How to Fix Cracks In Travertine Floor Tile?

QUESTION

How to Fix Cracks In Travertine Floor Tile? We had travertine "tiles" installed by our general contractor this past summer during a complete home remodel. Unfortunately, there are several long cracks in our floors throughout the house. After looking back at pictures during the remodel process, we noticed that these cracks are in the same spots as cracks in the foundation before laying the stone. The foundation is over 30 years old. We do see in the photos that a white, approximately 12 " membrane was laid over the cracks... our stone pieces, however are 16 x 20. Our contractor has stated that it's a problem with the foundation and that he wants to wait a year to see how everything moves and that he will come back and either replace a few pieces or fill with an epoxy. After some research I am seeing several things wrong.

ANSWER

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 will not mitigate the potential damages from that crack moving.  So it could be a structural crack.
Or, if the concrete crack is what they call an in-plane shrinkage type of crack (a crack that only moves horizontally) then a crack isolation membrane can be used to prevent that crack from telegraphing up through the tile assembly.   The standards show that to isolate an in-plane crack, the crack isolation membrane must be centered and applied over the crack at least 3 times the width of the tile being used.  In addition to that, there should be movement joints (grout joints filled with an ASTM C920 sealant) installed in the tile joints, that run parallel to the crack, on the tile that is bridging the crack.


Chances are, the tile installer installed the 16 x 20 inch tile over the 12 inch wide crack isolation membrane.  That means that the tile bridging the crack was partially bonded to the membrane and then bonded directly to the concrete at the outside edges of the tile.  Thus when there is movement in the concrete it transfers directly up into the tile causing the crack, and the crack isolation membrane isn't able to mitigate that movement and stress to prevent the crack from transferring up through the tile.


The only way to fix this problem is to remove the tiles.  If it is a structural crack, then you need a structural engineer to determine how best to remediate the crack in the concrete.  If it is an in-plane crack then install a crack isolation membrane under the entire space where the tile will be installed, and install the new tile over it.  Then install one or two movement joints as recommended by the crack isolation membrane manufacturer.  Good Luck.

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