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,
I had approximately 700 sq feet of my house (entry way, dining room, kitchen and laundry room) covered in chiseled travertine tile in April of this year. Approximately a month after it was installed, we started to notice small cracks in the grout in the kitchen. When the floor was installed, they installed the tile over the plywood floor with orange plastic substrait instead of duroc. When they were placing the tiles, they didn’t use spacers b/c they said it wasn’t necessary since the tile edges were chiseled. The floor was not level and you could tell if you looked across it, but they said this was fine. Now the grout is chipping out, especially in the more humped up areas and is even cracking around the edges of the cupboards where they applied tile kickplates and against the wall in places. The cracks are now throughout the entire tiled area, not just the kitchen. The installer says that we just need more supports under our floor. Also, the grout on the backsplash in the kitchen is the same as the grout on the floor, but it is quite a bit darker than what is on the floor (a different person did the backsplash and we have not noticed any cracks in this). Could the grout on the floor have been mixed wrong, which caused the initial cracking, and will the grout ever stay in the areas that are not level? Also, could one of the issues be that they didn’t use spacers when laying the tile? I know it sounds like a lot of issues and these guys were supposed to be tile experts! Please help!
Hi Matt,
The grout has nothing to do with them not using spacers unless they butted the tile together – did they do that. Because if they did then that is the problem. Any movement at all will transfer between the tiles and crack the grout. The orange substrate is ditra – it’s fine as a suitable substrate directly over the subfloor, it’s how I install most of my floors. It could be improper coverage (incomplete bonding), insufficient support – which should have been dealt with before tile being installed (and yes, it’s their job to at least point it out, if not fix it).
To determine the cause I first need to know what your substrate is (what size plywood, layers) and whether they butted the tile or not.
Hello Roger…
I live in a mobile home and just installed ceramic tiling in my kitchen and living room. We used 1/4″ hardie backer board over the subfloor and used thinset on the backer board to adhere the tiles to. My problem is the grout is cracking and coming out. I was told I could use an acrylic in my sand grout to repair this. I would appreciate any suggestions you have to repair this. Thank you. Judy
Hi Judy,
Your subfloor is likely pressboard (particle board) rather than plywood, no? And only a single 5/8″ or 3/4″ layer, correct? Tile NEVER should be installed over either, backerboard or not. It does not have the structural stability or strength to support a tile installation.
Hi Roger,
I recently installed 16″ tiles in our kitchen over a plywood sub-floor, and am experiencing what appears to be run-of-the-mill grout cracking. And after reading your posts, I’m pretty sure there is some tile movement going on, albeit random. When I installed the tiles I used a 1/2″ square-notch trowel to spread the thinset, and noticed that every once in a while, the notch line would ride along an edge of the tile. Could that little bit of missing support be the culprit? The floor has a hump in it, due to settling, and I was pretty cautious to work the tile so that seams would be at the hump, and the tile would be properly supported in this area. Ironically, the grout is stable in these areas, and seems to only be cracking on the level area of the floor…where some of those voids are.
Someone also suggested replacing the cracked grout with epoxy grout, which might be more flexible. Any thoughts on this?
Hey Don,
Even when the ridge line rides on a tile edge the tile is supported no more than 1/2″ from that spot. It should actually be less as the ridges compress when you press the tile into it. It’s doubtful that’s the reason. You’ve mentioned nothing about the substrate so I really can’t venture a guess as to what it may be.
Epoxy grout is absolutely NOT flexible. It is very hard, non-moving and brittle.
The grout in my laundry room is cracking badly. From reading I know it is because the tile are moving. My son is in a very heavy power wheelchair. Could this be part of the problem? Or could my front loading washer that spins very rapidly be an issue?
Hi Gerald,
Sorry for the delay, you ended up in the spam folder for some reason. You aren’t a Nigerian attorney, are you?
Yes, the wheelchair could be part of the problem, as could the washer. In the end if the tile substrate is properly built then neither would be a problem at all.
My sister and I installed pebble flooring in her bathroom. She has decided she does not like the level the grout is. She left the pebbles exposed for the way it looks. She says it is extra hard to keep clean because of the height of the grout. Is it possible to add an additional layer of grout?
