Shelf life of tile adhesive: limited or not?
The famous satirist Mikhail Zhvanetsky once said: “Repairs are easy to start, but almost impossible to finish” - whether it’s a joke or not, it often happens that repair work lasts for a very long time... so long that you have to think about the shelf life of the materials used, because you have to buy everything accepted in advance, with the expectation of a quick completion of the repair.
In the case of prolonged tile laying, the cost of repairs can increase several times. The tiles, of course, will “lie down”, but the glue has a rather limited shelf life...
What is the shelf life of tile adhesive and how to calculate it?
Lately, you can increasingly see consumer indignation over the purchase of expired building materials, so before purchasing the mixture you “like,” pay attention to the production date – it is this, and not the day of purchase, that is the basic “reference point.” This, by the way, applies not only to tile adhesive, but also to other mixtures, solutions, etc.
It is important to consider that before your purchase, the glue is stored for some time in the manufacturer’s warehouse, and then in the building materials store, so expect that the purchased glue must be used before the expiration date specified in the manufacturer’s instructions.
Of course, the shelf life of building materials is not as important as, for example, food products, but it is also an important indicator when choosing. Yes, the stated shelf life of tile adhesive is only a manufacturer’s recommendation , but it is calculated based on certain parameters for maintaining the declared qualities by the adhesive components.
For example, a dry mixture of cement, sand and polymers - sold as cement-based tile adhesive - lasts on average 6 to 12 months.
This period is calculated based on the period during which cement, sand and polymer additives retain their qualities of strength, adhesion (setting), moisture resistance, etc.
And if no changes occur with the sand even after the expiration date, then cement loses its activity by about 5% every month, and polymers may completely lose their basic properties.
It is also worth remembering that each type of building mixture has its own shelf life - it depends on the manufacturer and type of glue. So, the dry mixture and the finished solution have different shelf life.
What happens if you use expired tile adhesive?
Since the expiration date of tile adhesive is only a recommendation, many renovation enthusiasts are convinced that the mixture can still be used for some time after the expiration of this period.
But won’t such “savings” result in unexpected and unpleasant costs in the future?
As with any other business, there is always some risk in renovation. And with the use of low-quality or expired materials, this risk increases. Therefore, when deciding to lay tiles with adhesive whose expiration date has expired, be prepared for the fact that the repair will soon have to be repeated...
Of course, the result of the repair and the duration of its service will largely depend on the operating conditions - after all, even high-quality, but incorrectly selected tile adhesive does not guarantee that the tile will not fall off over time.
Therefore, in order to ensure a long-term result of the repair, use only high-quality building materials, follow the manufacturer’s instructions, follow the operating rules and... pay attention to the expiration date - it is indicated for a reason...
How to determine the “freshness” of tile adhesive?
Let's imagine a situation: you bought tile adhesive, but you doubt its quality - what to do? Oddly enough, it is quite difficult to determine whether the glue is really “fresh”... As experts note, if the rules and storage conditions are observed, the outwardly dry mixture retains signs of “suitability” for a long time.
Most often, tile adhesive is sold in bags sealed with a plastic insert - this protects the mixture from moisture, so even expired adhesive will remain crumbly. In other words, it is almost impossible to determine an expired product “by eye”... This can only be done experimentally.
If you doubt the suitability of tile adhesive, try diluting a small amount of the mixture according to the technology - until smooth - and glue the tile. After the glue has completely dried, try to tear it off the base. If it works, it is better not to use glue and, most likely, it is no longer suitable for work, but if the tiles do not give in, the mixture can be used.
Topic: Tile adhesive has expired
There have been five bags of tile adhesive lying around for about a year; we already bought them for repairs, but the repairs took too long and we can’t get to the tiles. It says on the bag that the expiration date is six months from the date of manufacture. If you still use this “expired” bathroom adhesive, what do you think? Well what can we say? It's expired!!! Although I did such experiments at home with Unis, the tiles have not yet fallen off. But I still won’t advise anything, you know, anything can happen.
