Expert Answers in cracks

ANSWER – To keep it simple, there are two basic types of cracks. A structural crack that moves vertically or a shrinkage crack that moves horizontally. You can not treat a structural crack. You either…

ANSWER – First you need to determine why the floor is cracking. It could be that the concrete subfloor has a crack in it that is continuing up through the ceramic tile. It could…

ANSWER – First of all the question should be why did the tile crack. Tile shouldn’t crack unless it wasn’t installed correctly, or it was installed over an unstable substrate, or it was abused in…

 ANSWER – Indent fractures normally occur in natural stone, although I have seen it in glazed wall tiles.  We normally don’t see it in ceramic floor tiles.

ANSWER – Porcelain tile, which is a type of ceramic tile, can crack for a variety of reasons, although if installed correctly it should never crack.

Considering your tiles are installed on a concrete slab…

ANSWER – I understand that you have a townhome where you replaced your kitchen floor with ceramic tile in August 2010.  The tile was installed over hardibacker board that was applied over a wood subfloor over…

ANSWER – If the ceramic tiles were installed correctly the grout should not be cracking and crumbling.

Chances are your installation is over a wood subfloor and/or backer board. Maybe the floor was prepared incorrectly.…

ANSWER – Many types of limestone tile have veins that can appear to look like cracks, but are really natural veins of a different composition in the stone.

If it goes completely through one tile…

ANSWER – When there is ceramic tile or stone failures it is normally due to compounding issues.

There could be excessive movement beyond the industry limit of L/360 deflection, but your subfloor description sounds substantial.

Answer –  The floor tile should not crack for any reason if it was installed correctly.  If there are existing shrinkage cracks in the concrete slab, before the tile is installed, it should be treated with…