Help!: Moving floor tiles

[arfon]

I need help. I have large porcelene floor tiles that are moving. The floor surface was concrete and had had floor tiles removed leaving a slightly uneven but clean and sound surface. The Tiler basically placed five large blobs of adhesive on each tile and laid them down. He said that this was the best way on a slightly uneven surface. He used much more adhesive that way but it seemed to work at the time and tiles were fine and level. A few months in and some tiles have started to move slightly cracking the grout. We do not have spare tiles so I can't pull them up and replace. Therefore I need a fix. The gap between tiles is small ~5mm. If anyone has a solution of how to fix the problem in situ I'd be very grateful.

Thanks....

[andy allen]

oh dear.....dot dab is not the way to tile , ring the tiler up and get him to do the job properly

[Dave]

Hello and welcome.. Any idea what the adhesive was..?

[Scott]

The British standard for floors is 100% coverage therefore dot and dab, as this method is called, is not a suitable method of fixing floor tiles. Unfortunately there is no fix except removal.

Fixer error, ring him and tell him he has done it wrong

Edit: You two are too fast!

[Stewart]

As far as I'm aware, there are no fixes for dot n dab tiles. If they are moving then you may be able to lift them whole. Contact the tiler as they have been installed with the wrong fixing method.

[jay]

the method of fixing you mention is not acceptable floor should of been corrected first can i ask what adhesive was used

[Dave]

The British standard for floors is 100% coverage therefore dot and dab, as this method is called, is not a suitable method of fixing floor tiles. Unfortunately there is no fix except removal.

Fixer error, ring him and tell him he has done it wrong

Edit: You two are too fast!

You need to learn to use more than one finger typing..

[Stewart]

You need to learn to use more than one finger typing..

Lol... Did you get my wife to take that pic.....

[Ajax123]

I need help. I have large porcelene floor tiles that are moving. The floor surface was concrete and had had floor tiles removed leaving a slightly uneven but clean and sound surface. The Tiler basically placed five large blobs of adhesive on each tile and laid them down. He said that this was the best way on a slightly uneven surface. He used much more adhesive that way but it seemed to work at the time and tiles were fine and level. A few months in and some tiles have started to move slightly cracking the grout. We do not have spare tiles so I can't pull them up and replace. Therefore I need a fix. The gap between tiles is small ~5mm. If anyone has a solution of how to fix the problem in situ I'd be very grateful.

Thanks....

There is your problem.......get the tiler back to sort it and do the job correctly IMO

[Bri]

As above, poor fixing method. Was the floor primed? and can you tell if the tiles have come away from the adhesive or the adhesive away from the floor? Welcome along to the forum.

[whitebeam]

If the floor was uneven how thick were the dabs of adhesive.

[aph257]

well you've come to the right place for advice, but i'm afraid there is no quick fix as has been mentioned above. your other problem being that you have no extra tiles is that if they don't come up clean you won't be able to re-fix 'em, unless of course he used ready-mix adhesive (he may have as he's defo not a pro tiler) in which case soak them in water for a couple of says then the addy should come off with a scraper. worst case is to get a proper tiler in to replace whole floor.

[Scott]

You need to learn to use more than one finger typing..

Oi cheeky i can touch type! I obviously spent too long pouring my beer!

[johnryan]

if i were you, i'd work on carefully getting one of the loose ones up without breaking it, and if you can manage to do this, then the others should be fairly easy to get up. if the've been dotted with addy, then you only need to tap gently with a chisel under the blobs of addy, and they'll probably debond very easily. once you have them all up, you can take time and care to clean the addy from the tiles. i've had to sort out floors like this before, and once the first tile is up, it's very easy to get the rest up. i even had to sort one out where some guy had used tubbed wall addy and dotted them. i took them all up by hand, then used various scrapers to clean the tiles for reuse. just take your time, and be careful, and you should be ok.

[Ajax123]

if i were you, i'd work on carefully getting one of the loose ones up without breaking it, and if you can manage to do this, then the others should be fairly easy to get up. if the've been dotted with addy, then you only need to tap gently with a chisel under the blobs of addy, and they'll probably debond very easily. once you have them all up, you can take time and care to clean the addy from the tiles. i've had to sort out floors like this before, and once the first tile is up, it's very easy to get the rest up. i even had to sort one out where some guy had used tubbed wall addy and dotted them. i took them all up by hand, then used various scrapers to clean the tiles for reuse. just take your time, and be careful, and you should be ok.

sorry but why should the client go to this trouble when it is the tiler who has clearly messed up????

[johnryan]

sorry but why should the client go to this trouble when it is the tiler who has clearly messed up????

that's a very good point, but from the way the guy who laid them works, i can't see that his aftercare service will be up to much. i fully agree with you that he should come back and fix it, though i'd guess that that's wishful thinking, unfortunately.

