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Question
My house has been tiled with ceramic tiles (previously with vinyl tiles) for about 6 years. However, within the last year some of the tiles have lifted, the grout come apart and the tiles have a hollow sound to the touch. I am concerned and would be grateful if you could please advise cause/s of the tile lifting.
Hi Terry; Without seeing your installation, I can only guess the possible causes. The hollow sounds could be caused by the installer, during the installation, not putting down enough mortar adhesive, an improper trowel sized was used to spread the adhesive, the adhesive was not allowed to properly set up before the tiles were installed, and several other installation errors. The underlayment on which the adhesive is applied is breaking down. A moisture problem has developed causing a breakdown of the adhesive and/or underlayment. If there is a subfloor, the underlayment lifting off the subfloor. Those are just a few of the possibilities. Some tiles and grout would have to be removed so what is under the tiles could be seen. That's about the best information I can give you without actually seeing your installation.
Cordially,
John Michaels
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Answers by Expert:
Stephen Hayes
Expertise
We are a floor covering inspection service and a floor covering specifying service. We inspect all types of floor coverings in every city and town in all 50 States and Canada, for manufacturing, installation, or maintenance related problems. We also specify, so when someone is about to choose a floor covering for a residential or commercial installation, after we find out, from them, the particulars about the installation, we can suggest the proper product, installation method, and maintenance method to provide optimum life of the product. (Note that in your B2B Category, we did not find any heading related to our business, so we just chose the Construction category). So if someone has a problem with the performance, installation, or maintenance of any floor covering, we can give suggestions, without a formal inspection, the possible causes of the prolems.
Experience
We have been in manufacturing, installation, and maintenance, of all types of residential and commercial floor coverings, for many years, and for the past 13 years, we just inspect and specify.
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