Hi all new to the site, I have had a search for grout cracking but did not turn up any results for me, so sorry if this question has been asked many times before

I have recently had my bathroom changed and we went for a slate look ceramic tile on the floor, this was put on half inch ply on top of the wooden floorboards that were originally down.
The joins were grouted with some "Sontex" (i think thats what it said) fromt he local builders yard. i bought it because of the colour not the brand name. Some of the lines in the groupt has cracked alreaady and it has only been down a week or so. i have even topped it up and it still cracked

Can anyone tell me if i have doine anything wrong? or what i can do or buy to stop this from happening again? do i need to change the brand of grout i am using? the grout is light grey which i like the colour of, just not the crackin

Also, (long first post or what??) I have used some Unibond antimould grout on the walls, woudl it be a good idea to seal this with a grout sealer or woudl i be wasting my time and money

Hope someone can help me

Cheers in advance

Ian

Hi Gardian,
Firstly, cracked grout generally equals movement. Is there any movement in the floor, ie does it 'bounce' at all when walking over it. 1/2" ply seems reasonable but if there was a previous problem with movement in the joists then this wouldnt by sufficient.
What adhesive was used, was it flexible and the sontex grout, was it flexible or a flexible additive added when mixing with water. If the grout isnt flexible then thats where the cracks are coming from but if there is alot of movement then the problem goes deeper!

As for the wall grout, good job on using antimould. Me, i would get a good quality antimould silicone (not just sealant-as they are different) and seal around the bath, shower and possibly around the wall-floor join, sides of shower etc.

Hope this helps, im sure the troops will be along soon with other ideas.

Thanks for the reply,

there is not a lot of movement in the floor, doesnt seem to bounce at all. The floor was fixed with some fast setting floor adhiesive from B&Q. As far as i know the grout does not say flecxible, nor was a flexible additive added, can you reccomend me such a product as i still have enough grout to redo the floor.

I have used silicone around the bath and in the corner where the tiles meet, and i will also be sealing the shower screen with the silicone. I just did not know wether to go over all of the grout with some sealer to stop it geting a orangeish tinge. I had not heard of grout sealer untill a few days ago, so thought it would be best to ask the experts


Thanks

Ian

Ian,
Any tile shop that only sells tiles will be able to sell you flexi grout or get you an add-mix for grout. The tiles should really have been laid with flexi adhesive as well and this may cause problems in the future. B&Q do not have a great reputation for tiles or their adhesive and grout ranges. Its a bit like supermarkets, they have everything but quality might not be great and there is not specialist knowledge about the products.

Hope this turns out fine and i wouldnt bother with the sealer on grout, if its good grout, however it cant hurt and if hair dye, fake tan etc are used by the lady of the house then it would be worth doing.

Thanks for that, I know B&Q isnt the best but it very local to me and i can get a discount from work

they have some unibond additive thats only 10 quid so i might try that if it gets too bad

RE sealer, Good point about the fake tan and hair dye, i think i better just in case, is there a brand that i should be looking out for?

Thanks for your help

Ian

i dont think b+q sell flexible adhesive. they sell the admix seperatly. the whole floor may need to come up and be relaid if grout continues to crack

Originally Posted by gardian

Thanks for that, I know B&Q isnt the best but it very local to me and i can get a discount from work

they have some unibond additive thats only 10 quid so i might try that if it gets too bad

RE sealer, Good point about the fake tan and hair dye, i think i better just in case, is there a brand that i should be looking out for?

Thanks for your help

Ian

Doesnt really matter what discount you get or how close B&Q is, if the adhesive was not flexible and the same for the grout you have no chance. Apart from the fact that IMO most of the stuff they sell is pants anyway your best move is to rip it up and start again (as Orange Juice said in 1982, YouTube - orange juice - rip it up )

Originally Posted by Sir Ramic

Doesnt really matter what discount you get or how close B&Q is, if the adhesive was not flexible and the same for the grout you have no chance. Apart from the fact that IMO most of the stuff they sell is pants anyway your best move is to rip it up and start again (as Orange Juice said in 1982, YouTube - orange juice - rip it up )

LMAO RAMIC, Never seen that video before.

Mate, you have to remember that you basically get what you pay for, if the B&Q stuff was good, then no one would need to pay higher prices for other adhesives, and ultimatley, it has cost you adhesive and grout and time, and is now costing you more materials and more time.

Sometimes you have to know when to cut your losses and start over, lesson learned.

Originally Posted by Oli

LMAO Grumps, Never seen that video before.

Mate, you have to remember that you basically get what you pay for, if the B&Q stuff was good, then no one would need to pay higher prices for other adhesives, and ultimatley, it has cost you adhesive and grout and time, and is now costing you more materials and more time.

Sometimes you have to know when to cut your losses and start over, lesson learned.

Thanks Oli, it wasn't me that posted it.

Originally Posted by grumpygrouter

Thanks Oli, it wasn't me that posted it.

Not sure what your on about grumps,
I clearly put in my most LMAO RAMIC

You must have misread it, and then mis typed in in the quote as if id make a silly mistake like that.

any builder or tiler should no to use flexi adhesive when tiling on plywood i think maybe you should re tile it the tiles will come up quite soon another common problem with grout cracking is getting the right mixture of grout ive seen it before tilers grouting with lumpy grout

As mentioned this could just be a case of the wrong grout used.....replace with a good quality flexible one and THEN if the cracking still occurs then you will have to look again at re-tiling...once you sort the problem that is causing it..

wow, thanks for all of the replys.

i can now understand that i should have used some flexible adhiesive aswell, but taking it up and starting again is not an option for me at this stage. the wall tiles are laid straight on top of the floor tiles, so im assuming some of these would come up aswell if i tried to remove the floor tiles.


I will remove the grout on the floor and use some flexible stuff, hopefull i will get away with that, if not, once i have more time and more importantly money, i will take up the floor and start again.

can someone reccomend me a good quality flexible grout? or provide a link??

BTW, it was not a professional tiler or builder who laid the tiles, it was a member of the family who did it for free.

I wish i had found this site a while ago so i could have bought some proper stuff!!

Thanks for the advice

Ian

with the flexible addition of

Hi Ian.........that is what the forums is about helping peeps with jobs or probs and our members like to help if they can.........

as for grout.....you could try Ultra colour plus from Mapei or Bal wide joint grout and GT1 admix.......bearing in mind neither manufacturer will give a guarentee if the prep or adhesive was wrong....

Thanks for sharing your probs with us and good luck...