[Ajax123]

that's a very good point, but from the way the guy who laid them works, i can't see that his aftercare service will be up to much. i fully agree with you that he should come back and fix it, though i'd guess that that's wishful thinking, unfortunately.

I guess you are probably right .... more is the pity.

[arfon]

Well thanks for the quick responses. Seems to be a consensus that my tiler used the wrong method. Too late now, he's probably not in the country any longer. For those who asked, the type of adhesive used; on my order docket it says 'rapid set flexible white adhesive' none left to tell you the brand. The adhesive was mixed by the tiler and believe me he used very large dabs (for the person who asked about that one). So lads and lasses surely someone has a fix out there. Re-tiling the whole floor again not an option and anyway only 6 tiles are moving out of more than a hundred so that idea seems a bit extreme. Is there an easy way to lift tiles without breaking them?
Cheers.....

[kilty55]

arfon there is no fix,if the tiles are beginning to come loose and crack my hunch is that this will only worsen through time,you will not save that floor imo

[timeless john]

You need to learn to use more than one finger typing..

Thought you must have been in my office there!

[whitebeam]

Remove the grout and try to prise a tile up, no promises it won't break though.

[Ajax123]

Well thanks for the quick responses. Seems to be a consensus that my tiler used the wrong method. Too late now, he's probably not in the country any longer. For those who asked, the type of adhesive used; on my order docket it says 'rapid set flexible white adhesive' none left to tell you the brand. The adhesive was mixed by the tiler and believe me he used very large dabs (for the person who asked about that one). So lads and lasses surely someone has a fix out there. Re-tiling the whole floor again not an option and anyway only 6 tiles are moving out of more than a hundred so that idea seems a bit extreme. Is there an easy way to lift tiles without breaking them?

Cheers.....

Not sure if anyone does a flowing grout which could be "injected" under the tiles to fill the voids or even how much such a thing would cost. we used to do this under paving slabs which had been undercut by water. We used to use a foamed concrete. It would offer enough rigidity and compressive strength to remove the voids from under the slabs and prevent he deflection stresses which are what is most likely to have caused your tiles to delaminate.....not sure though. Perhaps a call to some of the major grout suppliers e.g. Weber, Tremco or Uzin might be helpful

[Del W]

Can you buy more tiles ? or are they a special order.

[Daz]

Incorrect fixing; I guess the floor plays tunes when you sweep it due to all the hollow spots.
The only professional advice that we can provide has to be to retile, I'm afraid.

If I had been asked to visit a similar job to provide the client with a solution, there would be only one course of action.

If you do choose to undertake a localised "repair", then make sure that whatever you do with the remainder of the floor, you do not drop anything on it! Even cutlery will crack / break a tile if it lands on a hollow area.

Good luck,

Daz

[pjc]

Arfon what part of the UK are you from?

[charlie1]

Well thanks for the quick responses. Seems to be a consensus that my tiler used the wrong method. Too late now, he's probably not in the country any longer. For those who asked, the type of adhesive used; on my order docket it says 'rapid set flexible white adhesive' none left to tell you the brand. The adhesive was mixed by the tiler and believe me he used very large dabs (for the person who asked about that one). So lads and lasses surely someone has a fix out there. Re-tiling the whole floor again not an option and anyway only 6 tiles are moving out of more than a hundred so that idea seems a bit extreme. Is there an easy way to lift tiles without breaking them?
Cheers.....

Hi afron
You could dig a tunnel under your house, need to be quite large though as a person will need to fit in it and then tunnel up under your concrete floor, then simply drill through and use injection cement method to fill voids.....yes im being ridicules!!!.... but lifting tiles don't seem so bad now eh

[arfon]

10 out of 10 for the most imaginative reply. Thanks to everyone for your advice. Will lift a tile and see how it goes. everyone is on the same track so no more advice needed.

cheers

Wayne

[easyt]

10 out of 10 for the most imaginative reply. Thanks to everyone for your advice. Will lift a tile and see how it goes. everyone is on the same track so no more advice needed.

cheers

Wayne

Oh. to late then. I had a similar problem at my daughter home with just a few tiles in a area where I suspect that self levelling had been laid quite thick and it was tiled on too soon. I removed 4 tiles. I found it easiest to chain drill to remove the grout around and between the tiles before gently levering them up. I also found that a glass lifter greatly helped in removing the first tile where I could not get right under it. We had no spare tiles and did not want to break any. We were able to lift the offending tiles intact.

[arfon]

Not too late - interesting reply. I understand most of what you say but not sure what you mean by a glass lifter. can you explain.

Thanks

[whitebeam]

One of these