Floor Tiles Lifting En-suite Help!

suitseir

Advice needed while waiting from Builder to call. Living in a dormer bungalow with first floor concrete - 9 years old. This morning I heard some cracking noises and noticed that the floor tiles in the en-suite have lifted in one tranche. Is this a leak from the shower I am thinking? Only two people living in the house and doesn't get ANY abuse. It is a first floor concrete construction.

10-10-20

I wouldn't expect a leak to cause a sudden cracking noise like that. More so, small cracks over a period of hours maybe...!
Can you lift the tiles and see what's caused the crack? Do you have signs of a leak? Are your walls cracked where they meet the ceiling?
Was there noise from below at the time?

suitseir

Thank you for your reply. No sign of cracks on dormer ceiling and the wall tiles are perfect. No sign of a leak. The builder is calling in the morning. He lives close by but is out of town today but said on the phone that he will investigate further tommorrow. He says he had experience of this before in a commercial unit in the town where we live and it got sorted.

The tiles look grand but it is a type of a ridge in the middle of the floor. From speaking to my brother, who is a dab hand at DIY, he says that there probably wasn't a 6cm gap left all around the edge and over time, this has pushed with contraction resulting in today's event. Bit of a pain but I suspect that once the tiles are up we will know more. My brother suggests using silicone sealant around the edges when putting new tiles down. He suggests ceramic. At least we have another en-suite (downstairs) that we can use. It is just the thought of all this dusty work having to be done. I shouldn't be grumbling though!!! It was just the fright of it.

Hootie

I am having exactly the same problem with an upstairs bathroom, the tiles keep popping and the grouting breaks away. I was told it was something similar, would be interested in your outcome. Sick of grouting and tried using silicon to allow the tiles slight movement but didn't work.

suitseir

Hootie wrote:

I am having exactly the same problem with an upstairs bathroom, the tiles keep popping and the grouting breaks away. I was told it was something similar, would be interested in your outcome. Sick of grouting and tried using silicon to allow the tiles slight movement but didn't work.

Hootie

Yea, I will let you know. Glad to know I am not the only one!!! Is your bathroom floor concrete first floor as well? If it doesn't work have you thought about putting on some other floor covering - the dreaded carpet would be a serious no no in my books. I have another upstairs bathroom and a downstairs en-suite and I am hoping that a similar problem does not occur!! There is always something!!!

Hootie

My first floor is floor board, I think there is movement in the joyces at that point and may need more supports between them. The movement could be causing the tiles to pop. I could try putting a sheet of marine ply down and securing to the joyces for extra support and tile over that but unsure if that would work.

suitseir

When I have the builder here tomorrow I will ask him if the problem I have i.e. concrete floor is worse than if it were floorboards and see what he says. I will report back to you with his advice.

suitseir

Hootie

Met with the builder this morning. Seemingly, it has happened in a few places in the past two weeks, both to first floor concrete and floorboards. If you have a velux window, the problem is compounded by the heat hitting the glass - time for a blind on the velux!!! A bigger problem with concrete floors.With regard to floorboards, the joyces will have to be secured much better and he recommends a smaller floor tile,and a very good tiler. Preferably, ceramic tiles - but these are expensive! Would be interested to know how you get on!!

Wishbone Ash

I'm having a similar problem with tiles over a wooden ensuite floor. I've tried different size tiles and secured the boards as much as I could but they keep cracking eventually. Retiled four times now so maybe it's time to get a professional in.

suitseir wrote:

the joyces will have to be secured

Hootie wrote:

I think there is movement in the joyces

I presume both of you are referring to 'the joists'?

galwaytt

You can retile as often as you like on floorboards over joists (sic), but you will always have the problem. The reason is, expansion/contraction of the floor, as wood does indeed move with heat/moisture, it's a fact of life, as it's an organic material.

However, help is at hand. First, if it has floor boards over the joists, I'd take them up, and sheet the floor with OSB3 or high quality marine ply. Not, I repeat not, the bloomin' braziilian WPB all the providers seem to be stocking these days.......DAMHIK !!

