Please Help! Problem with Porcelain Floor Tiles - Wobbly

[Milly]

he used the plywood to make the level across the kitchen uniform (where the concrete floor met the wooden floor), across the concrete floor area. Then he just laid the underfloor heating in areas with the adhesive, and then put the tiles on top. He applied the tile adhesive on the tiles, before pressing it down.

 

[nybor62]

omg, wrong wrong wrong what thickness was the ply, sounds like he as dot and dab the tiles , not slc over ufh , the under floor heating will burn out because the wires arn't full covered ,

 

[DHTiling]

Ok.. so you have wood on all the floor area now.. as in he screwed it down to the concrete section..?

This is deffo Fixer error and you must call him back to see why they have de-bonded.. and when he does then check how much coverage he has on the back of the tiles to floor bond.

With out actually seeing it, it is hard to say what has happened but no movement joint can cause stress... is this area where the tiles have come loose.?

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

As Dave Milly, expansion joints are needed where timber and solid floors meet. No self leveling compound over heating mat is not good, also back buttering tiles is not ideal, sub-floor should be serrated, then tiles back skimmed to ensure solid bed fix.

I would get the tiler back

 

[Milly]

The plywood was very thin sheets. He screwed it down to the concrete.

I made a mistake in 1 of my responses: he laid plywood all over the kitchen floor not just the side that needed to be raised.

The movement is everywhere. Mostly on the areas you most walk on.

When the underfloor heating went on initially, you could hear a noise as though the adhesive was crackling. Could there be an issue with the underfloor heating adhesive that's caused the movement?

The tiler asked me not to be in whilst he completed the work so I'm afraid I didn't see the work in action from scratch.

I saw him lift some of the floor tiles once and the underfloor heating wires looked loose - they didn't have much of the underfloor heating tape on them and there was no adhesive on the floor. He only applied it to the tiles when laying them.

Also - the grouting, a lot has come out from between the tiles.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Milly, when you say the ply was "very thin" how thin? I am thinking this job has been botched:yikes:

 

[doug boardley]

to be brutally honest Milly, it sounds as tho' he's broken every standard in the book, is it possible to post us some pics please.

 

[White Room]

A few issues there

 

[kilty55]

how quikly after tiling was the underfloor heating turned on milly

to be honest it sounds a complete cowboy job

 

[Scott]

Oh dear Milly he has done it all wrong by the sounds of it. The ply should be thick not thin 15mm minimum. The grout has come out because the tiles are loose and creating a space for it to move. Thats the least of the trouble im afraid. The ufh wire is best encapsulated in a self levelling compound (SLC) but it can be laid in the tile adhesive as the floor tiles required 100% coverage with no voids in the adhesive. Therefore it wont burn out, howevr it sounds like he has dot and dabbed the tiles, also called spot fixing. This isnt the right way to do it and its easy to spot as they sound hollow when you tap them.

If you can get a picture on it would be helpful. How big an area are we talking about?