Hi Cheryl,
No, it won’t bond. She’ll need to remove the existing grout and install all new. I know it sucks, but going over it won’t work and it’ll be worse than it is now.
hi Roger
my problem seems similar to some of those above
i have just had my bathroom tiled about 3 weeks ago.
3 or so fine/faint cracks appeared in grout over the bath & shower area. i showed these to the tiler a week after, to which he said no problem – no water will get through as cracks are so minute. i only noticed these cracks after i saw a crack down the length of the wash basin unit. they said that the grout had cracked because it was linked to the wood from the unit. so they put silicon over the crack, which they said will stop it from cracking any further
i also spotted a crack in grout on the floor tile the days later, to which they replied that when washed, the grout will expand and fill out and crack will be closed up! it hasnt, if anything the crack has got longer up to the next tile! today one of them said that the floor tile grout crack is due to the shrinkage on the edge of the tile because the grout (dunlop) is flexible. and also that the top or bottom (cant remember which??) of the grout drys out quicker than the other and will also create a crack
next crack i saw only today, and more worrying than the others, is a wider crack in the grout in the corner of the wall near the door, BUT, the crack travelled up the wall past the tile border!!! so my wall (untiled area) now has a hairline crack in it where there was none previously.
the builders have already come out twice for leak from toilet pan, which after the 3rd attempt has now stopped. someone else said that leaks may re-occur because the floor is not level.
the tiler admitted that he knew the floor was not level. when i told him this info
when i was on the phone to him this evening the phone cut off and i could not get in contact with him after several attempts (could be signal for mobile phone or dead battery???)
I will phone again tomorrow if they do not get in touch
please advice
Jennifer
H Jennifer,
Well, you’ve already receive two or three excuses that are complete bullshit. If the cracking is due to shrinking it means it was either mixed with too much water (it will shrink to an extent, but not enough to pull away from the edge of the tile) or unsanded grout was used when sanded grout should have been. If your cracks are directly along the edge of the tile then it may be due to shrinking.
If, however, your grout lines are cracked in the center of the grout line, or it crosses the grout line, it’s due to movement, which means your subfloor was built improperly. It doesn’t matter at all whether or not the floor is level in regards to cracking grout – it won’t affect it at all. If your wall is also cracked, and it is a continuance of one of the cracked grout lines then they moved something that shouldn’t have been moved, like a wall stud or footer, or a load-bearing wall was messed with.
Hi,
I’m replying to this to get a little more clarification on your original response.
We had tile put in a few months ago in the kitchen. The grout is cracking, not sure exactly when it started, but it is just about cracking everywhere. The cracks are not in the middle of the grout, it is right next to the tile, but they do run the length of several tiles and cross over the intersections of the grout. It will also cross over to be next to the other tile.
So is it both shrinkage and movement, or does it seem more like just movement and the subflooring wasn’t done properly?
Hi Daniel,
Cracking caused by shrinking only happens within three days or so of grouting and is normally due to using unsanded grout when it shouldn’t be. It will then stop shrinking and cracking. If it continues to crack, or if it’s still cracking then it is movement in some manner.
I have tile cracked, popping up, terrible mess. I’m thinking of taking it up and installing a floating cork floor. This is a long hallway and kitchen. My question is after I take up the tile does the duRock need to come up too?
Hi Tracey,
Not if you’re installing a floating floor, the durock can normally stay. You will need to clean all the thinset off the face of it so it’s flat, though. Sometimes it’s easier to take it up, sometimes it isn’t.
I have grout that is cracking apart. Yes I did read the above, just want to confirm. To start I screwed down a very thin sheet of plywood over the existing sub floor( after tearing the linoleum off) . This is a bathroom. I used no adhesive, just screwed it down. Im wondering if this is my culprit. I didnt use cement board either. Im not in a position to tear everything up and start all over. For now will I be able to put a “bandaid” on it by using the matching grout calk, so at least its not an eye sore. And it is in different spots that the grout has come apart. Thanks
Hi Vic,
If the plywood is 1/4″ or less and you installed the tile directly to it then yes, that is the problem. The matching caulk may work, urethane grout may work as well since it has a little flexibility to it. I honestly don’t know how long either will last. The problem may be simply movement but over thin ply the tile is likely to become unbonded eventually, especially in traffic areas.
