R
renovator
Hello all,
Can anyone help advise what may have caused our bathroom wall tiles to crack? We need to know the reason so that we can resolve this with our builder and who bears the cost of repair.
The cracks are on a stud wall that runs along the length of the bath, and the tiles runs from the floor to about a foot lower than the ceiling. They’re large rectangular tiles from toppstiles (appear to be decent quality) and they’re laid jagged like bricks and not like a grid. We first noticed the cracks 2-3 months after the new bathroom was installed. The cracks run like two large jagged cracks vertically down across the centre of the tiles (apprx 10 tiles in total) and had not initially effected the grouting at all until recently. The tiles appear to be imploding on themselves as the cracks are very fine and are causing small flakes of tile in the centre of the cracks. There are also many wavy horizontal stress marks along the tiles but none have developed into proper cracks.
At the top edge of the tiles where they stop near the ceiling there is a 4mm crack between the wall and the tiles where we’re able to comfortably slide a large kitchen knife from one side of the wall to the other. The tiles sound hollow to knock them all the way down to the edge of the bath tub.
Our builder has blamed movement of the house because our neighbour downstairs removed a wall, but they say is just a stud wall towards the rear of the house, and our bathroom is towards the front so I’m not convinced that that is the reason. It’s an old victorian house which had been neglected until us and the neighbours bought the flats and are both renovating. There are hairline cracks all over the place, including one on the ceiling of the communal hallway that runs directly beneath the length of the bathroom wall in question. It’s quite likely that this was either already there when we moved in, or could have been caused when we had our bathroom and kitchen redone. It’s not near where the neighbours removed their wall.
On the other side of the bathroom stud wall is the kitchen, there are no cracks on the wall from what we can see, but the floor tile grouting cracked within 2 weeks of the kitchen floor being laid. Our builder initially agreed to correct the work to be done at a later date when he comes to finish something else off, but now that he’s seen the bathroom he has put it down to the same issue of movement. We have been happy the rest of the work he’s done so would like to resolve this amicably and fairly.
Any ideas what could have caused this cracking, or how we determine for sure what has caused it?? If we remove a tile and there is no cracking on the wall itself does this mean that the cause has not been movement? It’s been suggested to us that the glue behind the tiles was not left long enough to dry, or that not enough glue was used. The tiles on the smaller wall at each end of the bath are fine (one outer wall, one load baring). Our builder also said that the tiles were put directly onto the wall, and not on any type of board - could that be the problem?
Thanks for any help or advice!
Can anyone help advise what may have caused our bathroom wall tiles to crack? We need to know the reason so that we can resolve this with our builder and who bears the cost of repair.
The cracks are on a stud wall that runs along the length of the bath, and the tiles runs from the floor to about a foot lower than the ceiling. They’re large rectangular tiles from toppstiles (appear to be decent quality) and they’re laid jagged like bricks and not like a grid. We first noticed the cracks 2-3 months after the new bathroom was installed. The cracks run like two large jagged cracks vertically down across the centre of the tiles (apprx 10 tiles in total) and had not initially effected the grouting at all until recently. The tiles appear to be imploding on themselves as the cracks are very fine and are causing small flakes of tile in the centre of the cracks. There are also many wavy horizontal stress marks along the tiles but none have developed into proper cracks.
At the top edge of the tiles where they stop near the ceiling there is a 4mm crack between the wall and the tiles where we’re able to comfortably slide a large kitchen knife from one side of the wall to the other. The tiles sound hollow to knock them all the way down to the edge of the bath tub.
Our builder has blamed movement of the house because our neighbour downstairs removed a wall, but they say is just a stud wall towards the rear of the house, and our bathroom is towards the front so I’m not convinced that that is the reason. It’s an old victorian house which had been neglected until us and the neighbours bought the flats and are both renovating. There are hairline cracks all over the place, including one on the ceiling of the communal hallway that runs directly beneath the length of the bathroom wall in question. It’s quite likely that this was either already there when we moved in, or could have been caused when we had our bathroom and kitchen redone. It’s not near where the neighbours removed their wall.
On the other side of the bathroom stud wall is the kitchen, there are no cracks on the wall from what we can see, but the floor tile grouting cracked within 2 weeks of the kitchen floor being laid. Our builder initially agreed to correct the work to be done at a later date when he comes to finish something else off, but now that he’s seen the bathroom he has put it down to the same issue of movement. We have been happy the rest of the work he’s done so would like to resolve this amicably and fairly.
Any ideas what could have caused this cracking, or how we determine for sure what has caused it?? If we remove a tile and there is no cracking on the wall itself does this mean that the cause has not been movement? It’s been suggested to us that the glue behind the tiles was not left long enough to dry, or that not enough glue was used. The tiles on the smaller wall at each end of the bath are fine (one outer wall, one load baring). Our builder also said that the tiles were put directly onto the wall, and not on any type of board - could that be the problem?
Thanks for any help or advice!
