05-02-2014, 05:52 PM
Tile requires a sturdy floor underneath..it is critical. There are formulas to detrmine the amount of deflection in a floor and whether that floor is capable of holding tile.
How long ago was the tile installed?
The loose tiles is confined to one area?
how big are the tiles?
What are they made of?
If you do decide to reset them..Yes, you'll need to remove all of the thinset.
You can better your chances..or extend the failure time by choosing an expensive, modfied thinset that has a bit more flexibility...Compared to traditional thinset there is a lot of give with these thinsets..but..it may not be enough to solve your issue forever...it's really not what that extra flex is designed for..but it can help.
Is there any way to determine how widely spaced your floor joists are in this area? What the dimensions of your Joists are?
How many layers of subfloor are over them joists?
what are the tiles adhered to? Can you identify the underlayment?
plywood can be ok if prepped the right way, 1x6 subfloor boards (bad, very bad), if you see masonite..never a good sign,
try to do as much digging as you can determine what the structural charasterics of that floor are and you might, at least, get an answer as to why this is happening..
It could be a simple as this..
-the tilesetter used a cheap pre-mixed thinset
-He set tile into an area of thinset that had already begun to set up after he applied it to the floor and before he could get tile on it...ie it skinned over and lost it's initial stick.
Tile applied in very dry weather can also instananeaously suck the moisture out of a thinset mix causing the same problem..this happens
Adhesive issues like this are common with guys who are rushing and trying to put to much thinset down at once..or guys who dont what the fuck they are doing.
In any case..if you clean that area under your loose tiles..dust it wash it with wrung out rag..then reiinstall the tile with a good quality thinset..it'll probably be ok for a little while..
If that thinset seems powdery..flake..not hard the it's either cheap crap or it was a bad mix.
ZERO thinset stuck to the back of tile is a bad sign..skinned over over thinset that dried before the tile hit it..or cheap crap.
There are a ton of factors to consider as to why..people ripping down the stairs and then hitting that area hard at the bottom of the steps is what is causing it..but on a properly designed tile system..it shouldn't happen.
: )
How long ago was the tile installed?
The loose tiles is confined to one area?
how big are the tiles?
What are they made of?
If you do decide to reset them..Yes, you'll need to remove all of the thinset.
You can better your chances..or extend the failure time by choosing an expensive, modfied thinset that has a bit more flexibility...Compared to traditional thinset there is a lot of give with these thinsets..but..it may not be enough to solve your issue forever...it's really not what that extra flex is designed for..but it can help.
Is there any way to determine how widely spaced your floor joists are in this area? What the dimensions of your Joists are?
How many layers of subfloor are over them joists?
what are the tiles adhered to? Can you identify the underlayment?
plywood can be ok if prepped the right way, 1x6 subfloor boards (bad, very bad), if you see masonite..never a good sign,
try to do as much digging as you can determine what the structural charasterics of that floor are and you might, at least, get an answer as to why this is happening..
It could be a simple as this..
-the tilesetter used a cheap pre-mixed thinset
-He set tile into an area of thinset that had already begun to set up after he applied it to the floor and before he could get tile on it...ie it skinned over and lost it's initial stick.
Tile applied in very dry weather can also instananeaously suck the moisture out of a thinset mix causing the same problem..this happens
Adhesive issues like this are common with guys who are rushing and trying to put to much thinset down at once..or guys who dont what the fuck they are doing.
In any case..if you clean that area under your loose tiles..dust it wash it with wrung out rag..then reiinstall the tile with a good quality thinset..it'll probably be ok for a little while..
If that thinset seems powdery..flake..not hard the it's either cheap crap or it was a bad mix.
ZERO thinset stuck to the back of tile is a bad sign..skinned over over thinset that dried before the tile hit it..or cheap crap.
There are a ton of factors to consider as to why..people ripping down the stairs and then hitting that area hard at the bottom of the steps is what is causing it..but on a properly designed tile system..it shouldn't happen.
: )