Drying time?

[ishi69]

I've recently been asked to quote on a job where a customer has tiles that have lifted from the conservatory floor. After asking a few questions regarding said dodgy installation I discovered that the tiles had been laid no more than a week after the conservatory base had been cast. Subsequently they are all coming up,my question is after taking up the tiles will I need to let the floor dry out before refixing the new ones. It is a few years since the job was originally done.

Thanks.

 

[White Room]

What type of floor is it....

 

[Ajax123]

Ditto whitebeam

 

[Dan]

Laid after a week and now coming up after a few years?

I'd also check other causes too as I'd have expected problems sooner than that I'd have thought. I'm probably wrong though?

 

[ishi69]

The tiles started to lift quite soon after the conservatory was finished but my customer couldn't get the company back as they had gone under. She's waited so long to sort this out as she uses the conservatory for her work as a child minder.

also its a concrete floor.

 

[Ajax123]

Ok I suspect there am be more to this than meets the eye. Moisture could b the route cause but it is likely that there is a combination of issues. Is there any underfloor heting. What sort of size is it. What sort of temperature range does the conservatory experience. Is there a damp proof membrane under the concrete. Is the concrete sound or is it cracked, spalled or dusty. Was it primed. was the adhesive suitable. When after tiling were the tiles trafficked.

It is probable that all will be well if you Retile now but I for one woUld want a lot more info before committing

 

[ishi69]

There is no underfloor heating, floor area is 17 sq metres ,it catches quite a lot of sun so there will be a fair temp swing not sure about the condition of the concrete base as all the tiles are still down. Amazingly only a few tiles are quite loose but on closer inspection and after tapping most of the tiles you can hear that they aren't fixed to the floor. I suspect that incorrect adhesive may have been used also.

 

[Tony73]

Hi, could also be not primed floor before tiling, or tiler didn't paste back of the tile . Maby i'm wrong

 

[Ajax123]

It may be that as no underfloor was present a flexible adhesive was not used. This would fail relatively quickly due to the thermal cycling in the room due to solar gains. You will not really know until you start lifting tiles but given the age I suspect it will be dry enough to tile onto. There my have been other issues but as long as you follow the general simple principals of tiling you will be ok. If there is a problem with the concrete you might be able to uncouple

 

[andyb1]

Take them all up, have a look at the floor take it from there.