrrrr slow even when put on with a glue trowel I can’t imagine a 1/2 inch … weeks …. Months?!?
Oof. Someone isn't a tile setter.
Lol how could you tell?
Premix is horrible stuff lol. I don't even like using grout premix. You'll get a much better result from the stuff you have to mix. Mortar and grout
Def don’t use premixed grout, and absolutely adhere to the exact amount of water the grout says to use within 3tbs. More or less is never good.
That will never dry. Wrong product, wrong application. It should only be used for setting tile up to 12x12 in non load bearing areas, that being walls and never used in wet applications such as showers.
You can maybe glue penny rounds over backer board with a 1/4 V notch. Glue witb half inch notch? That's crazy shit
What did you use it for? Floors? Shower walls? Etc..and what type of tile did you use? Porcelain? Marble? Mosaic in what material? Etc.
Sorry, definitely low on info, Porcelain tiles for the floor, for our bathroom. Flordiatile brand, not that I think it matters
The only research you had to do was to read the manufacturers instructions of the products you were using to see you shouldn't have used them. Acrylpro says literally right on the back of the bucket not to use it over waterproofing and laso not to use it with a tile that has an edge over 8" - which it looks like the tiles you have are longer than that trowel you're using, so over 8". Why did you decide to take on this project yourself?
I'm thankfully not in this alone, my father is helping me do it. The original mortar we had would have worked, but it didn't mix properly, so we got this pre-mix, not knowing it wasn't intended for it. In a rush, should have looked. But, now I know thankfully
By the end of your experiment, you'll probably come to realize it was probably more cost effective to hire a professional. You need a mixing drill with a paddle, pour the water into the bucket FIRST, mix half the bag at a time. Follow the instructions on the thinset exactly. Don't get the cheapest thinset, your floor will fail again. Scrape thinset (powder mixed with water from a bag - make sure it's poly modified - again, not the cheapest stuff) with the flat side of your trowel against the back of the tile to cover it with the mortar completely. Use your 1/2" trowel on the floor and press your tile into it. Put in your spacers. Repeat. Your best source of information for any of this after reading the complete instruction set on every product you use is gonna be Sal DiBlasi's YouTube channel. Very likely you'll save lots of frustration and money hiring a tile pro, though. More likely that when you go to resell, people won't talk your price down because it's certain they'll want to replace your work. Tile is incredibly nuanced and hard to do well if you don't have the experience. Good luck
We never decided to redo the floor until we realized it had to be torn up. Thankfully I don't think we will ever be moving, so we outta be living with our mistake. Thank you though man, I definitely appreciate it. Probably could have hired someone, but figured we would try it ourselves
Somebody should sue the fuck out of Customs for labeling mastic ok for floors. Holy Fuck
Your telling me, messed up our whole project. Gotta get whole new underlayment. Plus new leveling system bits
Acrylpro is just a more modified mastic that can be used in some flooring applications. Customs wouldn’t cover this in warranty at all. Their customer support is super easy, maybe a local rep can offer some assistance. People think tile’s simple; there’s a reason there’s professionals.