Working time?

Thank you for your inquiry regarding MAPEI products! The working time or open time, once spread on the wall or floor before covering with tile is anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on the temperature and humidity in the installation. Please note the following, Type 1 Adhesive cannot be used with natural stone or glass installations, cannot be used for tiles larger than 6 x 6 on the floors and 12 x 12 on the walls, and cannot be used over any type of water proofing or sheet membranes. Although our Premium Mortar & Type 1 Adhesive are excellent products, they may not the best choice for all applications – especially if you are using it on a floor that you expect to grout within a day or two. It is also not the best choice for larger format tiles. Organic adhesives can take considerably longer to dry than the traditional cement-based thinset mortars (the ones that require mixing with a drill). This is because these types of adhesives dry by exposure to air, not by chemical reaction, as do their “cement-based” counterparts. As a result of that, you may not be able to grout for several days – and in some cases, much longer – depending on the time it will take the adhesive to air dry. Ambient temperature, humidity, along with the degree of porosity of your particular tile will dictate the drying time. This is why the drying time for any of our “organic” adhesives – such as our Premixed Mortar – is not listed on our Technical Data Sheets. Premium Mortar & Type 1 Adhesive are not recommended over waterproofing membranes due to the extended drying times that will be experienced. This product is a water-based adhesive, and all the water in the product needs to escape for it to dry completely. Applying tile with these adhesives over a nonporous surface like a waterproofing membrane traps the moisture, and the only way any can escape is out through the grout joints. If the adhesive dries out completely before you grout, you may never see any issue out of the application, but our official recommendation would be to remove and replace the tiles with an appropriate polymer-modified cement mortar for best performance. Should you decide to leave the tile installed with this adhesive, you will be proceeding at your own risk. There is not technically an ANSI standard for premixed adhesives other than mastics (which this product technically is not) so Premium Mortar does not fall into any particular ANSI product classification. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again. Thank you! Product Advisor # 11