Your grout is cracking for one reason and one reason only: your tile is moving. That’s it. Okay, that’s not it – Unless your grout is non-sanded and was installed in the last 28 days – your tile is moving. That’s it. Yes, 28 days has significance, it is the amount of time it took my teenage son to clean his room. It is also the amount of time it takes for grout to fully cure.
So let’s figure out why your grout is cracking:
Your grout is newly installed – incorrectly
If you do have grout that was installed within the last 28 days then your grout is not actually cracking – it is shrinking. Either your grout lines are too large for non-sanded grout (smaller than 1/8″) or it was incorrectly mixed. NO! You cannot simply mix up more and fill it in. Read this post about adding more grout to your grout lines.
If your grout is not fresh, well, you need to repair the reason your tile is moving. And stop using your pogo stick in the house. Diagnosing the reason your tile is moving is extremely varied. It could be anything from inadequate deflection in your flooring for the type of tile all the way up to and including the aforementioned pogo stick.
The most likely reasons your tile is moving:
Your tile does not have proper thinset coverage
The most common reason I run into is improper coverage. This simply means that there is not enough thinset beneath your tile to properly adhere it to your substrate and support it. If there are any unsupported areas beneath your tile along the edge or in the corner of the tile, walking on it will eventually work what little support it may have loose and the tile will move down and up every time you step on it. The tile moves, the grout does not. The grout loses the battle and starts to crack out. By ‘crack out’ I don’t mean like that ridiculous Intervention show on cable, I mean it will start to crack and come loose.
To fix this you need to remove and properly reinstall the tile. If it is only one tile it may be an isolated incident in your installation and you will be fine. If you have cracked grout all over your tile installation it was either improperly installed or . . .
Your subfloor is moving
If you have a wooden subfloor and your tile is directly installed to it – go pick out new tile. That is more than likely an improper installation. While tile can be installed directly to plywood it requires a VERY specific method. And I do mean very specific. More than likely it is simply installed improperly probably by someone that did not know any better. If it was properly installed over plywood, well, your grout wouldn’t be cracking. Start reading this paragraph all over. Or . . .
Your backerboard was improperly installed
If you have Hardiebacker, Durock, or any other type of cementious backerboard beneath your tile it should have been installed in the proper manner. It needs to have thinset beneath it, it needs to be screwed down (properly), it needs proper spacing, etc., etc. Read How to Install Backerboards for Floor Tile to see all the things that should have been done.
More than likely there is no thinset beneath your backerboard. Thinset is not used to adhere the backerboards in any way – it is used simply to fill voids beneath the backerboard. It is placed there specifically to prevent your tile from moving. Moving tile leads to cracking grout. But you knew that – or you should start reading this page all over. This would be another time to start shopping for new tile.
Other reasons your tile is moving
You do not have expansion space around the perimeter of your tiled room. No, the tile will not expand – but your walls do. If there is no space between your tile and walls it will force all the pressure into your tile. This will cause cracking grout and, eventually, ‘tenting’ of your tile.
You do not have expansion joints in your tile. For every application there are specific spans of tile which can be installed before a ‘soft joint’ is required. This is simply a grout joint filled with a matching caulk or silicone to allow for movement without cracking your grout or tenting your tile. Most of these measurements are over 25 feet. So in English: if your room is not 25 feet long or wide this is not the reason your grout is cracking.
If your tile is on concrete – directly on concrete – your slab may not have proper expansion joints or the tile installation did not honor those. If installing tile directly to concrete (and you should not) there needs to be a soft joint directly above, or two inches on either side, of the slabs expansion joints. If not your slab will move differently than your tile.
And there could be a host of other, less apparent or less common problems. However, if your grout is cracking it is probably for one of the reasons above. The method of repairing it depends entirely on why it is cracking. Most of it, as with most tile installation problems, is due to improper installation.
Or your pogo stick.
If you have any questions about the proper way to repair your tile or grout just leave a comment. I answer every one of them – really, look around the site. I’m just super cool like that.