Sooo, just when I was starting to feel I’d gotten the hang of this tiling thing, I realized I didn’t leave an expansion joint at two spots. It’s a floor tile installation, and for whatever reason, my “expansion space needed” mental calculator malfunctioned when cutting the tile at two external corners. (The room is basically shaped like a very squat T, so these external corners are where the wide top bar of the T meets the squat vertical part.) Everywhere else around the perimeter, I left 1/4 to 1/2″.
I laid the tile at different times: one on Wednesday at 1 am, one 4 days ago. I have not grouted yet. Is there any chance that I could get by without expansion areas in those two spots? My inclination, given that the thinset has already dried, would be to wait to see if a problem did arise. But am I risking, say, LOTS of tiles cracking? If it’s 4 hours of work to fix now vs. 5 hours to fix the problem after it already happens, then I’ll take my chances, but if it’s 4 hours now vs. 10 hours later, then I’ll get it over with. Advice?
Hi Carey,
As long as you have space along the wall directly opposite those spots it’ll be fine. If they are opposite each other you should remove one and cut it down.
What if your porcine tiles come off the thinset clean. In my house all my tiles coming off clean like nothen grabed
Then the thinset was mixed improperly, allowed to skim over before the tile was set into it, or the pot life of the product was exceeded. The tile was also not backbuttered.
Roger,
I am a warranty coordinator for a builder up here in Canada. I have 5 or 6 houses that have cracked grout, all with 12×12 tile. We don’t use Ditra mat (or didn’t at the time) and we install plywood subfloor, glued and screwed, with spacing allowing for settlement/movement/etc of the home. I’ve gotten a number of reasons why this is happening, every person I talk to says something different. I want homeowners to be happy with their homes. So far we’ve ripped out one entirely, removed the sub floor and installed Ditra mat. The project manager argues that when the sub floor was removed you could see that there was more than enough screws/glue to secure it so it couldn’t have been moving. The tiler says it’s got to be the sub floor because there was plenty of thinset (not the original tiler so opinion is not necessarily bias). The cracks in all the homes seem to be every 4′, which would line up with the width of the sub floor materials. There are not ‘lippy’ tiles, just cracked grout. It’s visible from a standing view so it does need to be fixed. I don’t mind paying the price and ripping out all these floors, although costly and inconvenient for the homeowners. I just don’t want to redo the whole thing and have it crack again in a year? Some say the floors are too springy, some say movement, some say subfloor, some say lack of thinset, we’ve checked teleposts and they aren’t too tight and crowning the floor beneath or anything… are there specific clues that might lead to one and not the other? I don’t think the lack of expansion room is not the problem. Help!
Hi Jan,
It is caused by movement, where the movement originates is what you need to figure out. I’m assuming that when you say ‘subfloor’ this is an additional layer over the initial layer of ply or osb on the joists? Or is there just a single layer over the joists? You can rule out the thinset issue if, when you remove a tile, there is thinset bonded to both the tile and substrate. You shouldn’t see any of the trowel lines and the tile should not come up cleanly.
4′ grout cracks is indicative of the seams of the substrate. The biggest issue is the tile bonded directly to plywood. There is a method to do it but it is VERY exacting. If even one step is missed then it will fail. One of these steps is allowing for expansion, which you’ve stated was done, then filling that with flexible sealant and taping and mudding the seams. This interlocks the panels while still allowing expansion between sheets laterally. They also need to be installed perpendicular to the underlying ply overlapped by 1/3. Do you know the deflection rating of the floor by chance?
Just commenting on the last post from the warranty co-ordinator from Canada. I am going through the same issue with my house, + have been fighting with my builder. The only difference with mine is the underlay (the part on stop of the subfloor) is glued and stapled (not glued + screwed).
We have finally agreed the whole floor needs to be redone, but haven’t agreed on what is causing the issue.
What’s the best way to figure out where the movement is coming from?
I have a wooden subfloor, + then wooden underlay + the tiles are on top of that.
So far 6 tiles have been removed. The other tile companies that have come out say there is movement in the floor + using screws + membrane will help. But they can’t tell the extent of the movement until all of the tiles are off.
How should I have someone check for movement? Should I have the underlay removed to check the subfloor?
The pattern of my cracked grout seem to be every other grout line (similar to the joists).
