Advice on Priming Porcelain Paving

When doing a patio, the worst thing that can happen is you need to rip it up and lay it again, and the most common cause to do so is the slabs are popping up.

This could happen because of using no primer at all that’s specially made to bond paving or sometimes even using not so updated methods of laying paving which results in problems down the road.

Priming the back of the slabs not has become standard practice across the industry, and you must be priming not only porcelain but also natural stone pavings.

Ready-mixed primers vs mixing on your own

Nothing wrong with using your own cement and SBR slurry mix, in fact, still many of them prefer mixing their own priming slurry as it’s a method that has been carried out for years.

However, times have changed, pre-mixed primers now are manufactured for a purpose, and most professionals are switching to them for multiple reasons.

The problem with homemade SBR and cement priming slurry are that it goes off very quickly. On the other hand, ready-mixed bagged primers last longer in the bucket after mixing.

So you have some time before it finally starts going off. This is a big advantage of using a ready-mixed bagged primer when we see it from a DIYer’s point of view or someone who’s laying the paving for the first time.

This also means that you have more time for cleaning if it gets on the face of the slabs, unlike the homemade slurry primer which immediately stains as a result of faster drying time.

There are some things that you should definetely utilise in the process to make the job a little bit easier and a decent ready-mix primer is definetely one of them.

Our DIY Start to Finish Patio Cheat Sheet here lays a diyer-friendly process on how you approach the job a little different that what you most commonly see online to give yourself the best chance of success.

Manufacturers of these products spend a ton of money on the research and testing of these products so their performance is guaranteed.

As these ready-mixed primers are manufactured in big batches unlike mixing SBR and cement yourself in small quantities throughout the job, it is very consistent.

The final thing about these ready-mixed primers is there are other additives than just the SBR and cement ensuring the best bonding of the slabs. They have a British standard guarantee which is specially designed to bond paving.

The best primer for porcelain slabs

Any ready-made primer is best than no primer at all or even mixing on your own using SBR and cement. Yes, ready-mixed primers are a bit expensive but don’t you think that it’s worth it instead of relaying the paving again?

But if you’ll ask what is the best primer currently to use, then Ultrascape Pro-prime is one of the best primers available on the market. It’s proven to bond as you will see a lot of professionals using it for their job.

Another one that is available on Amazon is EasyPrime (see it here) if you’re struggling to get a decent one at your locals, and it’s branded as a product, especially for porcelain.

So let’s keep the SBR there for other purposes like mixing into the mortar and at least not on the back of porcelain slabs.