Hi Roger
Great article! Question for you on my floor grout. I had my kitchen remodeled last summer. Almost immediately some of the new grout started to crack. My contractor mentioned it may be the floor joists. It is an older house but I haven’t noticed any sagging. Also backerboard was used and the cracking does go in a line on one side of the kitchen. Could it be the joists? Or an error in installation? Thanks!
Hi Vanessa,
It could be either, both of which your installer is responsible for rectifying. Were the seams of the backer taped? Is that crack in the same place the backer runs across the kitchen? All wooden floors have joists, so that is a BS excuse. It IS an error in installation, the error just depends on why it’s cracking.
My grout is cracking, a contractor completed the tile installation in my kitchen, we had vinyl flooring, then it was removed and the contractor said the installation can installed directly to plywood. This contractor already came three times to repair the grout and like 4 loose tiles, but the grout still cracking. He mentioned the problem was not the installation that maybe the grout batch was defective. For me this don’t make any sense I hired a different contractor he said the only reason the grout is cracking is because there is more loosen tiles, actually he found more. He believes he can fix the issue without taking out all the tiles or without to add a subfloor. Any recommendations here will be appreciate it, I just want to fix this not looking for a band aid.
Hi Ismael,
Everything they are suggesting is a band-aid. There needs to be a proper bonding substrate beneath your tile – plywood is not a proper bonding substrate. There should have (at minimum) been cement board put down over your subfloor for the tile to bond correctly.
Hi Roger,
We installed concrete hexagon tile in our guest bath. Almost all of the grout has some sort of hairline crack that runs along side of each tile. We brought this issue up with our contractor who now is sending over his tile guy to fill in each of the cracks with caulk. Is this the right approach is caulking the cracks? I personally think that the grout was watered down but after reading your article, it may be the initial process that was never done right in the first place. I’m sick just writing about it. What would be the right way to proceed? Given that the tile was expensive, I don’t know if we can just start over.
Hi Christie,
That is absolutely NOT the correct way to remedy that. It needs to be fixed with grout. If it was completed within the last month or so you can likely go over it with more sanded grout. If longer than that going over it with unsanded grout may suffice. If it is along each tile then you’re correct, something in the initial install was done incorrectly.
Hi!
We redid our bathroom about a year ago. A month after the job was completed, we noticed the grout was darker in some areas than others and we noticed some cracks. Recently, two pieces of tile around the tub are also squeaking.
My husband and I regrouted and that fixed the coloring issue and the cracks… for about a month. Cracks are back now. Any ideas?
Hi Ana,
It is something with the underlying substrate, it’s rarely ever the grout. Movement is causing the tile to move, which causes the grout to crack. Either the substrate (you didn’t say what it was) isn’t properly installed or you do not have adequate coverage with your tile bond. Those would be the two most common reasons.
My tile floor was installed incorrectly and is not even. Can I leave the cracked grout and put hardwood floor down over it?
Hi Julia,
You CAN, but I wouldn’t. Entirely up to you, but you may run into issues with the floor locking together depending on how bad the tile is.
Hello
I guess from the sound of your advice I must have installed my tiles wrong. I put new tiles on my kitchen floor, I put a new subfloor down first and then I glued ditra to the subfloor and then I put the tiles down. It has only been a week since I finished it but the grout is cracking, I am a 72 year old woman and am hoping that I don’t need to take all my tiles up and redo them as I really don’t think I have it in me.
Hi Evelyn,
To figure out what the issue may be I’ll need a little more information. First, when you say you ‘glued’ down the ditra – what did you do that with? Specifically?
Our subfloor is not stable, so that seems to be the source of our problem. We are selling our house now, and are hoping to avoid major renovations. Any suggestions for a lower-cost solution?
I want to be fair in selling, but I don’t want to go overboard.
Hi Boo,
No, there are no ‘cheaper’ solutions. It’s either right or it isn’t. There isn’t a band-aid to put on it. You would be better just leaving it as it is and let them know about the issue.
