Karl Dahm Special Trowels Review

The Karl Dahm 'special' trowels are designed to give a far greater adhesive coverage compared to the standard square-notch trowels of old. You can see by the photos these trowels have a rather unique pattern, not too dissimilar to the Schneegans Euro pattern trowels. This pattern creates a zip-like effect with the adhesive.

We found the trowels to be lightweight and very comfortable to use, their blades whilst not as rigid as many of Karl Dahm's competitors applied both tubbed and bagged adhesives in a thorough and efficient manner. The slight spring in the blade was especially helpfully when cutting in the adhesive around toe kicks and under wall cabinets.

Here's a point, if you look at the trowel above you'll see there's a lot blade either side of the handle base. With one trowel we did cut this excess off to create a smaller trowel for splash backs and tighter areas, it really did make a difference to be able to get adhesive nicely spread in those awkward areas.

Considering the complicated design of the trowel pattern the blades were relatively easy to clean, due mainly to the 'Rost Frei' stainless steel blades. Any tiler will you a stainless steel blade is a must and the Karl Dahm offers exactly that. The grip is a well designed an ergonomic soft rubber and offers a very comfortable feel in the hand.

The only downside to these trowels would be there limited sizing as they are currently only available in two sizes medi [7 mm x 10 mm] and maxi [12 mm x 12 mm] maybe there should be a smaller size for mosaic or smaller tiles < 120 mm square for example a 5 mm x 8 mm and a larger 16 mm x 16 mm version?

Overall we have to conclude that these are a very ingenious and practical trowel that for the most part removes the need for back butter and are especially suited in wet areas where a greater adhesive coverage is required. Both trowels are less than £10 each, a bargain.

Review by Dave M. Carr
[e] dave@davemcarr.co.uk
[w] www.tiling.davemcarr.co.uk
Professional Floor Wall Tiler Nottingham

Tags: tools, reviews