Ceramic Tile Tenting Causes

The tile floor in our new home raised up and began popping and cracking.

Ceramic tile tenting causes.

This generally occurs during two. To understand tenting one must first appreciate that each of the various components within the flooring system are continuously expanding and contracting and that this movement places constant stress upon the tile adhesive to keep the system together. Had the thinset not been applied correctly originally the tile would have tented long before. Rather it is important to consider that the cleavage plane will usually occur at the thinset transition either the bond to the concrete or the bond to the tile.

Buckled tiles defect might appear in all types of tiles i e. Coloured tiles on a north facing external balcony will expand and contract significantly more than a light coloured tile in a south facing room. This defect is also known as pop up tiles or tile tenting. If proper precautions aren t taken to protect against these shifts in environment pressure will build underneath your tiles.

A concrete slab one hundred feet across can grow and contract over half an inch. When the concrete slab subfloor shrinks and the ceramic tile flooring itself does not shrink back the resulting stress causes either the tenting type failure or tiles to simply crack into pieces. Ceramic tiles vitrified tiles and porcelain tiles etc. The difference between concrete s rate of expansion and contraction and that of ceramic tile is about 10 to 1.

Tile tenting is caused by changes in the environment in which the tiles are laid. This tile defect is known as buckled tiles. This week the 12 inch tile in her kitchen started tenting early in the morning. The insurance adjuster came out to look at it and he said that tile usually doesn t tent after 16 years which is i believe the age of the house.

Info ceramic co za why tiles tent causes and prevention it s important to note that a strong bond is only part of the solution. The perfectly flat tiled floor may buckle up in the different seasons due. 016 930 3600 email. Porcelain tiles as well as natural stone tiles have been known to tent as well.

He determined that it had. If proper care is not taken while laying the same. The pressure built up on the tile and grout will eventually cause the tile to protrude upwards to absorb that. It only takes a fraction of that movement to cause a tile floor to delaminate.

Ceramic tiles experience what is termed as irreversible moisture expansion. Usually if the tile is tenting years after the installation this was not the case.