Had our new glazed porcelain tile installed they removed old laminate flooring and tile down to the cement slab finished the tile 4 days ago well the grout is breaking up on several tiles and the tile moving up and down when walked on in the,area by sink and over by the store feeling like gritty when walked on the contractor used a strong adhesive and then a dry grout that was mixed with water he said it just needs to cure and dry more I’m really concerned can he really grout this! Is it possible the grout was not mixed properly ? Can he regroup it ? DO we need to seal the grout? Thank you
Hi Margareta,
I suspect that he did not use thinset to install it. I assume it’s mastic. You stated ‘adhesive’ – was this adhesive in a bucket pre-mixed? Because if so then it is mastic (even if the bucket says ‘mortar’ or ‘thinset’ – it is mastic with sand in it) and it needs to be removed and installed with the correct product.
I’m having tile installed over cement in a 1970s home next week The original sunken living room was filled with concrete, probably in the 80s. The joint between the 2 areas is uneven and apparently not done properly. They want to float self leveling cement over it. Is this the proper way to deal with this? There’s also areas in the kitchen where they couldn’t remove the linoleum. How should this be dealt with? Is it acceptable to install directly on top of cement? Thx, dottie
Hi Dottie,
Yes, that is one way to deal with it. If they prime for the slc they can go right over the existing (sound) lino.
And yes, I realize this reply is likely too late, but the info will be here for others in the future. Sorry for the delay.
Hey Roger, i live in Central Florida and just had our house built 3.5 years ago and tiles are popping loose all over the house. In one section of the floor, several tiles tented. Now it seems like new tiles are coming loose (popping when stepped on) daily. Tile was laid directly over concrete slab. It seems like the tiles by the walls are most of the loose ones. Not sure where to start on fixing this
Hi Nate,
You very likely do not have soft joints, nor perimeter joints. They are required or…well, you know what happens. You may be able to install soft joints and reinstall the loose tile, but it depends on how many have popped or partially popped. If they are solid, and you install joints, they should stay where they are.
And yes, I realize this reply is likely too late, but the info will be here for others in the future. Sorry for the delay.
Hi Roger! We just moved into our newly built home in June 2017. I noticed after we moved in the grout in the kitchen where the tile meets the granite counter is crumbling and coming up and away from the wall/counter. Is this normal? What can I do?
Hi Lacee,
It is normal when grout is placed in that change of plane. The issue is that there should be caulk or silicone placed in that change of plane – not grout. The grout should be removed and replaced with silicone.
I have a brand new kitchen floor, the grout started cracking soon after we moved in and the 3×12 tiles started rocking in the middle of the floor. The contractor came back 3 times to take up a few tiles and redo the thinset. But the tiles continue to rock and crack underfoot. The contractor wants his final payment… but don’t see how that is right considering my floor issues. He claims he put 3/4 ply + concrete board over the wood joists. His excuse is that the wood joists underneath are uneven but I’m assuming that can be corrected for? Other 1890 construction homes have tile floors, right? Any suggestions on what I need him to do to fix it?
Hi Roger,
We purchased a refurbished cabin about 5 months ago, from a contractor who put in tile in the kitchen floor. This is a home that we will be renting out. We noticed that there is a crack in the grout down the middle of the kitchen. Could this be the home settling or something worse? Can we just re-grout those areas? Thank you, I included a photo.
Hi Mandy,
Well, that isn’t the house settling (that’s an old-wives tale…). It IS movement of some sort, I would assume that your tile is installed over concrete (you did not say) and that there is an expansion joint under that crack. If it’s concrete – that’s your issue. Unfortunately that means it will need to be replaced with a proper installation. If it is not concrete let me know and we’ll figure out what the issue is.
Hello Roger,
There is a crack in the grout that runs straight across my house. The crack runs along a wall, passes through the kitchen, and continues on the other side of a big column. The crack has been there for over a year without widening, so is there anything I need to worry about other than it being not aesthetically pleasing?
I also noticed that the wall adjacent to the crack is kind of bowing out a bit. Could that be the cause/a more serious issue to worry about?
Hi Josh,
I’m assuming here that your substrate is concrete? If so given the fact that the crack leads to a column and is straight it is likely that the crack is directly over an expansion joint. It may widen over time, or not. It just depends on what the slab does. As long as each side of the crack remain level (one not higher than the other) then no, not really anything to worry about until the slab begins moving again.
