Everbuild Griptite – Sticking with a Squeeze


I was all in favour of traditional ways of doing things – like using nails to fix skirting boards – until I started doing up my own house. I then realized that traditional ways meant having traditional buildings. Nails fix skirting boards into brick or block walls very well, but nails aren’t always great when used with studded walls. It was then that I started investigating other methods and realized that I had to be flexible enough to choose the right solution for the job - sometimes new and sometimes traditional solutions. No wonder good builders have to stuff their white vans full of equipment – they have to give themselves a range of choices!


Independent Review by Peter Brett


Almost out of habit I don safety glasses for any job I do these days, and they are


also recommended when using Griptite I lined up quite a few test pieces to test out the adhesive qualities of Griptite.


brick to brick, tile to MDF, metal to metal, plastic to plastic and combinations of all of them. There are certain basic instructions to follow and they apply to most adhesive products – surfaces should be clean and dry and powdery surfaces should be cleaned and primed with PVA before gluing anything to them. I loaded the cartridge into a standard cartridge gun. All you then have to do is snip off the plastic nozzle at the appropriate size of bead you need. Everbuild seems to recommend a 6mm bead size for many gluing jobs. The seal at the base of the cartridge is broken by using a sharp nail or screwdriver and a squeeze of the trigger will get the adhesive to flow. The colour of the adhesive is described as


buff green – a light grey is how I would put it. It flows quite easily as it has a good viscosity or “gunability” and is quite easy to control the bead thickness as well as where you want it to go.


I applied it to all my test pieces in a zig-zag


pattern and had no difficulty in pressing the pieces together and spreading the adhesive so that the pieces were closely packed for optimum adhesion. After half an hour I checked all my test


pieces. The slightly porous pieces like MDF to MDF, wood to wood and wood to MDF were more or less stuck fast and I could not move them by hand pressure alone. The ceramics, brick and metal surfaces had


started bonding but could still be moved a bit. Clearly, they needed more time for the glue to fully cure and bond the pieces together. When I checked the same pieces twenty-


four hours later the bonds were completely set and I was actually quite impressed with how


On opening the carton of Everbuild Griptite Extra-Tough-Multi-Purpose


Adhesive I was sent to try out, my first step was to read closely the instructions. I was left with the impression that Griptite would stick more or less anything to anything. Even porous and cement based materials could be stuck provided I followed the guidelines provided. And if I couldn’t do it with Griptite, the Everbuild recommended another of its products that could. Sounded like a challenge to me. Of course I should mention that Everbuild is a UK based company that


manufactures over 70% of its range of builders’ products in Leeds. Able to make over 50 million cartridges per year and with a world-wide market in a number of product categories, it works to the strict ISO 9001 quality system. A simple philosophy drives the business – Trade users will only come back to buy good products, so it only makes good products. You can’t really argue with that and maybe I should be more humble when taking on challenges? The instructions list a wide range of applications like bonding architraves,


skirtings and wall cladding to walls. Surpisingly for me, bonding carpet grippers to most types of floor and metal or plastic junction boxes to most surfaces are also listed. Special attention needs to be paid to bonding metal surfaces or heavy and


warped panels. Brief instructions are provided on the cartridge, but if in doubt it is possible to get more detailed information from the Everbuild website or by contacting Everbuild directly. However, don’t use it to hold mirrors on a wall or on polystyrene tiles because


the coating on the back of the mirror is likely to be pulled off or the polystyrene might gently disintegrate. I should also mention Health and Safety here. There are plenty of good


adhesives available on the market, and from Everbuild, that do not use VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) but these do cost two or three times more than the regular ones. When using ones that do contain solvents, used with a standard cartridge gun,


most users should not have any difficulty avoiding skin contact with the glue. If there is any contact a thorough washing with soap and water will deal with any hazard. More importantly, users should work in a well-ventilated area and avoid anything that could ignite flammable fumes. So, no casual gluing with a fag in the corner of your mouth.


14 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE My other test pieces also proved the versatility of Griptite, so these


applications are real possibilities too. I guess that Griptite met all the challenges I tried out on it, so I have yet more possibilities to think about as I do further jobs around the house.


Reply No. 224 www.toolbusiness.co.uk


such disparate surfaces could be successfully bonded. I am sure that the average jobbing builder would most commonly use Griptite


for gluing lightish wooden and metal pieces to smooth and dry surfaces like plasterboard walls. For these applications it is ideal because not only is it easier to do skirtings and dadoes with glue because you have some time to line up your pieces accurately before the glue goes off, but also you can remove the pieces with too much damage if necessary. Nails do tend to leave holes and scars!


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