Can Ceramic Tile Withstand Cold Weather?

QUESTION

Climate - Can Ceramic Tile withstand cold weather? "We own a vacation home in Maine that is not heated in the winter. I would like to tile select floors, but wondered whether we would have a problem with tiles cracking. Because the home is used seasonally, the foundation is probably not below the frost line. Also, we do on occasion go up in the winter and I didn't know if the gradual temperature change as the heat came on could affect tiles."

ANSWER

20 thoughts on “Can Ceramic Tile Withstand Cold Weather?

  1. mike says:

    Have some Mexican tile I want to install on two areas 64″ wide X 24″ tall but I live in Kansas and temperature changes can sometimes be big. I.e 60 degrees to maybe 15 or 20 in 24 hours. Can I do this? Can I use a syntghetic adhesive or grout to set them in? What if I installed a clear silicone coating over the tiles after they were installed?

  2. Donato Pompo says:

    Generally speaking the traditional Saltillo or Tecate Mexican tiles are very porous and are not suitable for freeze thaw climates.

    If you install porous tiles that are not freeze thaw stable they can become damage when water gets absorbed into its body and then the water freezes causing expansion of the ice damaging the tile. Sealers don’t waterproof the tiles, so sealing the tile doesn’t guarantee you won’t have a problem.

    Although there are ceramic tiles manufactured in Mexico that are freeze thaw stable such as porcelain tiles, which is a type of ceramic tile that has 1/2% absorption or less.

    Although you also have to make sure that the materials you use to install the tile are freeze thaw stable. Some thin-sets and mortars that are polymer modified are freeze thaw stable.

    If you

  3. jan ward says:

    I’m planning to use a tile “plank” look above our outdoor kitchen (located in a covered back porch. We live in central Texas and we do experience occasional freezes. It will be a vertical application. Do you think ceramic tile will work well for this application, or should I be looking at porcelain only? Thank you!!

  4. Donato Pompo says:

    First of all porcelain tile is a type of ceramic tile. The body of the porcelain tile is impervious so it is freeze thaw stable.

    Other types of ceramic tile, such as vitreous body tiles, can be freeze thaw stable as long as the body of the tile has less than 3/% absorption. If the tile has a glaze surface then that glaze is impervious.

    Chances are if you are selecting a wood plank type ceramic tile it will be a porcelain tile and freeze thaw stable. If you are referring to subway rectangular tiles they may or may not be freeze thaw stable.

    Make sure you use good quality installation products and that the mortars are polymer modified or latex modified.

  5. Darlene Tabor says:

    In December we had a sewerage overflow that came through the walls and flooded the ceramic flooring. Today, one month later we had a hard freeze and while sitting here we heard cracking noises and the ceramic tile in the hall buckled and cracked several tiles. Please explain ?

  6. Donato Pompo says:

    Changes are that the underlying tile assembly was still damp. If the moisture in the tile assembly freezes it will cause the water to freeze and expand that can cause a stress to the various tile components. The tile might not have been bonded as well as it should and that is likely what led to the tile buckling (tenting) and the cracking of the tiles.

    A bigger concern is that you said that you had a flood of sewage contaminated water, which means it would be what they call a category 3 contaminated water. That contaminated water could have migrated through the tile grout joints to the underlying materials leaving them contaminated. That could justify having all of the tile removed and replaced. Check with your insurance carrier.

  7. Roger Jungwirth says:

    I want to install ceramic tile in a kitchen and bathroom in a cabin located in an area that can get to minus35 degrees. We do not heat this cabin from November thru April. What type of. mastic and grout should I use and what about the tile?

  8. Donato Pompo says:

    As long as the tile doesn’t get wet and then freeze, it will avoid what does the most damage to tiles in freeze thaw climates. You should install a porcelain tile because it is impervious and can’t absorb much if it got wet. You should use an ANSI A118.15 polymer modified thin-set mortar adhesive to adhere the tile as it has great bond strength and low absorption. You should use a polymer modified cementitious grout or maybe even a premix grout that is suitable for those low temperatures. I would also recommend installing an electric floor warming system under the tile. It is installed over the properly prepared substrate and the tile is adhered over it. It makes a big difference in cold weather to be able to walk on a warm floor. You can consider setting the floor warming thermostat in vacation mode, so it has a low amount of heat. Also make sure that at the perimeters of the tile installation at walls that there is at least a 1/4″ gap left to mitigate expansion stresses in the tile. If it is a larger installation then every 25 feet you should have a resilient movement joint.

  9. teresa says:

    Hi Donato. I need to find tile and grout/thin-set (specific names please) that will withstand MN winters. Application is colorful mosaics on trashcans outside all year round.

    Is there any kind of glass that would work as well?
    Is this the answer to the mortar question? “You should use an ANSI A118.15 polymer modified thin-set mortar adhesive to adhere the tile as it has great bond strength and low absorption.”
    thanks!

    • Donato Pompo says:

      There are a number of quality manufacturers of tile installation products such as Laticrete, Mapei, TEC, Hydroment, Custom Building Products, and others. The thin-set should be a polymer modified thin-set meeting ANSI A118.4, or the high performance A118.15. The grout should be a polymer modified high performance grout meeting ANSI A118.7 or an epoxy grout. The mortar bed if there is one should be a polymer modified mortar bed. It would be advisable to apply a waterproof/crack isolation membrane over the substrate and bond the tile to it. Glass tile is impervious so it doesn’t absorb water, so it is in theory freeze-thaw stable. You have to be careful using glass tile has sudden changes in temperature can cause thermal shock and cause it to crack.