Who do I hire to check and determine the issue?
Hi Aeisha,
The same methods I’ve stated above. It’s a matter of figuring out where the movement is originating.
Roger,
Thanks for providing this resource!
We had 18 x 18 tiles installed in our kitchen, entryway, and half bath in approximately Feb/March of this year. About a month ago, we noticed some of the grout was cracking next to one of the tiles. Upon further inspection, I realized if I shifted my weight onto the edge of the tile, I could actually see the tile move. Since then, we noticed there was a hairline crack about 8″ long on another tile, as well as the grout cracking in several other places. We do have some cracking/popping on some tiles as well.
Our floor has 2×8 joists on 16″ centers with a 10′ span with 2×4 bridges in between the joists. There is 1/2″ plywood subfloor. Our tile guy, who is also a friend of ours, installed 1/2″ durock on top of this and used thinset in between the plywood and durock, as well as between the tile and the durock. The durock is also screwed to the plywood.
Our friend believes that he might have gotten on the tile too soon after putting it down to do the grout. We had also noticed some hazing/splotchiness in the dorian gray grout after the tile was initially done.
Our friend is thinking of replacing the tiles where the grout is breaking, as well as the ones that crack/pop and using a higher grade thinset (latex or flex, I think is what he referred to it as), and redoing all the grout with a higher grade grout (also with latex, I think).
Do you believe this is the best approach? If this is a reasonable approach, would it be better to take up all the tile and use the higher grade thinset? Or would it be better possibly to take up all of the tile AND the durock and add a 1/2″ layer of tongue and groove plywood to the existing layer and a 1/4″ layer of durock on top of that before re-tiling?
Thank you so much for your input. We greatly appreciate it!
Hi Brandon,
Before we go ripping your house apart
let me ask a few things and see if we can nail down the reason for the cracking.
First – did he tape and mud the seams of the backerboard with alkali-resistant mesh tape and thinset? That would be my initial thought for the cracking with what you’ve described. Are the cracks over, or near, where the seams of the backer are?
I’ll have to find out if the backerboard was taped. The actual crack in the tile wasn’t a straight line, but it was very thin and was about 8″ long. It was kind of a random, wavy line, so I’m guessing that wasn’t necessarily right on a seam.
I was able to verify last night that the first area where the grout was breaking up definitely has movement on the plywood subfloor. (I was in the basement and had my hand on the underside of the plywood while I had someone else shift their weight onto the area that moves on the tile. I could actually see slight movement of the plywood, as well.)
Hi Roger,
we had redone our entire bathroom last year with a Steam shower. The grout in the wall tiles is cracking and we recently had a leak below. We did have the waterproof cloth membrane installed behind the tiles so not sure how the leak happened. We need to fix this issue and were looking for some feedback.
thanks
Hi Anju,
What particular ‘cloth membrane’ did you use?
Hi Roger,
I had my 12×10 kitchen redone about 9 months ago–counters, cabinets, floor, etc. I’ve noticed that nearly all of the ceramic tiles are starting to become loose. I don’t believe that the contractors put thinset between the backerboard and the wooden subfloor. Obviously, this will need to be corrected. My biggest concern is with the flooring that is underneath the cabinets. Will it be necessary to remove the cabinets, granite, etc. or could the problem be resolved by replacing the flooring that is moving in exposed parts of the kitchen (parts that are walked on)?
Thanks,
Jason
Hey Jason,
You don’t need to remove everything. Just the exposed parts can be replaced and that should remedy the problem.
Thanks Roger. That’s a relief! Great site!
Jason
Roger,
My wife and I own a home with slate tile floors in the common areas. The house is approximately 14 years old, and is constructed with a concrete slab on grade floor (no crawl space), that is approximately 5 years old that was installed by the original homeowner. Grout between numerous floor tiles is cracking and coming out in several places (we had the floor removed and regrouted 2 years ago, but the problem has resurfaced), but the problems are not widespread just glaringly visible. We’ve been advised by a professional tile installer that some of the tiles are not properly adhered to the concrete slab.
I was advised by a local tile supplier to use silicone floor grout in those areas needing repair, but he also cautioned not to let the grout to come in contact with the surface of the tile because it is next to impossible to remove from cracks and crevices of slate. He sold us a silicone release agent, but advised us not to get it in the grout lines, because it would prevent the silicone grout from adhering to the tiles.
