Expert Answers in

ANSWER – Chances are that when the water pipe break occurred your travertine tile had voids under it so water was allowed to collect in those voids. This could have caused and perpetuated the development…

ANSWER – Your grout should not be coming loose and not hardening.  It sounds like your grout joints might be too narrow to easily allow the grout to fill it.  Depending on the type of tile…

ANSWER – Your tile should not sound hollow.  When some tiles sound hollow and others do not that suggests that some or all of your ceramic or stone tiles are not adequately bonded to its substrate…

ANSWER – I understand that you had a water leak under your home, which was stopped after a couple of days. Now you are seeing a mold fungus (microbial) grow between the tiles in the…

ANSWER – The Marble Institute of America Dimension Stone Manual says Travertine stone should have a minimum abrasive hardness of 12 for commercial floors subject to heavy foot traffic. It must also meet the ASTM…

ANSWER – If the existing ceramic tiles are well bonded (attached) to its substrate you can bond over them with the new tile, although the new tile bond will be no better than the attachment of the…

ANSWER – You could probably install some type of heating device on the bottom of the wood subfloor between your joists, but I wouldn’t expect it would be very effective. Wood is not a good…

ANSWER – Hopefully your installers placed a vapor barrier under your basement slab before they poured it, to control the flow of moisture.  Plus, after the installation, you should make sure you have adequate air…

ANSWER – There are adhesives that will allow you to adhere ceramic tile or stone to paint. The problem is that if the paint ever peals loose then the tile comes loose. You can remove…

ANSWER – Ceramic Tile debonding is always due to compounding deficiencies.  The primary deficiency is an inadequate bond that can be due to a variety of reasons.  Movement then can compound the condition as the deficient…