Tile adhesive buying guide: chemistry, class and pack
Updated: October 2026
You are tiling a short ceramic splashback, or a floor that becomes a whole room, and amazon.co.uk has mixed a ready-mixed tub, a cement sack and a craft gel on one shelf. A tile adhesive buying guide sorts those three by the job, then by the code on the pack. The seven listings and their prices sit on our [tile adhesive comparison](/hub/fillers-adhesives-and-sprays/tile-adhesive). Shelf prices move. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and there is no laboratory test behind this page.
You are tiling a short ceramic splashback, or a floor that becomes a whole room, and amazon.co.uk has mixed a ready-mixed tub, a cement sack and a craft gel on one shelf.
You are tiling a short ceramic splashback, or a floor that becomes a whole room, and amazon.co.uk has mixed a ready-mixed tub, a cement sack and a craft gel on one shelf. A tile adhesive buying guide sorts those three by the job, then by the code on the pack. The seven listings and their prices sit on our tile adhesive comparison. Shelf prices move. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and there is no laboratory test behind this page.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Form | EN 12004 class | Where it is for | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Everbuild Everbuild 703 Fix and Grout 750 g | Paste | Not stated | Walls only; not for floors | 8.3 | about £6.24 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Unibond UniBond Ultra Force wall tile adhesive and grout 300 g | Paste | Not stated | Walls | 7.2 | about £7.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  ARA CHOICE Bond It CTA flexible tile adhesive 20 kg | Powder | C2 T E S2 | Internal and external floors and walls | 5.9 | about £17.75 | View offer |
On this page
Start with the job, not the shelf price
A short ceramic wall can start with ready mixed tile adhesive. A floor, the outside, or a whole room starts with cement tile adhesive that prints a class. Tile It Right puts cement on wet or dry floors and walls, and dispersion paste on damp or dry walls. Check the maker before any paste goes on a floor.
The only powder here is Bond It CTA Flexible, made by Bond It, with ARA CHOICE in the brand field: 20 kg at about £17.75, printed EN 12004 Type C2 T E S2. A cheaper tub can undercut that sack and still be the wrong family for a floor. Paste against powder, as that single choice, is on our ready-mixed versus powder tile adhesive page. A waterproof line still does not name C or D.
Read the letter before the waterproof claim
C is cement powder, D is dispersion paste, and R is reaction resin. BS EN 12004-1:2017, in the scope BSI publishes, covers cementitious adhesives inside and outside, and dispersion and reaction resin adhesives for internal walls and floors. A missing code is still unknown, even on a tub that says waterproof. Bond It's printed line is C2 T E S2, and no ready-mixed file in this set prints a D code.
Match the tile and the wall
Tile It Right says at least one face must be porous, because dispersion sets as water leaves it. On a ceramic splashback that face is often the tile biscuit or the plaster. A materials line that says porcelain is not clearance for a porcelain floor.
Weber's UK note treats ready-mixed paste as unsuitable for floors and for porcelain, and powder as the adhesive that hydrates. Sika's page for Everbuild 703 and the UniBond listing both name porcelain, so those tubs stand on their own wording. Follow the tub you bought, and keep wall tile adhesive off a floor the pack never claims. Gypsum plaster should be at least four weeks old, with a usual guide of 20 kg per square metre including adhesive, tile and grout.
What this set can and cannot be
These seven packs are a DIY sample: wall pastes, one cement sack, and a craft gel. LAMXIN at about £9.99 is 100 ml of clear craft gel. Compared with a tub sold for ceramic, it belongs with craft work, so leave it off a bathroom wall and off a floor. Everbuild 703 is about £6.24 for 750 g and states about 0.5 m² depending on tile size. A Bond It merchant sheet says about 6–7 m² from 20 kg at 3 mm.
Questions before you buy
Two size fields stay unreconciled. The EVO-STIK 5 litre, at about £24.41, shows 5 litres, an item volume of 9 litres, and an item weight of 99.8 g. Instant Grab, at about £25.56, shows 10 litres and an item weight of 100 g. A gram figure in that range cannot be the tub, and 9 litres cannot replace the 5 litre count. Read the tile adhesive pack size on the container when it arrives.
Common questions
Do I start with a ready-mixed tub or a cement sack?
A short ceramic wall can start with a ready-mixed tub. A floor, the outside, or a whole room needs cement powder with a printed class: here, Bond It CTA Flexible, 20 kg at £17.75, marked C2 T E S2. A cheaper tub is a weak reason to put paste on that floor.
What do C, D and R mean on a tile adhesive?
C is cement powder, D is dispersion paste, and R is reaction resin. Cement suits wet or dry floors and walls. Dispersion suits damp or dry walls, and you check the maker before a floor. C2, T, E and F mark adhesion, slip, open time and fast setting. S1 and S2 are cement-only. No letters means the class is unknown.
Does waterproof on the tub mean it has a class?
A waterproof line is wording on the label. A class is a code you can read, such as C2 T E S2 on the Bond It sack. No ready-mixed file in this set prints a D code. That line does not waterproof a shower.
Can I use a wall paste on a floor if the tile is ceramic?
Ceramic names the tile, and it leaves the adhesive where the pack put it. Dispersion needs at least one porous face, and Weber treats ready-mixed paste as unsuitable for floors. BS EN 12004 does allow dispersion adhesives on internal floors, so you still read the maker. A wall paste that never claims the floor should stay on the wall.
How old should gypsum plaster be before tiling?
Gypsum plaster should be at least four weeks old. The usual guide is 20 kg per square metre, including adhesive, tile and grout, which ARDEX and BAL attribute to BS 5385. Unskimmed plasterboard is a different case: Instarmac's chart allows 32 kg per square metre. Follow the tub if its own limit is tighter.
Is shelf price a guide to price per square metre?
Shelf price buys the pack. Everbuild's 0.5 m² from 750 g, a retailer's 1.7 kg to fix and grout 1 m², and Bond It's 6–7 m² from 20 kg at 3 mm are three different jobs. Use a rate only when pack, bed and source sit in one sentence.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices are the amazon.co.uk lines in this set, October 2026.
- The Tile Association — Tile It Right (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- The Tile Association — adhesives note (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- BSI — BS EN 12004-1:2017 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- HSE — cement (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Sika UK — EVERBUILD 703 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- EVO-STIK — mould-resistant wall tile adhesive and grout (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Bond It — CTA Flexible tile adhesive grey (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Weber UK — ready-mix or powdered tile adhesive (retrieved 16 October 2026)