We are having tile installed and contractor wants to install tile directly onto slab.There is a thin, old layer of half on/half off linoleum. He explained installing this way, will eliminate any plywood, cement board issues. I dont know what to do. Any advice
Hi Jenn,
The first thing you should do is find another installer. Tile can be bonded directly to a CLEAN slab. The biggest issue I see is that he is saying issues with plywood or cement board – neither of which can be installed over a slab beneath a tile installation. Products like sheet membranes or liquid membranes, or even flexbone made by ardex can be installed over a slab, but neither plywood nor cement board can. He’s blowing smoke up your ass telling you nonsensical things in order to placate you.
Will thinset on the installed tile pull up concrete subfloor?
Tile installer said the concrete is bad. Then pulled up a tile and a portion of the concrete surface came up. He primed before installation
Hi Shirley,
Yes, if the concrete pulls up when a tile is removed then the concrete is the issue. Your installer is OBVIOUSLY getting a good bond.
Hi Roger,
We moved into our new house 4 1/2 months ago. We have had a few issues with our grout. We have porcelain tile in 2 bathrooms, laundry room & master closet. First, the grout cracked all around our soaking tub. The tile guy came back & replaced it with caulk. About 1/5 of the grout around our shower drain has came out. They have put caulk in it for the 3rd time. There are also 3 places (2 in the laundry room & 1 in the closet) where the grout is cracked away from the edge of the tile. 1/8″-1/2″ long. He filled 1 of them with caulk. These cracks are not in high traffic areas. Is this normal? Is it ok to fix these cracks with caulk & is it ok to have caulk around drain?
Hi Stephanie,
No, it is not normal. No, it is not okay to place caulk in those places. Something was installed incorrectly, causing movement in the tile, which cracked the grout. Either an improper product or installation of the substrate or poor/inadequate thinset bonding (could be caused by a lot of different improper installation techniques). Regardless, something was done incorrectly.
Thank you for answering. Could it be the grout was not mixed correctly? Just wondering since the grout came out around the drain. It started as tiny holes in the grout & eventually got larger. the cracks in the grout on the floors does not go across the grout it’s just where the grout meets the edge of the tile.
It could be incorrectly mixed grout. However, if that were the case these issues would show up within 28 days of the initial grouting, before a final cure is achieved, while the grout is still curing and shrinking. The edge along the tile is the first sign that is indicative of movement. Sorry.
Hi Roger,
We recently (less than 28 days) had 12×24″ tiles installed in our bathroom shower. A crack in our grout has developed where the wall tile meets the inset area for the toiletry alcove. Our installer said that it is the house moving, but since it was put in less than a month ago I find that hard to believe. His fix was to add caulk over the crack lines. Do you have any advice? I’ll try to post a good picture. Thanks so much in advance.
Hi Stacey,
Something is moving, don’t know that it is the entire house.
If I understand correctly this is an outside corner around the niche? If so then nothing should be moving enough to crack grout placed there. If that’s what cracked then something is likely installed incorrectly. Caulk over grout will not fix it. It will make it look better for a while, but the grout is still cracking behind it and will eventually debond the caulk.
Besides – that looks like shit.
Hi Roger,
My home is just shy of 7 years old. Lots of matching tile diagonal installed on concrete post tension floor. We have some tile in kitchen area where grout started popping up about 3 months ago. Now on occasion I can feel and hear tile movement when I step on the tile. More grout is popping off. When tapping on the tile in that area I hear a hollow sound from some. Tile no longer available from supplier. Tile installer out business. The rest of the house is fine….so far. 20 inch porcelain tile actually a little over 19 inches. I hate to think of redoing this entire house. Grrrr.. What would you do? Thanks!
Hi Jim,
Do you have ANY soft joints in the installation at all?
Hello there!
I liked reading your comments and info. I doo NOT have a pogo stick :}
Just a poorly built home in Florida. 2.5 years old. 16 cracked tiles in a line, zig zag. more than 16 have a grout crack following zig zag along either side.
Builder tried 4 X to fix them, by jack hammering them up and replacing them. Still cracked AGAIN … they tried membrane, too
Hi Julie,
What is the substrate? What is the tile bonded to? What type of ‘membrane’? Help me help you.
Hello
Concrete slab. Single story home. I don’t know what they used.
