Tiles adhesives: everything you need to know

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.

Κόλλα πλακιδίων εφαρμογή

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

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