My questions are these: Can I just patch the area of missing grout, or should the entire joint be removed; If some of the release agent gets on the sides of tiles will I be able to use the silicone grout after the release agent dries; do you have other ideas that I might try?
Thanks.
Mike
Hi Mike,
Any silicone grout I’m aware of is in caulking tubes and used in the pool and spa industry – is that what they sold you?
The problem, as I see it, is you are attempting to compensate for something which is incorrectly installed with something that may or may not hold up long term. If your tiles are not correctly bonded to the floor they should be removed and bonded properly.
As far as using the silicone grout on slate – it shouldn’t be, it isn’t made for that. It’s made for glass. It may or may not work, I simply have no idea.
Please help, Mr. Tile God,
Our new porcelain tile kitchen floor grout began to crack a few months after installation. Ditra, following the manufacturer’s specific instructions, was used with the appropriate mortar, etc. The cracks were in random location and a few were definitely due to tile movement. Those tiles were replaced, all the grout throughout the whole floor removed and replaced. Both times a quality grout product and admix was used. The same product has been used elsewhere with success. The floor is not too tight to the wall, etc. Oddly, this is occurring again. This time, again in random locations, the grout is soft and can be scraped with a fingernail. I have yet to see this addressed in any forum or help website. Do you have any ideas? The floor has been treated with TLC (we tiptoe) and also was not sealed until cured. Thanks much.
Hi Rhonda,
What grout did you use?
Dear Sir,
My contractor did not install a solid subfloor and now I believe the movement in the subfloor is cause the grout lines to crack. What or is their anything I can do to fix this? I have a crawl space about 40 inches tall under my kitchen so I can access the subfloor from underneath but is their anything I can do to support the subfloor to keep it from moving?
Hi Darren,
You can shore up your framing by cutting your unsupported span of the joists in half. There should be vertical supports for your joists and they are normally 10-12 feet or more apart. If you cut that in half it will stiffen the floor. Whether or not that will be enough to stop the movement and cracking I have no idea. It may be enough, it may not.
We are finishing up a complete kitchen remodel, the tile was installed 1.5 months ago and getting lots of grout cracks. I know the durorock was glued down and not thinset, I questioned the contractor about not using thinset, he assured me using construction adhesive works better. I feel sick. The kitchen was extended off the rear of our house, we beafed up on every part of the construction to minimize deflection etc Would you try redoing the grout or tear everything up and reinstall with thinset.
Hey Victor,
The glue is likely the problem. Thinset is under it to fully support it, not to bond it to the subfloor or glue it down. Using glue actually creates voids where there were none. Adhesive does work better to bond it, but that isn’t what the thinset is for, that’s what the screws are for. It needs to be reinstalled with thinset.
Sorry for the delay, your comment was sent to the spam folder for some reason.
Hey Roger,
In the “fog of war” in laying tile, we’ve now noticed that we’ve forgotten to place thin set under the HardieBacker cement board. We’ve not laid any tile yet, but it’s all screwed down with 1 1/4 Hardie screws (hundreds).
The sheets are properly laid out. The tile is 12″, Porcelain with sanded fortified grout.
I hate doing anything incorrectly but I’m really not interested in pulling up 500 bucks worth of material and restarting.
I know you can’t predict the future; my house is well built. Question: would you pull it up and redo?
Thanks,
Eric
Hey Eric,
I know what you want to hear, and I’m sorry I can’t tell you that. Yes, I would pull it up. Thinset beneath the backer is one of the most important aspects of a durable tile installation. Sorry.
Hey Roger,
I purchased a hi gloss polished porcelain 18 inch tile because i was sold on the look of a 1/16 grout line in order to obtain a mirror effect. i did my research in hiring a tiler who works with a laser. once the tiler started laying the tile, not setting it yet, he noticed a problem. There was no way these tiles were going to be butted 1/16 because the grout line was not even. meaning these rectified tiles were off. whats your take on this? am i looking for something that doesnt exist? the manufacturers website clearly states they can be grouted 2mm which in American measurement would be 1.25/16. although it isnt 1/16 its closer to 1/16 than 1/8. these tiles cost double the price of a regular polished porcelain tile and i was promised i would get “the look” i wanted. the tiles have been calibrated and they are definately uneven. in order to get this look it is neccessary that they be mirror images of each other? also, after reading some of your blogs i got this sick feeling. if i were able to get tiles that can be butted 1/16 am i taking a chance that they will crack because the grout line is so tiny? im looking for something really nice but im in no way looking for a headache after installation. i have a brand new mud floor over a slab foundation and the home was built in 1964. help! im a homemaker trying to make the best educated decisions possible.THANKS!
