CHEMICAL and adhesives manufacturer Mapei has released its new locally produced multifunctional cementitious tile adhesive, Adesilex P4, a C2F class adhesive which can also be used as a levelling compound.
“Adesilex P4 is first and foremost an innovative, rapid-setting, semi-fluid, full contact adhesive which has the added benefit of 100% tile coverage, eliminating the need for back-buttering on large format tiles. This results in costs savings in both time and consumption per square metre, subject to required thickness,” said says Zamaswazi Ntobela, Ceramics Product Manager for Mapei South Africa.
Ntobela added that it is ideal for use as an adhesive on ceramic, porcelain and natural stone (non-moisture sensitive) installations in internal and external environments. The product is easily trowellable and allows for light traffic within four hours.
As a smoothing compound, it can be used on interior and exterior surfaces generally found on site up to a maximum of 20mm thick. Providing the substrate is clean with no loose debris, it can absorb deflections on the substrate and provides easy levelling and localized smoothing which sets within four hours.
“This gives contractors the ability to use a single product to ensure both a cost and time savings on projects. What’s more, it can even be used as a mortar for brick and concrete block walls for building, wherever quick curing and high strengths are required,” Ntobela said.
“It is important to remember that if the easy-to-use product is used as both a smoothing compound and a tile adhesive – the smoothing layer needs to be hardened and prepared correctly before proceeding with the tile application.”
Ntobela said Adesilex P4 is suitable in heavy traffic zones, such as offices, shopping malls, hospitals and schools. Its wide temperature range means it can just as easily be used over underfloor heating installations or any other application where temperature extremes may occur.
“Although our product guarantees 100% coverage of surfaces with no need to ‘back-butter’ large-format tiles, it also provides the benefit of one multipurpose product with the obvious cost and time saving benefits.”
