I am a diy tiler and i recently tiled someones hallway,only 1mtsq,but he already had put 6mm ply down, i did tell him that this would not be good enough,but he wanted the job done anyway,i dont know if im responsible for this or not, now the grouts cracking,other than ripping it all up,is there a flexable grout i could use,and if so whats the best tool to use for removing grout,i know i should have refused to do the job untill the right ply was down,now it looks like im being left with this ,what a bummer

Ist of all , tell us what adhesives and grouts you have used on this job and was there any bounce in the floor. Then we can take it from there.

Originally Posted by sanny

I am a diy tiler and i recently tiled someones hallway,only 1mtsq,but he already had put 6mm ply down, i did tell him that this would not be good enough,but he wanted the job done anyway,i dont know if im responsible for this or not, now the grouts cracking,other than ripping it all up,is there a flexable grout i could use,and if so whats the best tool to use for removing grout,i know i should have refused to do the job untill the right ply was down,now it looks like im being left with this ,what a bummer

i am assuming you did nt use flexible grout in the first instance?

as for taking the old grout out, fein or bosch do a reciprocating tool as well

it was unibond adhesive and grout,that he got from bq,and yes i do feel as if the floor is bouncing

Rip it up and start again. No point keep repairing it. Next time use a good quality flexible adhesive and grout such as Bal etc

Hallway floor......any chance this could be a floating floor..?

sir ramic,is unibond not a good adhesive then,the tiles dont appear to be loose,and it also seems its just the edges thats coming away,i have regrouted them and will wait to see what the results are,i take your point on using the best of materials,but most people buy there stuff from b q or tile it all,and ask me to do the tiling,but in future i will insist that i suply the materials

I might sound a little harsh here, so please don't be offended

YOU!! need to take CHARGE!! don't be dictated to by clients who have bought the adhesive and grout and whatever else the bloody tile shop tried to sell them. You warrent the work you fix the tiles otherwise if the client could do it it would have already been done and you would not be there. You need to become use to buying and using quality adhesives and grouts. Yes they are more expensive WHY? because of the large amout of product research and development that goes into there products so they can and will continue to offer great products that preform over the long run and in the end make our jobs as tilers better.

Mistakes happen so bite your toungue rip the lot up fix the substrate and re-lay the tiles. You have learnt something by doing this and by doing so won't make that same mistake again.

your right mick, thanks ,i have certainly learned a lesson heree

Originally Posted by sanny

your right mick, thanks ,i have certainly learned a lesson heree

Makes me proud of you sanny, you have obviously got the right attitude happenning. Always remember that you are a buisnessman/tiler and the future of your buisness is in YOUR hands, not the clients. There is no better way to resolve an issue, than to get in a fix up the problem as quick as possible with a great attitude in doing so, don't whinge and whine just resolve the issue. Reputation is everything in the tiling game and by resolving any problems early will surprise most clients and give them confidence in your ability. You concentrate on doing good buisness and a quality job and the clients will see to the integrity of your reputation, for a job well done.

I have just tiled a hallway myself and just heard that the grout is cracking...i used the standard floor adhesive and grout supplied by ceramic tile warehouse.....i have not had a problem with this before..Can anyone tell me what i have done wrong and how do i correct this......

as above, what was the substrate like ? did you overlay ? what adhesive ? was it flexible ? was grout flexible ? give the guys something to work on.

Could you give a few more details, Tiles, Substrate and make of addy and grout

Originally Posted by whitebeam

Could you give a few more details, Tiles, Substrate and make of addy and grout

I think the problem has already been established mate. Wrong adhesive and grout used. If you take up tiling as a profession, dont waste your time on cheapy adhesives as they are nowhere near the grade of the bigger manufacturers. its whats better known in the trade as false economy mate. yeah you might save a few pennies at the time but you wont be happy when you get the phone call saying that you ruined their property and you then have to commit time to repairing it at your own cost.

the majority of failures ive seen on timber floors is always poor preparation, ie the existing floor not been made rigid enough and overboarded properly, and second not enough of an adhesive bed..

Thanks for the reply. It was PCI adhesive and grout. The adhesive was flexible but the grout didnt state it was flexible. I tiled straight onto the wooden floorboard..

Originally Posted by lubo78

Thanks for the reply. It was PCI adhesive and grout. The adhesive was flexible but the grout didnt state it was flexible. I tiled straight onto the wooden floorboard..

I'm not sure af any makes that can go directly onto floorboards mate...only Bal Fastflex....Gaz
What was the PCI adhesive called ?

The adhesive was PCI Tilefast 6 rapid flex.
thanks..

Originally Posted by lubo78

The adhesive was PCI Tilefast 6 rapid flex.
thanks..

Sorry lubo...I have looked at the pdf for his product but it dosn't mention tiling onto timber flooring...Gaz

http://www.pci.uk.com/en/products/Ti...uments/TDS.pdf

Thanks for all your help Gaz. Much appreciated. The tiles appear to be set solid. Do you reckon i could get away with re-grouting it with flexible grout or is it a rip it up and start again number...?

lubo rip it up and overboard with ply , pci's adhesive and grout are good stuff but you should have read the instuctions on the bag..

Check this one http://www.arconsupplies.co.uk/pdfs/...IDFLEX_TDS.pdf Does mention over boarding wooden floors

Originally Posted by lubo78

Thanks for all your help Gaz. Much appreciated. The tiles appear to be set solid. Do you reckon i could get away with re-grouting it with flexible grout or is it a rip it up and start again number...?

You could try grouting with flexible, if your tiles feel solid it would have to be epoxy grout, is it cheaper to rip up and start again?

Yeah, its gonna be pretty costly to rip em up but cest la vie...lesson learned......wont make the same mistake again....its 5 sqm, do you reckon its possible i could get away with using epoxy grout?
P.S what is epoxy grout?

Thanks

Originally Posted by lubo78

Yeah, its gonna be pretty costly to rip em up but cest la vie...lesson learned......wont make the same mistake again....its 5 sqm, do you reckon its possible i could get away with using epoxy grout?
P.S what is epoxy grout?

Thanks

http://www.tilersforums.co.uk/tile-a...ake-epoxy.html

PCI Tilefast 6 rapid flex is not suitable for tiling for tiling direct on floorboards imo no adhesive is if the grouts already cracking it wont be long before the tiles are sorry :Pete

i agree with pete i went to price a job three weeks ago and all the grout on there floors had cracked in both bathrooms about 16sm of floor due to the fact that they`d been put straight on to wooden floor and some of the tiles have already lifted/blown the advice from me to my customer was rip the full lot out and do it again properly

there is no point flinging good money at bad , epoxy grout is expensive and there is every chance your tiles are gonna lift, its a pain but better to start over..

Cheers lads for all your help. I took your advice and lifted the lot today, put ply down and started from scratch...pain in the are but lesson learned...the grout am gonna use is pci, but it doesnt say anywhere that it is flexible...Should i avoid using this....

Thanks

what grout have you got ?? if its wall and floor or fasttrack they are flexi and suitable for wooden floors, if its groutfast its just standard and not suitable , flexi or polymer modified grouts have CG2 written on the bag, standard grout will have CG1..