Slate on Wood Floor

[yrag1964]

Went to a job yesterday to take up a slate floor in a kitchen which had been down less than two years, because some tiles have been splitting and grout joints cracking.
Instead of just going in and knocking them up without looking at anything I thought I would inspect it and ask you guys to give me your ideas on why it may have started to crack.
On first impressions the job looked good,
The tiles had been cut tight up to the skirtings and kick plates without any grout joints, it was laid with flexible addy on top of flexi mat which had been stuck down to the tongue and groove with normal fast set addy, the T&G was 25mm thick laid on spongey underlay which was about 5mm thick , which was then screwed down to a concrete floor with an odd screw here and there.
I have took it all back to the concrete to start again.

 

[Fekin]

Lack of expansion joints could have caused it if the floor was tight upto all the walls with no grout joints etc.

 

[postie]

Did the floor have a 6 mm gap around the wall ?

 

[CLAYS TILES]

why wasn't it just put down on the concrete base 1st?:icon9:

 

[sc24]

Is it an acoustic floor? Is it in a flat? If it is, the underlay may be there as part of building regs.

 

[yrag1964]

the floor was in house so the underlay was to stop the floor boards banging onto the concrete, there was no gap what so ever round the skirting, that is what I thought the problem was because there will be quite a bit of movement in the T&G through out the year, but I was checking with you guys as I have only been tiling for a year, had 10yrs as builder over 20yrs ago though, I think the reason they did not take the wood up to lay the tiles on the floor was because they were too lazy and hoped that the floor would stay down. It took me a day to get the tiles up and a nearly a day to take the wood up as stud walls had been built on top of it, I am charging Fired Earth the tile shop £300 for taking the floor up and will get £750 for laying the new one!! good game to be in this tiling lark!!! I LOVE TILING ME!!

 

[GazTech]

the floor was in house so the underlay was to stop the floor boards banging onto the concrete, there was no gap what so ever round the skirting, that is what I thought the problem was because there will be quite a bit of movement in the T&G through out the year, but I was checking with you guys as I have only been tiling for a year, had 10yrs as builder over 20yrs ago though, I think the reason they did not take the wood up to lay the tiles on the floor was because they were too lazy and hoped that the floor would stay down. It took me a day to get the tiles up and a nearly a day to take the wood up as stud walls had been built on top of it, I am charging Fired Earth the tile shop £300 for taking the floor up and will get £750 for laying the new one!! good game to be in this tiling lark!!! I LOVE TILING ME!!

well done