DIY tile with Bondera

[Curt Harms]

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

[Michael Weber]

thanks for the report. My daughter used this (or a similar) product about a year ago to do her backsplash and it's still looks good. I didn't ask if she had any issues. PM me in 20 years to let me know what happens :)

[Mike Cutler]

It looks just like Elastilon for floors. Same concept, but slightly different application technique.
Elastilon for flooring is very strong, and you'll tear wood off the back of the flooring if you try to seperate it from the Elastion mat.

I guess we'll both find out in 20 years because I used Elastilon to do my kitchen and back porch flooring.

[Michael Weber]

It looks just like Elastilon for floors. Same concept, but slightly different application technique.
Elastilon for flooring is very strong, and you'll tear wood off the back of the flooring if you try to seperate it from the Elastion mat.

I guess we'll both find out in 20 years because I used Elastilon to do my kitchen and back porch flooring.
Mike, can the Elastilon for floors be applied over a concrete slab base?

[Mike Cutler]

Yes.

According to Elastilons website, that's actually what it was designed for. It is installed right on top of the slab. No sleepers or false subfloor is required. My install was above grade which is a little different, but when I called Elastilon in Eurpoe, they told me that it could be, and has been, installed in that application.
A refractory layer, or a layer of 6mil plastic goes, down first. Elastilon does not adhere to the substrate, only the flooring itself. The floor floats over it's entire area, there are no nails, or staples anywhere.
I used it because we heat our house with a woodstove, so having a floor that can expand and contract uninhibited will hopefully preclude the floor from exhibiting those ugly seams between the boards. I also used Brazilian Ebony and Bubinga flooring which are very prone to splitting when nailed in the conventional manner, at least according to all of the website research I did. The brazilian Ebony floor has been down for about 4 years,and the Bubinga floor went down in the kitchen last summer. So far, knock on wood, it looks good.
I will tell you that it will add about $2.50 per sq/ft to the cost of the install. It's not cheap. I know that a pro tile installer, or floor installer, in my case, might not use such a product(s), but as a homeowner that has had to rip out floors and tile, I'd rather rip this out than what I had to rip out.:eek: Tearing up floors, and tiled walls, is not fun at all.

I have a Tile project coming up also, and if the Bondera is as a good as a Elastilon, I'll give it a serious look.