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Expert Answers
What is causing my tiles to bulge up?
QUESTION
I have a patio in Florida with a Spanish ceramic tile. I have 4-5 tiles that are bulging about 4 inches above level. It is as if water is underneath and has created a bubble. I chipped away at the grout and some air relieved some of the bulge, but an air pocket seems to remain. It is in the middle of the patio (15 x 25). Is there an explanation for this bubble?ANSWER
ANSWER - I believe what you are describing is a condition called Tile Tenting.Ceramic tiles, particularly those that are more absorptive, will expand when subjected to heat or moisture. If the tile installation doesn't have proper placement of movement joints filled at the perimeters and within the field of tile with an ASTM C920 sealant, then that can cause the tiles to lift up when they expand there isn't any movement joints to mitigate that stress.
When you removed some of the grout, you relieved some of the pressure building up in the tile.
You need to repair the loose tiles and install movement joints.
13 thoughts on “What is causing my tiles to bulge up?”
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How can I prove that the loose, bucked up, tented tiles in my 4 years old house is the result of poor workmanship.
If you have tiles that are loose and have tented up after 4 years, it is certainly an indication that the tile installation was not installed per industry standards.
The conditions that can contribute to a tile becoming loose and tenting are:
1. Tile not bonded adequately to substrate due to contaminates on the substrate or due to wrong type of adhesive use or due to tile not bonded properly per industry standards.
2. Movement joints not installed at the perimeters or within the field of tile per industry standards.
3. The floor is not structurally sound and has too much deflection not meeting industry standards.
Performing a forensic inspection by a qualified expert like CTaSC can determine what caused the failure. Unfortunately it is not always practical to hire a professional such as CTaSC. In that case you have to do the best that you can to document the conditions to prove your case.
Hello,
I purchased a newly built Condo on Snell Isle (St. Petersburg, FL) in September of 2015 for 650k. This past weekend suddenly a large are of tile in my living space tented and the problem is now expanding to other areas of the space. These are ceramic tiles. I am shocked that this would happen less than two years after this condo development was built. How can I prove this was poor installation.
The only way to determine the cause of the tile failure is to perform a forensic intrusive inspection by a professional qualified company like www. CTaSC.com who are experts at this work and experts of the industry standards. CTaSC does have inspectors in Florida.
Generally speaking when tile tenting occurs, it is due to several compounding deficiencies. There is normally no or inadequate movement joints within the tile installation; particularly at the perimeters of rooms that constrain the tile. In addition, generally speaking the tile isn’t bonded as well as it could be, so it takes less stress for it to release its attachment. These are both installation errors.
If there is an architect on the job or someone else who specifies the tile installation then they may have some responsibility for not specifying the movement joints. The tile installer should know that there should be movement joints and request for instructions on how and where to install them, if it hasn’t been given.
Compounding this problem could be that the ceramic tile being used is very absorbing. The more absorbing the tile the more it will expand and contract when subjected to moisture and heat fluctuations, which subjects the tile to stress. Also the substrate might be subjected to excessive moisture if there is a high water table or other source, or no vapor retarder used under the concrete slab on-grade.
Hello I’ve read all your responses. our house was built in 1980 and we’ve always had a hollow sound, but now several tiles are bulging. Not popped, my question since it’s so old is it still likely that jt can be from poor workmanship? Thanks
Bottom line is the tile wasn’t installed correctly if you have bulging tiles.
When there is a problem, generally speaking, it is never due to a single deficiency, but due to multiple compounding deficiencies.
The tile probably wasn’t bonded as well as it should have. The tile installation probably doesn’t have proper placement of movement joints at the perimeters and throughout the field of tile. The substrate might not be properly prepared. There might be too much deflection in the floor. If the tile was installed correctly it would literally last for 100 hundreds of years.
Outdoor patio has tile on the foundation. Its about 15 years old and suddenly is pushing up (tenting?). My suspect is something is growing under it pushing it up but after reading your commnents I am wondering if this is actually tenting. Could tenting suddenly show up 15 years after install?
It could be a tree root pushing up the tiles. Or if the tiles are constrained without any movement joints to mitigate any stress and the tiles are very absorbing that would give them a propensity to expand, then it could be tile tenting from expansion.
The only way to determine which it is, is to remove the tented tiles and look for evidence to explain the condition.
Hello I also have a new construction home built 2019. I walked out to the living room to find a big air bubble under a good 6 tile round bubble and when I step on it it moves to surrounding tile. What should I do what can be done. Thank you very much I am in California if that matters
I assume the tiles have tented up. That is due to the tiles expanding from heater or moisture and being restrained at the perimeters, that then causes the tiles to debond particularly if the tiles were not bonded as well as they should have been.
You could cut out the grout joints around each tile and remove any loose tiles. Remove any residual thinset mortar adhesive on the substrate or on the back of the tile, and reinstall them. That doesn’t correct the problem of not having adequate movement joints at the perimeters or throughout the tiles installation every 20 to 25 feet. The movement joints should be filled with a traffic grade ASTM C920 sealant that is normally a silicone or polyurethane product.
Thank you very much for the information.
We had new porcelain, plank style, wood-look tile installed in 2018. At the same as this installation, we noticed some cracks in the foundation and had some leveling done.
Last year, 2022, some tiles started to crack along a line straight through the house. We had a contractor pull up and replace the cracked tiles in a couple places, including 8 in the kitchen and 1 in the hallway. Now, a couple weeks ago, a giant bubble appeared under the tiles in our kitchen, around the same area where the cracked tiles happened. But instead of just 8 tiles, we’ve had to pull up about 17. The mortar pulled straight up from the subfloor, fully attached to the tiles. We thought there must be another foundation issue so had a structural engineer come out to do an inspection/report. He found no foundation issues and suggested that the tiles lifted due to moisture. He had seen some moss by the weep holes on the outside of the house and said this occurs because of a slow leak inside the walls. However, my husband is convinced that the tiles lifted because the cracked ones that were replaced weren’t installed properly.
Is it likely that 8 cracked tiles replaced improperly could have created a giant bubble requiring 17 tiles to be pulled up from the subfloor?
I assume when you say bubble you mean that the tiles have tented up, which means they came loose and the stick up above the floor to some degree.
That condition is due to the tiles expanding from heat or moisture and being constrained at the perimeters of the room, that then causes the tiles to debond and push up. A contributing factor, is that the tiles may not have been bonded to the substrate as well as they could have. So that means that their bond to the substrate was not high enough to restrain the tile from moving. Although even will bonded tiles under the wrong condition can tent up if they expand and are constrained and have no movement joints to mitigate that stress.
If you just replaced the 8 cracked tiles, which was a symptom of the problem, and replaced them with other tiles without fixing the problem, then it isn’t surprising that the same problem reoccurs.
The sign of the moisture on the outside might be an indication that your concrete slab is being subjected to excessive moisture more likely from outside sources and that moisture migrates up into the tiles causing them to expand that result in the tile tenting. The only way to know for sure is to evaluate the installation to look for the evidence that will lead to what the problems is, so you then know how to fix the problem.