Tile Crack - Advice Needed

[Thoughts]

I hope that someone can help advise me! I had my bathroom completely refitted in November, including underfloor heating and floor tiles. It is beautiful. Yesterday I noticed a small crack in one of the tiles. I have attached two photographs. What I really want to know is what has caused this? Could it be that I had the underfloor heating on too high a heat? Could someone have dropped something on it? Or is it more likely to be something more serious, and I should expect more to appear? I don't know if you can tell this from a photograph but I thought it was worth asking in case! I'm really worried, particularly as the bathroom was done so recently and I was so happy with it! Many thanks in advance!

 

[Flintstone]

It could be a number of things, my advice would be to keep an eye on it if it spreads or any more crack.

 

[Spare Tool]

From the pic it looks like its following a substrate line and not bending off as if someone had dropped something...How was your ufh commissioned and whats the makeup of the subfloor from base to tiles?

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Bet he tiled straight onto plywood?

 

[Spare Tool]

Bet he tiled straight onto plywood?

looks an expensive tile too

 

[J Sid]

don't like to say this but i agree with timeless

 

[White Room]

Looks almost like a fault in the tile....

 

[Thoughts]

Thanks so much for all your replies! Much appreciated. I am afraid I am stereotypically clueless! I attach photos of the stages of the work with the hope that might answer some of the questions. I had never heard of commissioning ufh but have just looked it up. I completely didn't follow this at all as I didn't know about it! Could this have caused it? If it did, will it continue to get worse? It's possible the crack has been there a while without me noticing it.

 

[One Day]

As above - looks like a glaze fault. Probably only just noticed it. Doubt very much it's a crack

 

[Thoughts]

The thought of it being a fault in the tile re-assures me greatly - that would mean it would be unlikely to occur elsewhere right?

 

[hmtiling]

It's hard to see in the photo, but does the hairline run through the grout?

 

[Thoughts]

Hi, no it is just on the one tile, it doesn't touch the grout

 

[Spare Tool]

The thought of it being a fault in the tile re-assures me greatly - that would mean it would be unlikely to occur elsewhere right?

Hard to tell from the pic, have you not noticed it before, is it a crack or a fault, if it wasn't there last week its a crack?

 

[White Room]

On your first picture which is a close up, the glaze seems to curve into the mark on the white areas.

 

[hmtiling]

Hi, no it is just on the one tile, it doesn't touch the grout

My guess would be fault in the tile then.

 

[Thoughts]

Whitebeam, yes I have just gone to inspect that aspect more closely and it does seem to curve slightly in the white areas. I'm unclear as to what this means though?

 

[Thoughts]

I really don't know when it appeared. It is perfectly possible it has been there a while. I have been talking to people recently about their cracked tiles which may well have made me look for it more.

This might be a really stupid question, but can I definitely rule out it being that the underfloor heating is too hot? I turned it off as soon as I saw it but would quite like to turn it back on if that isn't the cause!

If it is a fault in the tile, is it likely to just be that tile, or would it then be likely they are all no good?

 

[Time's Ran Out]

don't like to say this but i agree with timeless

With the Ditra in the later pics it would seem as though we may both be wrong.
Serves you right for agreeing with an old fart!

 

[White Room]

Whitebeam, yes I have just gone to inspect that aspect more closely and it does seem to curve slightly in the white areas. I'm unclear as to what this means though?

When the tiles has been fired the glaze would probably have formed into the mark, the mark may have even happened during the firing process.

 

[Spare Tool]

I really don't know when it appeared. It is perfectly possible it has been there a while. I have been talking to people recently about their cracked tiles which may well have made me look for it more.

This might be a really stupid question, but can I definitely rule out it being that the underfloor heating is too hot? I turned it off as soon as I saw it but would quite like to turn it back on if that isn't the cause!

If it is a fault in the tile, is it likely to just be that tile, or would it then be likely they are all no good?

Your ufh can't get too hot to crack a tile, it's what's under your ufh that can cause a crack.. Seems strange to me that the ditra is at the bottom of the makeup?

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Your ufh can't get too hot to crack a tile, it's what's under your ufh that can cause a crack.. Seems strange to me that the ditra is at the bottom of the makeup?

I assumed the weyroc boards were just there for protection and not fixed on top of Ditra.

 

[Thoughts]

Great, I'll put it back on then, thanks! I was so scared I'd completely messed up my bathroom by putting it on too high a temperature, so that's at least a relief! Ok, this again might sound really stupid but the Ditra is the orange stuff right? The boards on top of that were just there so I could use the toilet before they did the next stage. I do feel very confident that the people that fitted it were good, I can't really imagine it's anything they did. I'm going to hope that it is this glaze problem and that I have just been unobservant up until now! I am so appreciative of all your time replying to me!!

 

[Spare Tool]

I assumed the weyroc boards were just there for protection and not fixed on top of Ditra.

Eeekkk thought that for a minute myself, surely not just seems weird ditra under the ufh?

 

[Spare Tool]

Great, I'll put it back on then, thanks! I was so scared I'd completely messed up my bathroom by putting it on too high a temperature, so that's at least a relief! Ok, this again might sound really stupid but the Ditra is the orange stuff right? The boards on top of that were just there so I could use the toilet before they did the next stage. I do feel very confident that the people that fitted it were good, I can't really imagine it's anything they did. I'm going to hope that it is this glaze problem and that I have just been unobservant up until now! I am so appreciative of all your time replying to me!!

The ufh heating should really have been turned on slowly and commissioned over 6 days and not ramped up to full straight away, but you might have got away with it, touch wood (not ply) its a fault in the tile glaze

 

[Thoughts]

Thanks!! I hope so too! If there were any problems with this commissioning failure by myself, would they already have surfaced, or can it take time for them to show?