Hi Suzanna,
Rectified tiles should be EXACTLY the same facial dimensions. If they are not take them back and tell them what you want. If that’s what you mean by ‘mirror image of each other’ then yes, they should be the same. Measure the tiles corner to corner each direction and see if they are the same size. That means they are square (if the measurements match). You either have a 1/16″ grout line or the tile is butted, you will not have both. If they are butted they may chip and crack, a 1/16″ grout line won’t cause that.
Hi, I had my tile installed by someone a friend recommended last January, in the cold Wisconsin winter. We had the 6 x 24 inch porcelin tiles installed. Our original floor was vinyl with a lauan underlayment. The tile guy said he could lay it over top of it but I did my research on that and said no and told him to pull it up. The subfloor is 3/4 inch plywood and I had him go around and throw some extra screws in some known “soft spots” where the floor creeked a bit. The tile guy then laid ditra (on top of thinset) and then another layer of thinset on top of the ditra and finally the tiles (I watched him do some of the installation). About a month or so after the tile was installed, we noticed a clicking or popping sound when we stepped on a few areas of the tile (of course, only in the high traffic areas). Earlier in May, when the hot humid weather arrived, the clicking and popping increased in sounds and number of times it would happen. Finally the other day, I had grout crack and pop out. The tile goes from one end of the kitchen to the other end of the dinning room (about 36 ft). Most of the section is broken up by an island counter. The area where the tile is cracking is in the long, thin section that stretches from wall to wall (36 ft). Since the cracking of the grout happened, the tile has no longer been making the clicking or popping sound. I’m guessing it has something to do with expansion w/ the heat and humidity? What would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your comment!
Hey TJ,
Clicking or popping is indicative of an improper bond of either the ditra to the substrate or the tile to the ditra. Normally what you are hearing is thinset that has started cracking out. If it is an expansion issue (which it very well could be) you may have been hearing the tiles becoming unbonded as the pressure was built up. Once the grout cracked it relieved some of that pressure, but you still have something unbonded under there. I would remove a couple of the tiles in those areas and see what is going on with the thinset both between the tile and ditra as well as the ditra and the subfloor.
Well it’s been quite a while since I posted this comment and you were right….. The backer was not properly installed. When the back was put down we used liquid nails with roofing nails initially, them after that setup we then used the green cement board screws. Now I am at a point where I need to ditch this floor and install a new one properly. We’ve decided to go with a floating wood floor. So my question now is on the best way to remove the tile and backer. The tile is already moving and I imagine that will come up fairly easily. I’m a bit worked about the backer because of all of the screws. Any recommendations for this demo?
Thanks.
Hi Jim,
I have absolutely no idea which comment you are speaking of. I have over 16,000 comments on this site and if you don’t use the reply button on the actual comment I have no way to know what was said. Unfortunately when there are screws through the backer you can pry the backer out around the screws in pieces, but you’ll need to unscrew the screws to remove them without completely destroying the subfloor.
I know it sucks. Last week I removed a bathroom floor which actually did have thinset beneath the backer and the proper screws, but the seams were not taped and the floor failed. I spent a day removing backer from a bathroom floor. And no, I’m not the one who put it in.
It just takes time and it’ll frustrate the hell out of you, but it’s the only way.
Hello Jeff
I had my house built in 2004, from the start (6 months in) my grout has been cracking. The builder has fixed grout and had all grout removed and redone twice, the last time with an acrylic grout. The have re enforced the floor joist by blocking with 2X4 as well as using 2×6 between joist on bottom of sub floor. Sub floor is 5/8 OSB with 3/8 plywood on top for 12×12 ceramic tile. The grout lines are not consistent, some are 1/8 of an inch, some 1/4 of inch, some less or more than these ( I had complained but told there is no code for grout lines). Some tiles are raised about 1/4 of inch and will stub toe (told this was because tiles where not flat but had an elevation profile to them). I have multiple areas with grout cracked or all together missing. The house builder is sending quality control manager on Thursday, any suggestions?
