Shower Tile Thinset Or Mastic

Shower floors thinset.

Shower tile thinset or mastic.

It is applied to the substrate with a notched trowel. When you thinset the seams typically there is a slight hump so the skim coat evens the surface out and makes it flatter. 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. Shower walls thinset.

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. Powdered thinset is by far a 10x better product. He then set the tile with latex mastic. When moisture is present it will not return to a liquefied state as mastic would.

Thinset is a mortar that is made of portland cement silica sand and moisture retaining agents. To demonstrate the difference between mastic and powdered thinset i set up two pieces of hardiebacker. Now on with the battle of mastic vs. Today the term mastic is infrequently used and it is difficult to find tile adhesives that go under the mastic banner at your local.

Another advantage is that it s inorganic and thus is not a food source for mold growth. Thinset tile mortar has a smooth slippery consistency similar to mud. Thinset tile mortar. Although thin set is not waterproof it is isn t water soluble.

99 of tile setters will most likely refuse to use a mastic in a shower situation. After tile board he would thinset the seams with fiberglass tape and then skim coat the entire board with modified thin set. Mastic is great for dry locations its a terrible idea for a shower.