Tile Adhesive v/s Cement Mortar: Which one to use and Why?

Updated: Aug 30

Stone and Tile Fixing

Flooring is a major part of any residential or commercial construction. And Stones like marbles, Granites, and Tiles are the most preferred substrate due to their durability.

After selection of Substrate comes the selection of Adhesive material to fix the tile or stone on the floor or wall.

Most common solution in market are Cement Sand Mortar and Tile Adhesive or Marble Adhesive (technically known as Thin Set Adhesive - TSA).

Before the introduction of Thin Set Adhesive ( also known as Tile Adhesive/ Marble Adhesive, Tile Glue, Tile Cement ), Cement Sand Mortar was ideal choice.

What is Cement Sand Mortar?

Simply a mixture of Cement, Sand and Water.

Application - Apply the paste on floor as well as another dollop on the back of the tile and stone.

However Cement Sand Mortar has following inherent major issues -

Hollow Sound followed by Cracking of Tiles.
Water Seepage.

Causes

Hollow Sound - Cement Sand Mortar doesn’t form level base to cover the entire tile surface.As a result it leaves gap between the tile (or stone) and floor. Which results in inadequate contact, and hence we hear the hollow sound on tapping(before cracking) and water seepage.
Secondly, Cement Sand mortar also shrinks after drying, and has less bonding strength.

To repair a crack tile in itself a complete project - needless to mention the pain of such Maintenance in detail.

Then there are Application issues with Cement Sand Mortar

Storage Inconvenience
Time for working is less.
Cannot Adjust tiles after being laid.
Involves Soaking of Tiles in water .
Slow Process
Increased weight load on the building due to thicker material.
Cannot be used on Low Adsorbent tiles like Vitrified Tiles or Porcelain tiles.

Now lets study Tile Adhesives or Stone adhesives

Basic components in Tile Adhesives -

Cement
Sand
Polymers for extra strength
Water Retention Agents
Additives for Working time enhancement and for vertical surfaces application.

Tile Adhesives is a ready to use mixture of sand , cement and Polymer additives which functions as a mesh creator (just like MS rods in Concrete), resulting in a more flexible and higher strength adhesive.

Application

All one needs is to Mix the water, use a trowel and apply on the tiles or stones.

Trowel usage results in thinner product application and an even application which prevents any form of Gap and results in complete coverage on tiles or stones.

The RachTR TSA tile adhesives have longer bonding time and strength and fewer chances of damages to tile and stone thus saves a lot of cost in future spending and maintenance.

And different grades of tile and stone adhesives are available for different application, surfaces, sizes and open time requirement which we will cover in next article.

Conclusion

In the end - Cement Sand Mortar is definitely a Cheaper material (probably 25% to 30% cheaper) but with higher labor cost.

The process is Slow and overall downside includes cracking, water seepage, cannot be applied on low absorbent tiles and etc. In short it is a product of past.

Whereas Tile Adhesive is a bit costly material but adding up the low labour cost, faster process, and advantages like No tile Cracking, No Hollow Sound, No water seeping and etc make it an easier choice over Cement Sand Mortar.

Advantages of Tile Adhesives or Marble Adhesives (TSA)

No Hollow Sound
No tile Cracking.
No water seeping
Easy to use. And can be used on low absorbent tiles or stones.
Higher Bond Strength.
Fast and economical labor cost.
Storage convenience
Thinner Layer - Less overall Weight on building.

Reason why TSA or Tile Adhesive is lesser known in India yet -

Product was introduced in Indian market in Early 2000.
Less product awareness, lac of skilled contractors, with higher cost of the product were the major deterrent. Which resulted in low requirement and hence low availability.
In last few years, all Major Developers , Architects and Contractors have understood the value proposition, and have shifted 100 % to Tile adhesive.
Soon usage of cement sand mortar for tile and stone will be a concept of past.

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