Thanks
My guess would be inadequate coverage of thinset when they were installed and the slab movement is causing them to become unbonded. Or there are saw-cut expansion joints beneath those cracks which are moving in different directions causing it to crack. Either way it sounds as if the slab movement was not compensated for in the initial installation.
YES they are saw cut joints! Just had a few tiles pulled up and an engineer confirmed it. He said they probably cut them way to late
. Has to be done in 8 hours no later than 24 hours Does that sound right to you?
That is correct – and that’s the cause.
this is how our contractor laid our 12×12 marble tiles which we are now having issues with.. cracked tile (corner is cracked). Is this following installation method acceptable given we have these issues? The job was completed 3 wks ago. Thanks!
The underlayment used is the Schluter Ditra heat uncoupling membrane -underlayment.
The tile were thin set on top of Ditra heat cable and membrane.
Hi Denise,
If you are talking about the ditra-heat, thinset and tile over the cable then yes, it’s the appropriate installation technique. However, an incorrect product (non-modified mortar used over wood to install the mat, for instance) could be the issue, as could something as simple as poor installation methods.
Hi ROger,
We just renovated our entire kitchen. It was finished it December. In February I noticed that a tile seemed loose. Then the grout started to lift. Now I feel like the loose tiles are spreading. There is an electric heat mat under the tile. I called the contractor and he came to look at it and thought it was the thin set issue. Not sure what to do. Should we just replace the few tiles ( but what if loose tiles spread) should we get all new tiles or can we install wood floors??? Quite upsetting as we waited years to renovated the kitchen. Thank you for your advice!!
Hi Judy,
It could be several reasons, but I would need detailed specs about the construction of the floor to nail down the cause definitively. A couple things to check:
1. Pull one of the tiles up and see if there is any thinset on the back of the tile.
2. If there is an slc (self-leveling cement) product over your heating wires check to see whether it is stable and intact.
Start with those two things and, if you can, let me know the specific construction of the installation as far as the substrate, method of heating and specific products used.
Roger,
Hi Dan,
I thought I knew my stuff because I did many of my bathroom floors in the past and they still look great. This laundry room projects got me confused. 12′ by 6 1/2 room, new sub floor screwed down, 12×24 thin (standard) ceramic tiles with 1/8 gap spaces, lots of thin set applied. I grouted next day with a none sanded hand mixed grout. Three days later we started walking on it and a few days after that I noticed grout cracking away from the tiles in the high traffic areas. It only got worse from there. So, during the process of fighting all the old grout out, I noticed that there are a few tiles that have incremental movement with full weight applied. Also, I must add that I used only a large bottle of grout strengthener to mix the grout (no water) and it started to dry up just before I could finish.
I’m ready to fill the gaps again but don’t want to make another mistake. How should I proceed?
Dan
Hi Dan,
What, specifically, is a ‘new subfloor’? Wood? Was the tile bonded directly to wood or is there a proper substrate beneath it? And what, specifically, thinset was used – brand and type? Customblend?
And what is ‘grout strengthener’? Something like grout boost? (I hate that shit…).
I need more info to help. Help me help you.
1 or 2 tiles are moving was installed over 10 years ago whole kitchen hall and bathroom cement floor had it installed so not sure so is removing all of the tiles my only option?
Hi Sandra,
It depends on what kind of shape your installation is in. If it were mine and I didn’t want to replace everything I would likely just pull up those loose tiles and reinstall them. It may be just fine.
Hi Roger,
We have placed marble tile in our bathroom and allowed 5 days for the thinset to set. Today we went in to clean off some dried on thinset before grouting…only to find one tile didnt set properly and was loose. We were able to literally just pull it up without much force. So then we cleaned the dried thinset off and back buttered new thinset on and replaced that tile. The thinset says wait 48-72 hours before grouting…does this mean we actually have to wait another 2-3 days to finally grout the whole bathroom? Then wait another at least 3 days for the grout to dry before re installing the sink and toilet?? This project has taken us a total of 2 weeks so far…first time laying tile. Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!
Hi Kie,
No, go ahead and grout it all tomorrow. It’ll be fine. You can set the toilet too – get this damn project finished already!