4 thoughts on “What caused the Tile Floor to Tent up / Debond?”
Kim says:
My tile floor was intalled with the add on room about 15 years ago. Several years ago I noticed a few tiles in this south/west corner sounding hollow, but all the grout was good.
10 months ago, I set up my electric drum set in this area. Off and on at times, I would hear a popping sound while I was watching TV in this same room. I thought it was the house settling. Then recently it became more frequent. I walked over 10 to 15l tile in this corner and hear crunching. As I was playing the drums I felt the floor shift and the tiles tented, about four tiles at the tenting.
I’ve read your answers about placing movement joints, not sure they were placed, what do they look like? We have earthquakes in So. California. I wonder if the vibration from the drum kit would cause this? The drums are held by a four-legged frame and they are not loud like a regular drum set. Still could this be my problem?
Donato Pompo says:
The drum playing could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back as they say. The drum playing did not cause the underlying problem. Generally speaking when you get tented tiles it is because of several compounding deficiencies. The tile may have not been properly bonded in the first place. If the tiles are butted to the walls and counters and there are no movement joints (grout joints field with a special caulking meeting ASTM C920), and if the tiles were subjected to moisture or high temperatures they would expand causing compression the tensile stress that put the tile under tension. At some point if the stress becomes greater than the bond strength of the tile, the tile releases and tents. The drum vibration may have added that additional stress that triggered the tile tenting.
Donato Pompo says:
Question from another party: Hi…my father has 2000 sq ft of 24 year old tile in his Palm Desert home. He is 88 and now had a section buckle up last night right in the middle of the family room. He has determined that other tiles here and there in the house have been hollow for years but now cracks or stress. But now he is faced with getting this buckled section fixed. Do you have any recommendations on ‘tile fixers’ in the Coachella Valley that you can recommend and follow your standards or have taken your trainings? Thanks so much in advance.
Donato Pompo says:
You might have problems finding someone qualified and willing to only do a repair. Good installers are busy these days and they don’t want to inherit someone else’s problem. They would be more willing to do a full replacement as there are likely multiple underlying issues.
CTaSC gets involved in specifying and overseeing the work, but it isn’t practical for hiring a company like CTaSC on smaller projects with smaller budgets.
Replacing the tented tile (the symptom of a problem) won’t prevent future performance unless you identify the cause and remediate the underlying problems and not just fix the symptom.
My tile floor was intalled with the add on room about 15 years ago. Several years ago I noticed a few tiles in this south/west corner sounding hollow, but all the grout was good.
10 months ago, I set up my electric drum set in this area. Off and on at times, I would hear a popping sound while I was watching TV in this same room. I thought it was the house settling. Then recently it became more frequent. I walked over 10 to 15l tile in this corner and hear crunching. As I was playing the drums I felt the floor shift and the tiles tented, about four tiles at the tenting.
I’ve read your answers about placing movement joints, not sure they were placed, what do they look like? We have earthquakes in So. California. I wonder if the vibration from the drum kit would cause this? The drums are held by a four-legged frame and they are not loud like a regular drum set. Still could this be my problem?
The drum playing could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back as they say. The drum playing did not cause the underlying problem. Generally speaking when you get tented tiles it is because of several compounding deficiencies. The tile may have not been properly bonded in the first place. If the tiles are butted to the walls and counters and there are no movement joints (grout joints field with a special caulking meeting ASTM C920), and if the tiles were subjected to moisture or high temperatures they would expand causing compression the tensile stress that put the tile under tension. At some point if the stress becomes greater than the bond strength of the tile, the tile releases and tents. The drum vibration may have added that additional stress that triggered the tile tenting.
Question from another party: Hi…my father has 2000 sq ft of 24 year old tile in his Palm Desert home. He is 88 and now had a section buckle up last night right in the middle of the family room. He has determined that other tiles here and there in the house have been hollow for years but now cracks or stress. But now he is faced with getting this buckled section fixed. Do you have any recommendations on ‘tile fixers’ in the Coachella Valley that you can recommend and follow your standards or have taken your trainings? Thanks so much in advance.
You might have problems finding someone qualified and willing to only do a repair. Good installers are busy these days and they don’t want to inherit someone else’s problem. They would be more willing to do a full replacement as there are likely multiple underlying issues.
CTaSC gets involved in specifying and overseeing the work, but it isn’t practical for hiring a company like CTaSC on smaller projects with smaller budgets.
Replacing the tented tile (the symptom of a problem) won’t prevent future performance unless you identify the cause and remediate the underlying problems and not just fix the symptom.