Failed anhydrite floor - Tile Advice

[Ian]

I went to look at a floor that had failed a couple of days ago and of the 60 m2, not much of it seems to be left attached to the screed. The grout is cracking and most tiles sound hollow. It's going to be a mammoth task sorting it out as the skirtings and kitchen are all fitted ontop. Now before I delve in and start pulling the place apart, what are people's thoughts on trying a resin injection to remedy the situation, is it worth a go? It wasn't me who tiled it originally so I'm not sure exactly why it's failed, my guess would be wrong prep or wrong adhesive, I won't know until I remove a couple of tiles. The lady has only been in the house 18 months and I want to cause as little disruption as possible, I feel quite sorry for her as she is quite clearly distressed about it.

 

[Gazzer]

I cant see it being an option IMO. Rip out and redo :yikes:

 

[Mr Tiler]

cant you just find out the original tiler and question him on what methods he used and try to find out before ripping it all out?

 

[Ian]

cant you just find out the original tiler and question him on what methods he used and try to find out before ripping it all out?

It's all loose anyway so it doesn't really matter what he has to say, I'll be able to see what the problem is as soon as I remove a tile or 2.

 

[Mr Tiler]

true mate looks like a nice big wage packet of 60 m2 coming up for ya lol

 

[Ian]

I cant see it being an option IMO. Rip out and redo :yikes:

It's going to be a beast of a job, I'm hoping a lot of the tiles will just slide out from under the skirtings and plinths. Taking the kitchen out is the last thing I want to be doing.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

The resin injection will only work if the tiles are level! If there is any uneven loose tiles they will have to be fixed first. It's a very expensive process and unless it's stone on decoupling I wouldn't think it's a cost effective option. She should try getting compensation off the previous owner!

 

[Ian]

The resin injection will only work if the tiles are level! If there is any uneven loose tiles they will have to be fixed first. It's a very expensive process and unless it's stone on decoupling I wouldn't think it's a cost effective option. She should try getting compensation off the previous owner!

The tiles have stayed level with the exception of one or two particularly loose ones, the developer who built the house is paying for it to be put right so the lady won't be out of pocket, I'm just trying to come up with the least messy solution. Thanks for the information about the cost, it's not something I'd even looked into, I kind of half thought I might be able to do it myself given some guidance. I'll do it in small areas I think rather than rip everything out in one go, that should help keep the dust and mess to a minimum.

 

[Stef]

Bri, you could be opening up a can of worms m8.
You say you want to keep the mess down but what if the screeds not been sanded?
I wouldn't like to sand 60m2 with a kitchen & skirtings fitted.
Just a thought..

 

[Dougs Third Go]

I agree with Neale, too many possible reasons to start second guessing, a rip out and re-do would be my modus operandi.

 

[Ajax123]

I went to look at a floor that had failed a couple of days ago and of the 60 m2, not much of it seems to be left attached to the screed. The grout is cracking and most tiles sound hollow. It's going to be a mammoth task sorting it out as the skirtings and kitchen are all fitted ontop. Now before I delve in and start pulling the place apart, what are people's thoughts on trying a resin injection to remedy the situation, is it worth a go? It wasn't me who tiled it originally so I'm not sure exactly why it's failed, my guess would be wrong prep or wrong adhesive, I won't know until I remove a couple of tiles. The lady has only been in the house 18 months and I want to cause as little disruption as possible, I feel quite sorry for her as she is quite clearly distressed about it.

It would depend why it has failed. Is it damp, poor prep, primer failure etc. if it is simply a case of poor prep it it is well worth a try to ropes in inject. You will probably have to regroup afterwards but I suspect that would be cheaper and easier than a complete rip out. My suggestion would be to get some resin (I think mapei do one and possibly Bostik) and try it on a small area before launching yourself at the whole thing. I would be very interested to know if it achieves a fix. I suspect it will as it has been done in Germany and America for several years. I know of a couple of jobs in the uk where it has been done successfully.

Not sure if the epoxy system would work on a damp screed. There are quite few DIY vids on YouTube for resin injection repairs to hollow spots.

 

[Ian]

Bri, you could be opening up a can of worms m8.
You say you want to keep the mess down but what if the screeds not been sanded?
I wouldn't like to sand 60m2 with a kitchen & skirtings fitted.
Just a thought..

I'll bet it probably hasn't been sanded, I know that it's a rip out and redo. I'll just have to do it in room sized areas with some super duper vacuum equipment. She doesn't want any disruption this side of Christmas, I'll probably suggest going on holiday for a couple of weeks in Feb/March.

 

[Ajax123]

If it's local to Grantham I would be happy to meet you on site to help you assess the situation.

 

[Ian]

It would depend why it has failed. Is it damp, poor prep, primer failure etc. if it is simply a case of poor prep it it is well worth a try to ropes in inject. You will probably have to regroup afterwards but I suspect that would be cheaper and easier than a complete rip out. My suggestion would be to get some resin (I think mapei do one and possibly Bostik) and try it on a small area before launching yourself at the whole thing. I would be very interested to know if it achieves a fix. I suspect it will as it has been done in Germany and America for several years. I know of a couple of jobs in the uk where it has been done successfully.

Not sure if the epoxy system would work on a damp screed. There are quite few DIY vids on YouTube for resin injection repairs to hollow spots.

I think I'll remove a few tiles in different areas just to see why it's failed. The utility room is only 2 m2 or so, so that would be a good test area. Most of the grout is loose so getting the resin in won't be difficult, I'll look into it further and report back.

 

[Ian]

If it's local to Grantham I would be happy to meet you on site to help you assess the situation.

Its a couple of miles outside of Grantham Alan, Barkston if you have heard of it. Thanks for the offer, I'll definitely take you up on that when I come to do the job.