Cracked porcelain floor tile in a wet room

[maggiemay]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone could give me some advice. We have recently had a wet room fitted. Two months after the installation, we noticed that a tile had cracked (not in the actual showering area, but immediately adjacent to it). The tiler insists that we must have dropped something on the tile to make it crack. We haven't. That being the case, what else could have made the tile crack? We have subsequently had another tile crack (next to the first one).

The tiles are porcelain and were laid on a wooden floor. Our tiler says he is happy to replace the two tiles, but that in doing so the underfloor heating will be ruined. We paid a lot of money for our dream bathroom and would like to retain the underfloor heating and have a perfect floor!

Any advice on how to proceed would be most welcome.

 

[wetdec]

Porcelain tiles don't crack unless under huge stress they are not like ceramic so I would guess there is more to this.

They can be removed without the loss of your ufh but I would worry about the surounding tiles getting damage...............difficult one

..

 

[maggiemay]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry, you have me at a disadvantage - what's the difference between a porcelain and ceramic tile? And what sort of stress would a porcelain tile need to be under to crack?

Someone has suggested to us that perhaps the ply the tiler laid before the tiles may not have been thick enough and that it is the floor moving that is causing the tiles to crack - do you think this could be the case?

Also (sorry, loads of questions!) how do you think the tiler could avoid damaging the ufh?

Many thanks!

 

[theyomper]

Do the cracks run inline to each other? In other words follow the outline shape of the ply. Do you know what thickness of ply was used and how it was installed?
The more information the better.
With regards to uplifting and replacing the cracked tiles, this can be done with care and hopefully without compromising the UFH.
Let us have as much detail as possible and someone should be able to point you in the right direction.
Where abouts are you inthe UK?

 

[maggiemay]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. No, the cracks don't run in line with each other. One tile is cracked across the corner (which as a lay person led me to think that maybe the adhesive hadn't been applied uniformly), the other has a fine crack down the middle of the tile.

Not sure what thickness the ply was - maybe three quarters of an inch,
nor how it was installed (checking with partner - will let you know asap).

We're located in Bamford in Derbyshire.

We really rated the fitter and tiler - he did a good job for us. We're just not sure whether we will be compromising ourselves if we let him replace the two cracked tiles, when in fact the problem will still exist whatever it may be, and the cracking reoccurs. He also insists that the ufh will be damaged.

Thanks - will get back to you asap with more information once partner has called back!

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Hi Maggiemay

We could also do with knowing what adhesive and grout was used. If you could find the actual manufacturers name and product, that would be really helpful.

GRR

 

[maggiemay]

Hi, me again!

It was three quarter inch marine ply which was screwed to the joists. Neither of us can remember the name of the adhesive used, except our tiler said it was super-dooper at around £40 a bag/tub. Hope this helps you to help us!

Many thanks once again.

 

[maggiemay]

PS am now searching for invoice to see if the name of the grout and adhesive are mentioned.

 

[stevee]

hiya maggie , £40 a bag/tub ......did he use tubbed adhesive on the floor?

 

[Gazzer]

hiya maggie , £40 a bag/tub ......did he use tubbed adhesive on the floor?

This could have been 2 part flexible