In the constructions that we undertake, the critical point is the quality of the building materials that we use. Common questions are about tile adhesives. The manufacturers of this product give imaginative titles to each new product to make it more attractive to the end customer. So we are interested in getting the SUPER GOLD DURABLE FLEXIBLE tile adhesive recommended by an acquaintance of ours or to really see what categories of glue there are and which we should use?
The tile adhesives we use, in standard applications, regardless of brand and name are classified according to standard EN 12004. This standard gives a code to the adhesive according to its technical characteristics.
As we will notice this code starts with the letter C which means that the glue we buy is based on cement. It can also start with the letter D or R but they are more special products that are not used in ordinary applications.
The code continues with the number 1 or 2. This number ranks our adhesive in terms of tensile strength. To put it simply and understandably, we can do the following procedure. We stick two objects with the glue we are interested in and after a while we try to peel them off. So when our glue is category 1 the objects come off more easily while category 2 more difficult.
Then follow 3 letters. The English characters T, E, F. These letters express the following characteristics.
T: Reduced slip adhesive. Reduced slip helps us e.g. in laying tiles on walls.
Q: Glue with extended bonding time. This means that the material is slow to stabilize the tile and allows us to make minor corrections.
F: Quick-setting glue. We use this glue when we want to have fast accessibility of the surface to be placed. E.g. the floor of a store
Understandably, an adhesive may not have any of the above characteristics, it may have only one or a combination of the above.
Finally there is another symbol that expresses some additional features.
S1: Elastic glue. This adhesive is resistant to small deformations, eg laying tiles on plasterboard or floor with underfloor heating
S2: Super-elastic glue. It is like the S1 but accepts larger distortions.
Below is a summary table of the types of adhesives on the market with a brief description depending on their properties.
ΚΩΔΙΚΟΣ | ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡΙΣΤΙΚΑ |
---|---|
C1 | Cementitious glue |
C1 T | Cementitious adhesive with zero slip |
C1 E | Cementitious adhesive with increased open bonding time |
C1 F | Fast-setting cementitious adhesive |
C1 TE | Cementitious adhesive with zero slip and increased open bonding time |
C1 FT | Zero-slip cementitious adhesive with zero slip |
C1 FE | Fast-setting cementitious adhesive with increased open bonding time |
C2 | Cementitious adhesive with improved technical characteristics |
C2 T | Cementitious adhesive with improved technical characteristics and zero slip |
C2 E | Cementitious adhesive with improved technical characteristics with increased open bonding time |
C2 F | Fast-setting cementitious adhesive with improved technical characteristics |
C2 TE | Cementitious adhesive with improved technical characteristics, zero slip and with increased open bonding time |
C2 FT | Fast setting cementitious adhesive with improved technical characteristics and zero slip |
C2 FE | Fast setting cement adhesive with improved technical characteristics and increased open bonding time |
C2 TE S1 | Cementitious elastic adhesive with improved technical characteristics, zero slip and with increased open bonding time |
C2 FT S1 | Fast-setting cementitious elastic adhesive with improved technical characteristics and zero slip |
C2 TE S2 | Cementitious elastic adhesive with improved technical characteristics, zero slip and with increased open bonding time |
C2 FT S2 | Cementitious super-elastic quick-setting adhesive with improved technical characteristics and zero slip |
C2 FE S2 | Cementitious super-elastic quick-setting adhesive with improved technical characteristics and increased open bonding time |
* The above descriptions and analyzes are intended for the simple understanding of the products and are not scientific texts