Hairline Fracture in Wall Tiles - What could be the cause?

[nalla]

Hi lads,
Just been back to a wet room job i done over a year ago and two of the wall tiles (opposite wall to the shower) going into the corner have slight crack lines on them, you can see them but can't feel any lipage, (i used webber low dust rsf) I will replace them no problem and i gather the reason for this is slight wall movement???? also any other tilers on here get simular problems???? Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[SJPurdy]

pictures would be useful.
What is the structure of the wall, and what type of tile?
Is there a joint in the boarding behind the tile?
When did the cracks occur?
They shouldn't just crack for no reason and unless you understand the reason then it may happen again when you have replaced them

 

[J Sid]

straight line cracks, say, following bricks or crazy paving type cracks?

 

[nalla]

The cracks are just a sraight line but not following a brick patten or any patten. (sorry i've no photo's

 

[J Sid]

I think the only way to tell what's going on is to strip wall back and investigate, taking photos as you go

 

[nalla]

Yes i will take the tiles off and have a look at the wall, come to think of it the cracks are more like crazy paving if anything.

 

[J Sid]

yes seen it before in Villeroy and Boch ceramic high gloss glaze. Give it a few more weeks in the steamy environment of a shower room and the cracks will get worse as moisture gets into the biscuit though the face. I had the tiles replaced foc.

 

[jobdone]

Was there paint on the wall? Was the bed depth deep

 

[nalla]

If i remember correctly, there was some emulsion on some parts of the wall, as for the bed depth it was my half round medium trowel. (approw 5-6mm)

 

[Time's Ran Out]

The cracks are straight line but like crazy paving!
There was some emulsion on the walls.
Up against it a bit trying to give advice to be honest but when you take the offending tiles of and give some photos and tile type you may get better input.

 

[nalla]

I will report back when i take the tiles off next week.

 

[Dan]

How did this go?

 

[nalla]

Hi Dan, I went back to the job on wednesday, it was only when i arrived i remembered that the wall with the cracked tiles on it was bowed from about half way up to the ceiling, originally the wall should have been skimmed from the ceiling down to half way where it could have been feathered in, anyway because of this the adhesive was quite thick where the cracked tiles were, there were no signs of wall movement so i re-applied adhesive to the wall and also back buttered the tile, (it was a homebase ceramic tile 400x200 7mm thick) i then went back the following day to grout the tiles, don't really have an answer to this do you????

 

[Dan]

The adhesive has shrunk I guess and eventually cracked the tile. Needs pulling off and replacing perhaps if it's to be done right. What does the customer want doing?

 

[nalla]

The adhesive has shrunk I guess and eventually cracked the tile. Needs pulling off and replacing perhaps if it's to be done right. What does the customer want doing?

 

[nalla]

As I've said above i have replaced the tiles, the customer is happy with that and we'll see how it goes, i think you are right, the ahesive has shrunk.