Saving Mixed Thin Set

[Davy]

I've never tried to save thinset, make smaller batches.

[stonemason777]

Come on now don't give away all the trade secrets!

[DonB]

Except for experimental purposes I don't save thinset. I've used leftovers for patching a concrete crack and spreading on top of concrete mixer washout patches on my roads. In one instance when I mixed up the rest of a bag to get rid of it and had a lot leftover, I made a white "multi-pound cake" in a tile box mold and frosted it with Delorean gray grout. It's a doorstop so the cats can get in and out of a storage room off the back porch. A yard bunny with a purpose

Don

[stonemason777]

I must not be firing on ALL Fours........... A new and intriguing world of possibilities has kindled a new motivation.

[cx]

I think the problem with Don's freezing method is that we don't really know what we're freezing here. In theory, if the mix was just very fine sand, Portland, and water, the freezing would stop the hydration at about 14 degrees Fahrenheit and maybe it would still be usable when thawed and properly cured. But even "unmodified" thinsets and grouts have additives not known to the end user, and the modified stuff has lotsa extra ingredients, many of which are latex-type materials, which we know from other products (paints, adhesives, etc) to be dramatically changed in character and useful properties when subject to freezing. No?

So. I think you could freeze your leftover thinset, but I'm not sure exactly what you have in your bucket when you thaw it. That would be my concern.

Better to make Yard Bunnies, no matter how ugly. See below. Aw, c'mon, you can see the bunny in there if you use a little imagination.

[stonemason777]

Fricking geeeeez............ Yeah, but can you make sheep HHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.........

I would have never ever even known if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Yard bunnies, what's next Discovery Channel, A & E!!! Funny!!!!!!!! Heard of em, never seen un!

[MudMaker]

Kelly, No.... er I mean yes....
Latex becomes unstable when frozen - ergo you really don't know what you got when you thaw it...

I've heard about the infamous lurking yard bunny but never thought I'd be priviledged enough to actually see one in his natural hoppatat...

[John Bridge]

And now we know what CX has really been doing out in New Mexico when he has s'posed to have been counting spotted owls on the taxpayers' dime.

[Marge]

Now that would be a great inspiration for a new mural. An outdoor area with yard bunnies!

Too funny Kelly.

[jdm]

Hey Don --

Want to try to startup a premixed frozen real thinset company?

What will it take to get Home Despot and Lowe'st to install freezer cases?

[Oldrem]

They can stock it right next to the premixed frozen real epoxy grout.

[DonB]

Jeff, me not interested in companies. Me interested in cashing out and trading for AISOM.

Don

[jdm]

Don --

Google only comes up with American Indian School of Medicine, but I don't think that they have traders.

[DonB]

Jeff, that's an acronym known mostly to cigar smokers. An Island South Of Miami.

[mosquito]

My sister did a science fair project when she was in high school about freezing concrete. She made uniform minipads of concrete about 5" round x 1" thick. After curing them she tested how many pounds pressure it took to break them. She put some of them in the freezer while they were fresh poured and left them there for a week. Then she defrosted them and let them cure for the same amount of time as the others. The frozen pads broke at a lesser weight than the unfrozen ones. They were still pretty strong, but there was a reduced strenght in the concrete. This is enough proof to me that I will never try to save thinset by freezing it.