Shower Tile Thinset Or Mastic

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.

Shower tile thinset or mastic.

Thinset tile mortar. Today the term mastic is infrequently used and it is difficult to find tile adhesives that go under the mastic banner at your local. To demonstrate the difference between mastic and powdered thinset i set up two pieces of hardiebacker. Powdered thinset is by far a 10x better product.

Thinset tile mortar has a smooth slippery consistency similar to mud. Mastic is great for dry locations its a terrible idea for a shower. 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.

Now on with the battle of mastic vs. Shower walls thinset. Thinset mortar is your default tile mortar for most indoor and outdoor applications. He then set the tile with latex mastic.

Although thin set is not waterproof it is isn t water soluble. After tile board he would thinset the seams with fiberglass tape and then skim coat the entire board with modified thin set. 99 of tile setters will most likely refuse to use a mastic in a shower situation. When moisture is present it will not return to a liquefied state as mastic would.

Shower floors thinset. This skim coat has to dry properly. When you thinset the seams typically there is a slight hump so the skim coat evens the surface out and makes it flatter.