Mapei 4 to 1....at lowes?

CO762 · Mar 12, 2010

Anyone ever use this? Seems like just "drypack", but for $13/bag.

I found it very interesting they sell mud at lowes (1 pal was at an endcap) as that's a real homeowner/DIY oriented store. $13/bag, someone with the skill/knowledge to float, would go to the masonry section and get the stuff to mix their own for about 3 a bag.

I'd like to try it if no one has any bad reviews on it. If I get the opportunity, I'll put that on the cliente's material list.

Kyras · Mar 12, 2010

Yeah I come up with $3 vs $13 also.

And those premixes are always sandy and weak. Mostly because the sand is SUPER dry so it doesn't kick the cement over. But super dry sand is the worst for mud, the absolute worst. It's very difficult to encapsulate the sand particles with cementatious goodness without making an overly wet mud (works fine for Sakrete because you want it sloppy wet). My opinion is that you simply cannot get good mud from those bags, or from bagged sand (except for the ultra huge sand bag on a pallet some places deliver, that sand is awesome). Moisture in sand is vital. Ice, not so much. Or dirt, leaves and roots.

CO762 · Mar 12, 2010

Kyras said:
Yeah I come up with $3 vs $13 also.

In a month or two, I may be able to get it for $3/bag as lowes is predominantly a homeowner/DIY place, so how many of them will float anything? Weird. Must be the mapei rep gave the purchaser a good line.
I'd just like to try it to see what it's like....but not enough to pay that price for.

Do you like angular or rounded sand in your mixes?
When I use bagged, it's mostly the quikrete topping mix and play sand, but I'd like to snag a bag of unimin sand and try that. That's mined sand, so it's angular.

Sand comes in and is graded per mesh (size), then sold in bulk, bulk bag/tote sacks (3000lb) or in 100/50lb bags if sold as sand, so they key is to find out who mines it.
Angular sand is mined (unimin comes out of ID) while spherical is 'scooped" so to speak, tho it may still be below ground. The latter is also called "alluvial/beach" sand. The mesh size is a group of different sizes with the main size being the most. Play sand is all over the place on sizing, so that's one of the reasons why I think that works well. Compare that to a more uniform sized sand, like pool filter sand. That has to be pretty much all one size or the filters will clog. I should get a bag of that and see how that works. IIRC, that should be the rounded type also to let a good fluid flow.
Your local sand in the phone book should be a good help for ya. We have Quikrete and Rio Grand in town that get it in by the railcar.

Can/do you order your drypack if you get a big enough job?

When we need a few pallets of it, we have a local house mix it up for us and they'll do it in whatever spec you want. Larger jobs, we end dump it in and just use pallets of cement.

HS345 · Mar 12, 2010

I use Laticrete 209 Floor Mud for all my shower floors. Awesome premixed deck mud, mix it with just water. It is never weak, cures hard as a rock. :thumbsup: Ten bucks a bag. I know that's kinda steep, but I absolutely love the workability of this product.

Never tried the Mapei. Buy a bag, and play with it, all you got to lose is $13.

CO762 · Mar 12, 2010

HS345 said:
Buy a bag, and play with it, all you got to lose is $13.

Knowing my luck, I'd love it...then not be able to buy it anymore. Well, not anymore w/in a few blocks of my house anyway.
I've not used the laticrete stuff either, but they make good products.
Local tile place gave me a bag of merkrete premium plus to try.
I have about 15 boxes of nice porcelan in my storage unit.

Now if someone could give me some grout, I could so some tile work for free to keep the theme going.

Mapei 4 to 1....at lowes?

CO762

Kyras

CO762

HS345

CO762

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