![]() What can you do when your tile and/or grout is cracking? Adam Bartos of BiO Tile & Grout Restoration offers some solutions Tile and grout restoration contractors encounter many problems with tile and grout flooring, but the most common problem seems to be cracking. What Causes Ceramic Wall Tiles To CrackOften, this movement is not structurally significant, but it can cause problems with building materials, including floors. If cracking in tile and grout is caused by settlement, fixing the problem may be a complicated and expensive ordeal. Cracked floor tiles aren't cause for immediate panic. Although cracks sometimes indicate serious structural issues, they're often a symptom of superficial damage. Feb 28, 2012 - Ceramic tile will crack 99% of the time on a floor, especially if on a wood framed substructure. Porcelain and stone are much better options but. My kitchen floor which is a concrete sub floor with ceramic tiles fitted on top has started making loud popping and cracking sounds. The ceramic tiles have been down since around November 2007. We bought the house new then and had the floor fitted before we moved in. ![]() Sections of the floor and underlayment (the material between the floor and the foundation) must be removed, cracks deep underneath must be repaired, and then the floor has to be rebuilt. Most floor restoration contractors leave this type of heavy-duty repair to building contractors. Weak Underlayment On the other hand, flooring that is installed on a weak underlayment may also have problems with cracking. When we walk over floors, we apply a lot of pressure over a small area. If that pressure causes the underlayment to flex, then tile and grout flooring, which is not designed to be flexible, weakens. In time, the grout loosens or cracks, and tiles become hollow, or worse, they crack. If weak underlayment is the diagnosis, there may be two easy and inexpensive ways to resolve some cracking problems. What Causes Floor Tiles To CrackCase Study #1 Homeowners in Palatine, IL A very frustrated couple had called three different restoration contractors on three different occasions because of problems with the grout in their floor cracking year after year. They wondered whether the floor needed to be replaced entirely and called us as a last resort. I knew right away that if three different companies had tried to fix the problem by replacing the grout, then doing the same thing a fourth time would obviously not be a viable solution. We set up a consultation. When I closely examined the floor, while the homeowner took a few steps, I clearly saw some of the tiles flexing under his feet, — an indication that tiles were separating from the underlayment. ![]() The Solution The challenge was to find the best way to fill the voids under the tile. Our solution was to use a tile glue called “Inject-A-Floor” made by a company in Boca Raton, Florida. First, we drilled 1/8 inch holes around the perimeter of the hollow tiles so that the holes went through to the underlayment. After vacuuming the debris, we used a big 80 cc syringe with a needle to inject the glue. The glue, since it is liquid, finds its way into any void. For example, the glue that had been injected into holes on one side of a tile surfaced from the holes on the opposite side, a clear indication of the glue flow underneath the tile. The glue took 24 hours to dry.
This procedure, in itself, did not fully resolve the problem, only the hollow tiles. The other part of the problem was weak underlayment, which couldn’t be easily changed. We had already ruled out using regular grout, because of the history of this floor. World book encyclopedias for sale. ![]() Using epoxy grout would only have made matters worse, because epoxy grout dries extremely hard. With the glue in place, the tiles were not going to give, and if the grout was inflexible as well, either the tile or the new grout would inevitably crack again. Although it is easier to replace cracked grout than cracked tiles (because most owners don’t have replacement tiles), we needed to find a long-term solution. After all, the customer had to live with the floor. A flexible grout called QuartzLock 2 was our best solution. It is a pre-mixed, ready-to-use urethane and colored quartz-based grout that is very easy to install. It requires no sealing and is resistant to typical food stains and most household chemical products. The advantage of this type of grout is when it dries, it becomes flexible, and if there is any movement in the floor, the grout flexibility dissipates the stress that would otherwise put pressure on the tile. The Result The wife loved the color of the grout. She was so happy to see the floor looking uniform again and relieved that we didn’t leave them with just another patch on the floor. The husband was hesitant to believe their problem was solved. Only the passing of time would convince him.
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