tiling problem - grout and tiles cracking!

val78

Registered User
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19
Hi,I'm hoping there is someone here who can offer some words of wisdom. I have a bungalow and approx 2 yrs ago i had my hall tiles with porcelain tiles approx 28 sq yards.
last year one of tiles inside front door developed a crack and recently is chipping.i know i will have to replace this one but much to my horror i've recently noticed that on the width of hall the grout line has cracked from wall to wall and in an area near my hotpress grout had cracked and the crack has travelled across a tile and back into grout this has happened in two separate areas quite near each other at hotpress, also in this area a tile appears to be lifting at one corner and is quite noticeable.
I'm puzzled as to the reason for this?is it problem with tiles?floor? or the adhesive or grout that was used. it is puzzling that it is in separate section of such a large fllor area. myself i feel it may be connected to hotpress but am not sure what.
the tiler has tiled my ensuite, kitchen and utlitty and there is no problems with any of these areas or his work, he seems puzzled about the cause
Any body got any ides?
thanks
 
Is your house a new build? Your problem sounds like the house is settling. We have recently tiled a new build and the tiler strongly recommended that we used flexible adhesive and grout. Even after doing this, he said to keep a couple boxes of tiles spare as if there is a large settlement crack the tiles could still crack.

It is relatively easy to replace crack tiles (as long as you have spares!). Personally, if in your case it is a new build I would be inclined to leave them alone for another year of so and allow the settlement to stop/slow down.
 
The heat from your hotpress is expanding & contracting the wooden floor under the tiles & causing them to shift.
Don't know how you can fix this.
 
I've worked on floors where the tiles were laid on wooden floor using regular adhesive. In this situation the tiles gradually come loose but they don't crack if the sub-floor is sound.

If others haven't come loose yet I would say rmdt could be right about settlement.
 
thank you all for responses helping put my mind at ease. no wooden foor involved, it bungalow tiled on to concrete. How long should I expect cracks etc, house is built approx 3 yrs and hall tiled approx 2 years ago. and as i said no other floor area kitchen or ensuite have had this problem
thanks again
 
I'm in a rented house.. the floor tiles (about 305mm x 305mm each), laid directly on a concrete poured floor have had to be replaced twice in the same area, due to massive cracking.. which got so bad that large fragments became totally loose... it happened where the hot water pipes run under the tiles.. so the heat is the problem. The hot water pipes were in a channel about 80mm deep as far as I know... and I think concrete was poured over them but not 100% certain...
 
it is the heat from the pipes that is causing the problem, that section will have to come up and relayed with a flexi floor adhesive
 
i've open planned my kitchen and sitting room, took up the tiles in the kitchen and wood in the sitting room, the floor is uneven. i want to use a leveling compound how much will i need the measuerments are roughly 22ft by 13ft
 
i've open planned my kitchen and sitting room, took up the tiles in the kitchen and wood in the sitting room, the floor is uneven. i want to use a leveling compound how much will i need the measuerments are roughly 22ft by 13ft

Please do not drag this thread off-topic, post a new one for this.
Leo
 
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