Expert Answers in failures

ANSWER – We have seen this type of problem before and we have investigated several situations similar to yours.   Generally speaking when the stone tile at the bottom rows of the shower wall darken…

ANSWER – Tile tents for a number of compounding deficiencies.   First the tile isn’t bonded as well as it should be for various potential reasons.  There probably are no movement joints at the perimeter…

ANSWER – As the “Hollow Sounding Tiles May Signal Installation Problems” article stated, tiles can sound hollow for different reasons.  In some cases hollow sounding tiles are not likely to result in any problems.…

ANSWER – The wet grout is likely caused by moisture migrating from beneath, or from the sides of, the concrete slab of your basement.  The rain would cause the surrounding soil to become wet and…

ANSWER – Water coming up through your tile grout joints is an indication that you have a high water table on your property or that water is being directed towards your house, and you don’t…

First ANSWER – Just because a slate tile sounds hollow doesn’t necessarily mean there is a problem.  It might be a reflection of the configuration of the tile assembly or substrate beneath it.  Although on…

 1st ANSWER – Trying to fix the problem by injecting epoxy to fill voids in hollow sounding areas of the tile and to stabilize loose tiles is treating the symptom rather than fixing the problems.  I…

ANSWER – Having wet grout around the drain does suggest that the weep holes at the waterproof membrane level might be plugged.  Water below the tile that can’t readily drain through the weep holes, into…

ANSWERS – If the crack is a structural crack in the concrete slab, which is a crack that has vertical displacement from one side of the crack to the other, then a crack isolation membrane…

ANSWER – Travertine is normally resistant to water.  Although it can develop staining from being subjected to floods, but it can normally be cleaned.  Cementitious backer boards are resistant to water too.