Phil Addison wrote:

http://www.thetiledoctor.com/howto/wallsinterior.cfm

Interesting to see how the yanks do it.

See also http://www.axp.mdx.ac.uk/~john49/tilefaq.htm

Their products are very different from the ones used in the UK. Their
grout is much coarser, their cementitious adhesives are much leaner in
moisture retainers and adhesion promiters, hence the use of "latex" This
is not a true latex, as the UK definition would have it. Latices are
defined as being of plant origin, and polymer emulsions are synthetic.
The adhesive they describe as mastic is rather like an acrylic adhesive
for soft floorings. The examples I tested came Nowhere the requirements
of BS 5980. The duct tape was used because the adhesive was not a
non-slip type, i.e. once a tile is placed, gravity will not make it
slide down the wall.

John Schmitt