Help! Cracked floor tiles

[BJD]

Hi All,

I am a homeowner seeking help and would greatly appreciate any advice or assistance that can be offered.

I have Saloni Nirvana Gris ceramic tiles laid on the floor of my bathroom (59x30) - these were installed about 1 year ago and within the first 3 months I had a crack appear in one of the tiles and it has now spread across 4 tiles.

I need to get this fixed as I have a 10 month old baby now and she tries to stick her finger in the crack!

My main concern is I have underfloor heating and not being in the know I am unsure if I can even take up tiles and replace them - would appreciate any advice that can be offered - I have replacement tiles, but just need to know if it's possible to fix.

I hope to hear from you soon,

Many thanks, Brad

[suave]

[Dontiler]

hello and welcome
is it water UFH or electic 1? do you know what subfloor you have under the tiles?

[Bri]

Welcome Brad. Any chance of a bit more info mate, such as the adhesive and grout used and is your heating electric or water. Pics of the affected area would help if you can post a couple.

[terry the tiler]

Hi , it could be a number of things , what type of floor was the tiles layed on ? ie concrete or wood ?

[BJD]

Hi All,

Thanks for your responses so far.

I have attached some images of the impacted area for further comment.

In response to some of the questions so far:

- under the floor tiles we had the original flooboards and I believe he put some sort of wood over the floorboards before tiling, like a ply or wetboard
- I'm sorry I am unsure of the type of grout and adhesive used as I kicked the bathroom installer off the job
- the underfloor heating is electric

This is the brand of underfloor heating mat installed - Klima Heating Mat - Underfloor Heating

Many thanks, Brad

[whitebeam]

Do you know how thick the boards were Ply etc..

[enduro]

Looks like you have movement in the subfloor. You will not repair this without damaging the underfloor heating. If you replaced the tiles they would crack again. Im sorry to say looks like a rip up and start again with the right preperation of the sub floor before tiling.

[Dontiler]

as above, just replacing tiles would not fix the problem

[Rich]

Oh dear, Im sorry to say that it seems that the guys above are bang on.It is impossible to tell for certain without lifting a couple of tiles and having a look at the floor underneath but It looks like it is not repairable. Timber floors are so problematic, we get at least one post like this a week on here and it is so upsetting because there is nothing that can be done but to remove the tiles and under floor heating. Then prepare the substrate properly and then re tile. Have a read through the link below for a little bit more info on timber floors.


Plywood floors...

[Dave]

When this crack appeared , did the grout pop in the joints as well or has that happened as the crack got worse..?

It is a stress crack but cannot determine which form from those pics.. could be deflection stress or even sub-floor heave if the ply boards are butted together..

[CJ CERAMICS]

insufficient strengthening of floor looks to be the likely culprit seems as if the tiles have cracked along the joint line of the floor boards or the ply.

[jay]

Take it you had a tiler do the work might be worth calling them back

[Rich]

Or perhaps a builder

[BJD]

When this crack appeared , did the grout pop in the joints as well or has that happened as the crack got worse..?

It is a stress crack but cannot determine which form from those pics.. could be deflection stress or even sub-floor heave if the ply boards are butted together..

It basically started as a hairline crack which got worse over time. The grout never popped until quite late - I just a thin crack which spread over three tiles, then finally as per my previous attached picture that bigger section popped open.

[Dave]

OK.. it sounds like it is a substrate preparation stress crack.... You could try to replace the effected tiles but IMO it could just happen again..

It would be best to have a chat with the installer..

[Tomtiler]

To save time in the long run u would be better ripping it all up and fixing i know it sounds alot but its better than fixing 4 tiles then 3 months down the line fixing the same 4 then doing it over and over again

[BJD]

OK.. it sounds like it is a substrate preparation stress crack.... You could try to replace the effected tiles but IMO it could just happen again..

It would be best to have a chat with the installer..

I kicked the installer off the job as I had endless problems with this bathroom. I'm afraid I can't talk to him and he wouldn't answer my calls anyhow.

[Dave]

Then this problem does need rectifying , but be prepared for some heart ache if it is to re-tile..

You will need someone to examine it at face value to determine exact cause of failure..

[Bathfix Bob]

Hi BJD

The cracks could be due to the ply sheets (if he had used ply) not being screwed down enough at the edges where two board meet, I had this exact same problem with a floor I did once and the cracks are the same (learnt my lesson now though!)

What other problems were related to this bathroom? I'm a bathroom fitter myself and I'd be interested to know.

Let me guess....

Bath loose and leaking
Toilet poorly fitted
Taps loose
Basin loose and leaking from waste trap
Floor tiles cracked *
Wall tiles poorly fitted
Damage to carpets on landing
Damage to loft
Chrome towel radiator leaking and fitted at an angle
Bottom of door scraping on floor tiles
Bath panel poorly fitted

I see this all the time, there are so many cowboys.

[BJD]

Hi BJD

The cracks could be due to the ply sheets (if he had used ply) not being screwed down enough at the edges where two board meet, I had this exact same problem with a floor I did once and the cracks are the same (learnt my lesson now though!)

What other problems were related to this bathroom? I'm a bathroom fitter myself and I'd be interested to know.

Let me guess....

Bath loose and leaking
Toilet poorly fitted
Taps loose
Basin loose and leaking from waste trap
Floor tiles cracked *
Wall tiles poorly fitted
Damage to carpets on landing
Damage to loft
Chrome towel radiator leaking and fitted at an angle
Bottom of door scraping on floor tiles
Bath panel poorly fitted

I see this all the time, there are so many cowboys.

Thanks for your message. Problems below:

- Bisazza mosacis were put on back the front
- The mosaics were ripped down and started from scratch
- FInally we got the mosaics looking nice (with the help of a new tiler) and 3 months later I got a knock on the door from my downstairs neighbour to say water was leaking through her roof. The plumbing to the mixer (behind the mosaics) was not connected properly, therefore we had to punch the hole in the mosaics and have it corrected again.
- One of the wall tiles was cracked
- the grout between the wall and floor tiles was different in colour in sections
- Provided measurements for a large wall to wall mirror which were incorrect and therefore I had to have it cut down

As you can see it has been non-stop problems and now I need to consider relaying the whole floor again much to my disgust.

[whitebeam]

How do put Bisazza mosaics the wrong way round...

[Bathfix Bob]

O dear, it sound like its been one thing after another with this bathroom.

It must have been a slow drip from behind the tiles from day one?

[BJD]

Yes a slow drip!

With the bisazza tiles they had a paper backing on them - instead of fitting them with the paperback facing outwards towards the installer he put the paper against the adhesive on the wall - did not look good!

[whitebeam]

Yes a slow drip!

With the bisazza tiles they had a paper backing on them - instead of fitting them with the paperback facing outwards towards the installer he put the paper against the adhesive on the wall - did not look good!

It was a 40 gallon drip who put the mosaics up...

[Tabby Cranks]

He did well to get them to stick on the wall.
As Bathfix says, I bet my bottom dollar those cracks are directly above the plywood joint.