Pete Verdon d wibbled:

Tim S wrote:

I'm sorted on the adhesive - Mapei Kerabond + Isolastic - I tried some,
then tried to break it up and it held together like a b*stard.

Hi Tim - looks like we're doing much the same but you're a couple of
steps ahead of me :-). I have a shed full of marmox, and a batch of
tiles at the local shop waiting for me to ok the delivery (no space to
store them here) but haven't properly looked into adhesive/grout/etc.

It's good to hear of your successful test with the kerabond & isolastic
- was there anything else that seemed like a possible alternative?

Actually my test was on an expanded polystyrene floor heating panel, 25mm or
so thick (www.floorheater.co.uk).

Mapei Kerabond + Isolastic was the recommended for this application. My
tests indicated that cheap "quarry" tiles (6mm or so thick, 10x10cm) would
survive me jumping up and down on them - but a heavy impact load (belting
hard with a rubber mallet) would crack the tiles.

Based on that, and the clear fact that Marmox has way more surface rigidity,
I feel quite happy with the Marmox - it's going to take a hell of a whack
to crack the tiles, and you could crack a tile on concrete if you try hard
enough.

How are you planning to fix the marmox down? (I'm doing both walls and
floor)

On a dodgey floor, good screed but no DPM, I used Mapei Keraquick on advice
from Mapei Technical. They couldn't guarantee it for 30 years (their words)
but they thought it had the best chance of survival against damp. That was
good enough for me.

On good floors with damp resistance I will either use the same or perhaps
something slightly cheaper.

Any pointers to a good/cheap supplier?

Screwfix for Keraquick, but I've since found www.lilleytileandstone.co.uk
stock it (and much of the Mapei range) rather more cheaply.

Cheers,

Pete

BTW - cut Marmox like plasterboard - score with a stanley knife, snap and
cut the back. Very quick and fairly non messy. But lots of blades - it eats
blades