Ceramic Tile problem

[JTerry]

Our 2009 Dynasty has ceramic tile and one of the tiles is lifting up and has cracked. Has anyone experienced this and have any ideas what would cause this. I have 3 extra tiles and plan to replace this one. I am concerned there might be an issue that needs to be addressed.

[Steve P]

I have at least 2 cracked tiles, but no obvious issues in 3+ years.  I also have spares.  If you see the tile pushing up you will only know if you have a problem if you remove the tile.  Other posts have mentioned handheld rotary tile saws and Dremel type cutting tools (with eye protection, and a shop vac).  Maybe you can post pics to get specific advice regarding the severity of your issue... 

[redstickbill]

JTerry,

As Steve mentioned a photo would help, another is the location of the tile, near the toilet, under the end of a slide, for example.

My experience has led to the discovery of damaged flooring due to water intrusion.

Bill B 07 Dynasty

[jacwjames]

What I have done to remove a signal tile is to take a small drill bit and drill holes in the grout along the perimeter, holes close together. Then a chiesel or screw driver and gently remove the grout.   The grout should come out fairly easy.  Once you get enough of the grout out try gently prying up the tile, remove more grout as needed.  

Remove the mastic/thin set best way you can, if you have an oscillating saw it works pretty good. 

If the subfloor is swelled and crumbling you have water intrusion.  If it is not too bad you might be able to salvage.

[LakeBob]

I had a loose tile in the 1/2 bath in my Dynasty.  It turned out I had water damage to the subfloor.  Others have provided good guidance on removing the tile. The tile on the rotten sub floor was easy, the other tile was stubborn.

My situation was complicated by a heated floor, ended up losing that zone of heating. 
 

 

[jacwjames]

10 hours ago, LakeBob said:

My situation was complicated by a heated floor, ended up losing that zone of heating. 
 

 

Good  point, if you have a heated floor it's a whole other ball game. 

In a situation like this I'd take a hammer and gently break the tile and take it out piece by piece to gain access to the subfloor to see condition.  If subfloor is water damaged the game is pretty much over.  Doubt you'd be able to save a heated floor if subfloor has to be repaired.  You can always try install new heated floor, a recent post had information on that. 

[JTerry]

Thank you to Steve P, Bill B, Jim J and Bob K for your responses to my tile problem. The tile is located in the doorway to my half bath. A corner of the tile is actually under the door frame. That corner has dropped about 1/4" while the corner on the opposite side has raised almost 1/4" and the tile has cracked. My floor is not a heated floor so I don't have that to contend with. I'm debating as to whether I should go ahead and bite the bullet and take up that tile or if I should wait until the spring. I have posted some pictures that help to see what's going on.IMG_1357.HEICIMG_1356.HEICIMG_1355.HEICIMG_1354.HEIC

Suggetstions:

[jacwjames]

I couldn't get the attachments to open,

But sounds like the door frame is putting pressure on the tile causing it to crack/buckle.   They way Monaco built the coaches is that they laid the flooring and then put the walls & cabinets in the coach before the ceiling was dropped into place.  So the stress points would be where your tile is cracked. 

If you take the handle of a hammer and gently tap on the surrounding tiles do they all sound the same or do some have a "drummier" sound.  Drummy means the bond has broken and may indicate deeper problems.

When I tackled my problems I didn't have any trips planned so I had time to work on it at my leisure.  Since the rig is parked in my garage next to the house I could work on it when I wanted.   I knew that mine would be a big project but wasn't in a hurry.  At the time I decided to leave my tile in place and just go back with LVP in place of the carpet.  Hindsight being 20/20 I almost wish I would have tackled the whole project.  I actually have two tiles like you describe, I just live with it, and may eventually fix but I usually have other priorities PLUS I don't have any extra tile and finding a match is pretty much impossible. 

 

So my advice is to dig into it ASAP since you don't know what your getting into.  Worse case is that it's not a big problem and easily fixed. 

[JTerry]

Thank you Jim J for your experience. It really does appear to be as you described with the door jamb putting pressure on the tile. 

 

[jacwjames]

Didi you remove the broken tile?

I'd suggest trying to figure out if the floor buckled up.  Lay a straight edge across the good tiles and measure to see if the the distance/thickness is the same and or it thins at the door jam. 

If there is enough clearance to lay a new tile go ahead.  If not you may have to trim the bottom of the door jam to slide the tile underneath OR cut the tile to lay around the door jam.  Trying to cut a tile in this shape can be tedious. 

When I'm laying tile around a door threshold I'll use a saw like this https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-ProTouch-6-5-in-Dovetail-Cut-Hand-Saw/1003172560 and the what I do is lay a tile like I'm laying in front of jam and a piece of cardboard underneath (card board is about the same thickness as thinset). then use the saw to cut the jam.  Or you can buy an oscillating saw which works for this type of work.  

Good luck.