Please Help !!!!!!!

[Unregistered]

Looking for some advice, got my living room floor tiled with 600 x 600 porcelain tiles from b&q 18 months ago and everything has been great for 17 months, only 4 weeks ago couple of tiles have cracked and some tiles have went loose, Why could this have happened after 17 months of no hassle, please help, 12mm plywood was put down onto 22mm floorboards, and Bal Rapidset Flexible was used along with Bal Superflex grey grout, need help as only got 1 year guarantee from tiler.

 

[david campbell]

:welcome:to the forum

sounds as if they have de-bonded
there could be a few reasons,12mm ply is no where near stable enough it should have preferably been 15mm/18mm and primed on the reverse side.
it could also be that the tiles where dusty and have not bonded with the ply or they were not back-buttered which i feel is neccesary on large format tiles like these!

 

[united]

If you register on the forum you will get a better response, it's free too

Do you have any photos as that might help us?

 

[Dan]

There's a longer guarantee on the adhesives used, so give BAL a call. Though I bet you it's down to either deflection or not screwing down the ply enough. And to be honest, british standard stats minimum of 18mm ply and that's what rapid set flex is made for, I think. So if BAL wriggle out of it, that's the excuse they'll use 'fixer error using incorrect ply thickness'.

I'd also get the tiler around to at least have a look. Even though "he only gives 12months warranty" (which is fair, but he still should offer to come around, if it IS fixer error, warranty wouldn't even come into it, he's fitted it wrong and could be libel to stand re-fixing costs should it get to court if you took this further) he should want to come and see the job to tell you at least what's gone wrong. If you were happy with his work the first time round, and he thinks it's a product issue, surely he'd be hoping to get the job again?

I think your first port of call here is BAL. And if they claim it's fixer error (which it probably is) then your next port of call is an independent report on the job and failure which TTA can help with, or you can get one of the established professionals from here do a report. You'll need to pay for that, but it'll get the job done. Then show this the tiler, and if he doesn't want to budge, then perhaps it's small claims or something similar.

It's a shame, but it happens.

 

[mikethetile]

wrong thickness of ply im afraid

:welcome:

 

[Dan]

p.s. if you register for free on the forum, you'll get email alerts when there has been a replied added to your questions.

 

[marius14stoica]

Hi !
Everytime i was tilling on plywood i layed first of all a special matting wich can be soundproof or waterproof or both.Last time i sticked this with karakol rapidfix mixed with a white latex base liquid. Then the proper tilling done with the same adhesive mixture.This matting thing offers extra strenght to the whole work and elasticity in the same time. What happend in your case is a no repair solving,everything has to come off and redone.Any atempt to replace and repair will add extra costs.Good luck! Marius

 

[andy-p]

If the floor was properly prepped and the ply fitted correctly i reckon not enough adhesive was used to bed the tiles...

 

[Unregistered]

thanks for the replies, if my memory is right i remember the tiler being a bit of a stickler for the rules, he took nearly half a day screwing down and glueing floorboards and making existing floor sound as it was a bit of a mess he then opted for 12mm plywood as i thought 18mm plywood and thickness of tile and ply would have built the floor up too much ie 32mm, it was not only the living room floor but my hall floor as well, if the floor was built up this much i would have had problems with my front door ie it would not have opened.
The ply was screwed down at 6" Centres and bonded with Bal Bond. Why after all this time it has just failed after 17 months of no problems.
ive read alot on these sites and it as if the buck is always passed normally falling at the thickness of the plywood.
Thanks Again and i will give him a phone to see what he says.

 

[starmsy]

what size trowel did you use?

 

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the replies, if my memory serves me correctly the tiler was a bit of a stickler to the rules, i not only got the living room floor done but got my hallway floor done as well, if 18mm ply had been put down i would not have been able to open my front door as this would have brought my existing floor up 35mm and too high for the door, i remember the tiler taking about a day to glue and screw down my floorboards as they were a bit of a mess and lay the plywood screwed at 6" Centres the top and sides were sealed with Bal Bond, he used a 10mm Serator when laying the floor, can someone tell me after 17 months of no problems whatsoever why is this happening now, it always seems an easy excuse saying ply to thin as this reason is sited on many sites from 6mm to 9mm but 12mm ply, i mean who can really buid there floor up by an additional 35mm

 

[david campbell]

you dont have to build the floor up 35mm,you could have had the tiler remove the floorboards and add extra noggins and re-lay 25/28mm ply this would probably reduce the height of the floor,where you given that as an option?

 

[Unregistered]

35mm build up was 18mm ply then thickness of tile and adhesive but not given that option you mention there david

 

[Pebbs]

I know you probably dont want to hear it, but 18mm ply would have been better insurance against this happening. It is not an easy excuse to give the ply not being up to 'spec', and I take exception to that remark. I dont believe this can be put down to 'adhesive failure' the problem would have arose long before the 12 month warranty that your tiler so kindly gave you. Also your tiler had very little option here as you pointed out, if he had put 18mm down the finishing level would have been to high to accomodate the door. As a matter of interest what was the measurement from the floorboard to the finishing height to accomodate the door? I believe the substrate is moving, and probably in the area where the original floor boards were at their worst.

Pebbs

 

[mikethetile]

theres no buck passing going on Guest. you asked for the most likely cause for failure and we pinpointed insufficiant thickness of overboard, you state these sites so you have asked on other sites and got the same reply

reading your posts you say that you wouldnt let your tiler use 18mm ply as it would raise your floor level, so your tiler reccomended 18mm ply to you

many on here myself included would have walked away at the point as the job was likely to fail within a few years

im sorry to be so hard on you but your wasting your time looking for someone else to blame for this problem