Then, on top of the new sheathing, put down Hardibacker board - this is a cementitious board, specifically for tiling floors or walls. It is impervious to temp and moisture. I've just had 3 x rooms in my TF house done in it, and my tiler also swears by it. It's about Eur16/sheet, for 1 x 1.5m sheets, iirc...... SEE HERE

As for joints at wall/floor: keep at least 6mm from adjoining, different surfaces. I hate silicone with a passion (it's rubbish, tbh.........), but would suggest polyurethane sealant instead.

suitseir

Thanks for the tips! However, my floor is concrete. Any suggestions? Builder called today and said he came accross another commercial building and in the WC, same problem! No major problems - no cracks, nothing!!!!! I will be purchasing tiles today - what should I look for and what sealant etc.? Would appreciate advice. BTW living in Co. Galway.

galwaytt wrote:

You can retile as often as you like on floorboards over joists (sic), but you will always have the problem. The reason is, expansion/contraction of the floor, as wood does indeed move with heat/moisture, it's a fact of life, as it's an organic material.

However, help is at hand. First, if it has floor boards over the joists, I'd take them up, and sheet the floor with OSB3 or high quality marine ply. Not, I repeat not, the bloomin' braziilian WPB all the providers seem to be stocking these days.......DAMHIK !!

Then, on top of the new sheathing, put down Hardibacker board - this is a cementitious board, specifically for tiling floors or walls. It is impervious to temp and moisture. I've just had 3 x rooms in my TF house done in it, and my tiler also swears by it. It's about Eur16/sheet, for 1 x 1.5m sheets, iirc...... SEE HERE

As for joints at wall/floor: keep at least 6mm from adjoining, different surfaces. I hate silicone with a passion (it's rubbish, tbh.........), but would suggest polyurethane sealant instead.

suitseir

Wishbone Ash wrote:

I'm having a similar problem with tiles over a wooden ensuite floor. I've tried different size tiles and secured the boards as much as I could but they keep cracking eventually. Retiled four times now so maybe it's time to get a professional in.



I presume both of you are referring to 'the joists'?

Yea, spot on! Except my first floor is concrete!!!!! A velux window in place which is always open, even a little but when the sun hits it - it gets really warm. Time for a blind there too!!! No damage underneath tiles although over a period of time I noticed a hollow sound on one or two or three tiles, obviously, the start of what happened over the weekend!!!

Hootie

Suitseir,
Really appreciate asking the builder, funny thing is I have 2 velux windows in that bathroom, as you can imagine it can get hot in there even with windows open. This must be a really common occurance. I am taking a couple of weeks off soon to catch up on my long finger list that I have been promising to complete for too long now so will get a start then.
Galwaytt, thanks for the tip with the marine ply and the Hardibacker board, i would have just tiled over the ply and probably end up in the same situation again.

Hootie

suitseir

Yea, I am thinking the velux has a lot to do with it. It would attract the heat like a glasshouse and heat the tiles!!! Funny thing is my bathroom is on the same side of the house - a small one but doesnt attract as much heat. I am thinking, best be careful as to the type of floor tile chosen for the repair job. It needs to be seriously hardwaring. Maybe outside/inside ones/ Don't know!

Hootie wrote:

Suitseir,
Really appreciate asking the builder, funny thing is I have 2 velux windows in that bathroom, as you can imagine it can get hot in there even with windows open. This must be a really common occurance. I am taking a couple of weeks off soon to catch up on my long finger list that I have been promising to complete for too long now so will get a start then.
Galwaytt, thanks for the tip with the marine ply and the Hardibacker board, i would have just tiled over the ply and probably end up in the same situation again.

Hootie

GreeBo

galwaytt wrote:

Not, I repeat not, the bloomin' braziilian WPB all the providers seem to be stocking these days.......DAMHIK !!

Whats wrong with WBP (in your opinion)?

galwaytt

Nothing wrong with WPB, generally, but there has been a lot of product substitution over recent years, and the quality of it, IMHO mind, is not the same as, say, Scandinavian produced board.

The other thing that occurs to me about ye're tiles.........is the adhesive used. I'm presuming it's the right type, naturally, but is there a full pad of it under the tile, completely eliminating any voids?