Types of adhesives
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Different types of adhesive are used for different tile compositions and subfloor materials.
The tile manufacturer will generally specify the most appropriate adhesive in their installation instructions.
There are two main types of adhesives used for tiles - acrylic and pressure sensitive.
Audio for slide 2 (mp3 |6|KB)
Acrylic
There are many acrylic adhesives on the market.
Most are solvent based or water based, which means that the curing action occurs when the solvent or water evaporates after the adhesive is applied.
They can be one or two part adhesives and are classified as soft or semi-soft set, because they don't set to a hard crystalline form like some other types of adhesive.
Audio for slide 3 (mp3 |6|KB)
Pressure sensitive
Pressure sensitive adhesives form a bond when the floor covering material is pressed into the adhesive.
They are classed as soft set.
These adhesives have the advantage of allowing individual tiles to be removed and replaced long after the floor has been laid.
Learning activity
Audio 4 (mp3 |6|KB)Choose one example each of an acrylic adhesive and a pressure sensitive adhesive.
Get the brochures and answer the following questions for each one:
- What types of substrates are they designed for?
- What types of resilient tiles are they most suitable for?