Thanks Derek
I meant Roger, had just finished reading Jeff’s question. Sorry Roger.
Hey Derek,
An elevation profile???
All tile has an elevation profile, otherwise it’d just be a picture of a tile, no? 
The tile may have been inconsistent and not up to specs in regards to flatness across the plane, but that is still on the contractor to NOT install inferior or flawed tile. He’s supposed to be the expert, right? There are also standard as to the allowable ‘lippage’, or height differences from tile to tile. That goes way beyond what’s allowable.
There is no ‘code’ for most tile installation. There are standards in place, but they aren’t a code unless enforceable by the building department or some other governing body – they aren’t. I really wish they were. That, however, does not excuse inconsistent grout lines, that’s just BS. Who the hell doesn’t know that grout lines need to be consistent???
Blocking or placing 2×6’s between joists will do absolutely nothing if the floor framing does not have an adequate span. This is the distance between vertical supports of your joists. That may not be your problem, though. With the description of the installation itself it would be my bet that, if there is backerboard beneath your tile, there is no thinset beneath it or the bond between the thinset and backer is not adequate or properly bonded. If there is not backerboard beneath it and the tile is bonded directly to the plywood – that’s your problem right there.
No matter what the source, regrouting 1000 times isn’t going to fix it. There is something inadequate or done incorrectly in the substrate beneath the tile. They’re putting band-aids on something that needs a transplant.
Hi I moved into my new townhouse a year ago. A few months in I noticed the grout lines in the kitchen, dining room + attached bathroom are cracking. I am currently going through mediation. The builder wants to regrout the areas with the larger cracked grout lines + inject the tiles. Originally the tile companies guy said he noticed at least 12 lifted tiles through out the area + the whole floor needed to be redone. Any suggestions on how to determine what is causing the issue…or do you think the builders suggestion will fix the problem?thanks!
Hi Aeisha,
The builder’s fix will likely not fix anything at all. Regrouting tile that is moving will solve nothing, it will only cover it up until it begins to crack again, which won’t take long. The phrase “inject the tiles” means absolutely nothing. It is not a term used in tile installations and not any type of procedure anyone uses. I have no idea what he intends to inject them with. My guess is more thinset? But that’s simply a guess.
The problem is due to the tile moving. That could be caused by a number of things, the two most common being improper bond between the tile and substrate and cement backerboard being used as the substrate without thinset being installed beneath it. Another huge cause of tiles debonding is lack of movement joints, no room for regular movement. Regardless, the tile company’s guy is likely correct. Whether or not it needs to be completely redone needs to be determined after further inspection, but the builder’s fix is simply a band-aid which will not solve anything long-term.
Hi Roger
Thank you for your response.
Injection when I research it seems to be more of a cheaper alternative if you cannot afford to have the whole floor redone. Here is a link to the type of product.
http://www.iafsystems.com/html/floor_repair_adhesive.html
I do not think cement backboards was used. There is the subfloor which I believe is made out of wood/plywood.
Cool, glue in a tube.
Before agreeing please be wary of the insinuated, but not necessarily intended, use of this product for wood substrates. Right on the page you linked to it says “There is a solution to loose and hollow ceramic tile floors, and other hard surface floors that delaminate from the concrete slab.” (Bold is mine) There is no mention at all about using it over a wood floor substrate.
Keep in mind, it will likely work for a while. However, if the substrate itself is part of the problem the same thing will happen again. I’m fairly certain that the tile, at one point after it was finished, was bonded to the substrate just fine. Movement debonded it – this product will not fix that.
I just finished laying tile in my bathroom. I used non sanded grout and it is cracking. I was told I could use sanded and non sanded grout. I think that my tile may be moving just a bit. If I use sanded grout will that help the cracking from starting?
Hey Jeff,
No, it won’t do anything at all for it. If your tile is moving it is something below the tile which is not done correctly. It will continue to crack until that is remedied.
Since it is unsanded it may simply be shrinking, unsanded grout will do that.