Curt Harms
07-26-2013, 9:19 AM
SWMBO got on a new counter and backsplash kick. She saw the "This Old House" episode where Tommy used Bondera to set tile for a backsplash. Her ears perked up and off to her computer she went. A few days later a roll of Bondera appeared on our front porch, along with a couple boxes of tile. I found the stuff a PITA to put up. It's good to leave the pieces as long as possible so there's as few seams as possible. I see there's a seam tape available that I didn't know about when we did the job. It comes with peel-off covering on both sides. You remove the back side covering, stick it to the wall then remove the front side cover and stick the tile. The stuff DEARLY loves to stick to itself so working over and under cabinets with a sticky mat presented some 'challenges' to get in place without wrinkles. Once in place though, it worked out pretty well. We could set the tile and press pretty hard and still remove the tile if it wasn't right. Once overnight two tiles fell off. No problem, just put 'em back in place and give 'em a couple good whacks with a grout float to set 'em. We removed the tile side covering a section at a time so we didn't have to deal with too much exposed sticky crap at one time.
Advantages: No skill with trowel and hock required and no need to replace ordinary drywall with cement board. The material itself forms the moisture seal. It's pretty easy to reposition tiles as required until 'setting' them which requires a pretty good whack.
Disadvantages: It was a challenge to apply to the drywall without wrinkles or sticking to itself. I had to set some single and half pieces around electrical boxes. The 1" X 1" pieces didn't feel all that secure until grouted. Will the tiles still be secure in 20 years? Stay tuned, I have no idea how long the stuff has been around. It's not recommended for floors or ceilings.
http://www.bonderatilematset.com/
267261267260
Advantages: No skill with trowel and hock required and no need to replace ordinary drywall with cement board. The material itself forms the moisture seal. It's pretty easy to reposition tiles as required until 'setting' them which requires a pretty good whack.
Disadvantages: It was a challenge to apply to the drywall without wrinkles or sticking to itself. I had to set some single and half pieces around electrical boxes. The 1" X 1" pieces didn't feel all that secure until grouted. Will the tiles still be secure in 20 years? Stay tuned, I have no idea how long the stuff has been around. It's not recommended for floors or ceilings.
http://www.bonderatilematset.com/
267261267260