Shower Tile Thinset Or Mastic

Now on with the battle of mastic vs.

Shower tile thinset or mastic.

Powdered thinset is by far a 10x better product. After tile board he would thinset the seams with fiberglass tape and then skim coat the entire board with modified thin set. It is applied to the substrate with a notched trowel. Shower walls thinset.

He then set the tile with latex mastic. To demonstrate the difference between mastic and powdered thinset i set up two pieces of hardiebacker. 99 of tile setters will most likely refuse to use a mastic in a shower situation. Shower floors thinset.

Although thin set is not waterproof it is isn t water soluble. Thinset tile mortar has a smooth slippery consistency similar to mud. Another advantage is that it s inorganic and thus is not a food source for mold growth. Thinset is a mortar that is made of portland cement silica sand and moisture retaining agents.

Mastic is a vague term that generally refers to fast grab glues for tile. When moisture is present it will not return to a liquefied state as mastic would. Mastic is great for dry locations its a terrible idea for a shower. Today the term mastic is infrequently used and it is difficult to find tile adhesives that go under the mastic banner at your local.

Traditionally mastic was an organic plant based resin from the pistacia lentiscus shrub and its term is related to the word masticate due to its sticky gummy consistency. This skim coat has to dry properly. The reason tile pros use thinset in showers is that mastic will release if it contacts water and because it is organic if just a little water gets behind it it literally becomes food for mold.