Will it stick?

ramette

Just had some VAT removed from the concrete basement floor. There was black mastic underneath that was also removed with a heavy duty solvent (methyl ethyl ketone I think it was).

I hear the mastic residue can react with other adhesives and cause problems. The floor needs to be skimmed before recovering with ceramic tile. Is there a skimming compound or sealant I can use that will stick to the concrete, or will I have to put in a new subfloor?

Thanks in advance
Ramette

harvster

If the old adhesive was removed, I would bet the problem of adhesion would be pretty small. Have you asked around about a bonding agent that may get good adhesion?

I know there are a lot of tile professionals over at the http://www.GroutCleaning.com forum that may be of help, along with the advice here, of course.

Can you still feel the adhesive on the floor? Or is the floor just stained from the original application... that methyl should have done a pretty good job, it it was the right chemical for that adhesive; it's strong stuff!

Bud Cline

The tile industry says that chemicals should never be used to remove prior adhesives and their residues. Only mechanical eradication is acceptable due to the chemicals interference with tile adhesive bonding.

harvster

Thanks for that insight, Bud.
Good thing to know.

ramette

Mechanical means were out of the question because asbestos was involved (at least that's what I thought).

The concrete is smooth and no longer sticky.

Am I out of luck? Anything I can do at this point to make the concrete nonreactive and ready for new tile?

HomeDepot23

Most of the tile installers I know use the primer for the levelling compound and roll it on. So I would agree that a good bonding agent should work.

Wash your floor thoroughly before starting this work to get all chemicals out. When you are done washing the floors....wash them again.

ramette

Excellent... thank you.