Dunlop Adhesives, specialist manufacturer of tile adhesives, grouts, finishing and ancillary products, has appointed Amy Rushton as Assistant Brand Manager to help drive awareness of the Dunlop brand and assist in the delivery of creative campaigns for the company. Having previously worked as Commercial Administration Manager for Dunlop Adhesives’ parent company, Building Adhesives, Amy has [...]
Sticking with the specialists… and a little bit of acrylic primer
You’ve just had a call from an un-happy customer. Three months ago, you were commissioned to re-tile their newly fitted bathroom suite. Looking back, you prepared the area, primed it, put down your grout and adhesive and did a great job on the tiles – the customer was thrilled with the job. So why, a few months later, has all your hard work gone down the toilet and all your tiles, adhesives in tow, fallen off?
- Not commonly know amongst all tradesmen, there is a huge difference between using a PVA primer opposed to an acrylic primer
- You’ll all remember PVA glue from primary school. The stuff that, to the teachers’ dismay, ends up all over your hands, but with a touch of soap and warm water it’s soon gone. Fundamentally, that’s what PVA primer is
- Jane Deegan, Assistant Brand Manager of Dunlop Adhesives discusses the implications of using a PVA primer as opposed to an acrylic primer to encourage jobbing builders not to get themselves into a sticky situation
- When a substrate surface is treated with PVA, it partly soaks in to the body of the substrate and partly sits on the surface in a similar fashion to wallpaper paste
- When the tile adhesive is applied to the wall, the water in the adhesive causes the PVA to become “live” which prevents the adhesive from penetrating the substrate resulting in a poor mechanical grip
- An acrylic primer soaks right into the substrate and stops the sponge like “draw “effect
- Tradesman should know, when using a cement-based adhesive, it should not be applied directly to the plaster substrate as it causes a chemical reaction, a problem known as “Ettringite failure”
- Using an acrylic based primer will prevent this chemical reaction from happening