Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Basecoat Adhesive- Wet or Dry?

Basecoat Adhesive- Wet or Dry?


Wet Base or Dry Base? What’s the difference?
by Laurel  Rae Harmon
9/9/2014
Wet BasecoatDry Basecoat
In the EIFS application there are three layers: the EPS foam, the basecoat adhesive (which the fiberglass mesh is embedded into), and the finish coat. When customers are ordering supplies for EIFS, when it comes to basecoat the question comes up what’s the difference between Wet Base and Dry Base?
The short answer is they are both the same product but packaged differently. There are three components to Basecoat Adhesive.
1) Our secret proprietary mixture
2) Portland Cement
3) Water

Proprietary Mixture + Portland Cement + Water = Basecoat

When these three components are out together they form a smooth trowelable cementitious product. When are three are combined it does what cements do, harden. Therefore, we package basecoat two different ways, in buckets (Wet Base) and in bags. (Dry Base)

Wet Basecoat (Buckets)-Just add Portland

Covers 140-160 square feet

Proprietary Mixture + Water = Wet Basecoat

In a 5 Gallon bucket of Wetbase, our proprietary mixture and water and mixed together. If you remember, there are three components to Basecoat: Proprietary Mixture, Portland Cement, and Water. Therefore, when you are using Wet base you must divide the wetbase into two buckets, add half a bag of Portland cement to each bucket and mix with a jiffy-type mixer, let it stand for five minutes, then mix again for one minute and you are ready to trowel on the basecoat.

Dry Basecoat (Bags)-Just add Water

Covers 80-100 square feet

Proprietary Mixture + Portland Cement = Dry Basecoat

With a 50 pound bag of basecoat, open the bag and slowly pour mixture and one gallon of clean potable water into a 5 gallon pail while mixing. Add up to 1.5 quarts of additional water and continue to mix until homogenized. Allow to stand 5 minutes then remix for one minute. Final consistency should be very creamy, light, and easily trowelable.
I hope that clears up any questions about the difference between wet base and dry base.
Tique Basecoat adhesive for EIFS (Exterior Insulation Finishing Systems) is proudly made in the USA. For more information, please call 866.375.9510.

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