  10. Leila Fowles says:

    We are planning to re-tile our washroom in February, and purchased inexpensive ceramic tile on sales in November 2018. Is it okay to store them in the garage until then, or will they crack?

    • Donato Pompo says:

      It depends on the type of tile they are. If they are impervious porcelain tiles then they should be ok. If they are absorbing tiles then that could be a problem if they are subjected to any moisture. The moisture that is absorbed into the tiles will freeze in freezing weather. That will cause the moisture to expand and can cause the tile to spall or degrade.

  11. Jakob says:

    We are tiling a glass mosaic outdoors for freezing temperatures down to -20Ā°C. We work with high flex tile glue and wonder how is the best way to apply the glue. Is there a way to avoid air inclusion, while working with a comb trowel?

    • Donato Pompo says:

      I assume you will be installing the tile over 5Ā°C per the adhesive manufacturer’s directions.

      Glass mosaics are small and don’t tend to have voids in the adhesive if install correctly. Per the ANSI standards when you install translucent glass mosaics you have to apply key the thin-set adhesive to the back of the tile and to the substrate with the flat side of the trowel. Then trowel the appropriate thickness of adhesive on the substrate. Then using the flat side of the trowel flatten the troweled ridges smooth. Then beat in the glass tile. This prevents voids that can be seen through the translucent glass.

      If you use face mounted glass mosaics you can grout and apply the adhesive in one step by applying the adhesive to the back of the sheet of glass mosaics. Still key the adhesive into the substrate and then beat in the the sheet of tile.

      For large tiles to try to achieve 100%, that tend to trap air during the installation, if it isn’t done properly, you are to still key the adhesive on both the substrate and the back of the tile, but then trowel the adhesive so the trowel ridges and valleys are parallel to each other and to the short side of the tile. Then when you install the tile, shift the tile perpendicular to the trowel ridges so the trowel ridges will collapse into the trowel valleys and then beat the tile in. By making sure the trowel ridges are parallel to each other it allows the air to escape from under the tile.

  12. Stacey says:

    I am looking to put in concrete encaustic tiles in the front hallway. In the winter time living downtown Toronto the streets are heavily salted. Will this damage the tiles with people coming and going with salt on their boots?
    Thanks for your time.

    • Donato Pompo says:

      The concrete encaustic tiles probably will not wear well. You should ask the manufacturer or their supplier for a data sheet showing the results of a surface abrasion test that indicates what applications it is suitable for. Concrete and salt don’t go well together as the salt will dissolve in the water and absorb in the tile and when the moisture evaporates it can cause spalling in the concrete.

      There are porcelain tiles using ink jet technology that gives the same encaustic look but is much more durable. You might want to consider that.

  13. Sauli says:

    I am planning an outdoor wood fired pizza oven, and while that build has it’s own set of freeze issues I will be addressing, I am considering applying tile (small squares – sheet type) to the outside dome. Having read all the answers above, is there any other concerns you would have? Do you think tile is a sensible option or should I look at other finishes? I am in the Twin Cities, MN (think 30 below winters)

    • Donato Pompo says:

      Since this isn’t a normal installation of tile you need to consider several factors. I have seen tiles attached to barbeques, but I don’t know how it was done and whether it lasted over time.

      Using porcelain ceramic tiles is good because they are impervious and heat resistant and the are produced at about 2,000 degrees F. I would use an epoxy adhesive that is heat resistant which are used in food processing facilities and subject to daily steam cleaning. The metal of the oven will expand with heat so depending on its characteristics it may or may not cause excessive stress on the tile assembly.

  14. Sharon P says:

    A few years ago I bought a relatively inexpensive bistro set. I was fond of its cheerful color and bought, assembled, and painted a piece of wood furniture to match all on my front desk/arbor. The bistro set had instructions not be be left out in winter which I followed for the first year or two. Now they have been left outside for two more winters. The 5/8ā€ and 1ā€ tiles look fine. The grout between them started chipping a a couple tiles came off the first winter. But now the table is unusable as the top is heavily buckled and nearly all tiles loose. It is curious because the chairs which just have tiles on their vertical backs are just fine. It is as if porous grout allowed water to get below the tiles and the adhesive was water based. My sisters think I should toss the table but I am so found of it that Iā€™d like to repair it is I can. Any ideas on what adhesive I might use for my repair project? And how to approach managing all the tiles to make them flat, in order before and adhesive will dry? It will be a lot of effort putting several hundred tiles back on the top flatly. I certainly wont get this thing stored every winter and after all that effort I would hate for it to end up the same.

    • Donato Pompo says:

      The chair backs didn’t fail probably because they are vertical and water would not collect in the grout, as it would on a horizontal surface.

      If the table top is buckled, then I would guess there is a wood base that has absorbed water and expanded and then dried and warped.

      If you put a backer board down that is waterproof like the tile foam backer boards and then install the tile over that with an ANSI A118.4 or A118.15 thinset mortar and then grout the tile with an epoxy grout that in theory would make the table top waterproof and freeze thaw stable.

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