Good flooring gives a bright & aesthetic look to your house. If tiles are not properly installed, there are chances of various defects may come in your floor tiles or wall tiles. There are various types of defects in tiles that can be observed in your house like buckled tile, cracked tile, faded tile, shade variation, etc. Cracked tile is one of the most common defects that are observed in floor tiles. It is observed in all types of tiles, i.e. ceramic tiles, vitrified tiles, mosaic tiles, etc. It is a functional as well as an aesthetic defect. Whenever people see cracked tile, they assume that the tiles are faulty. Actually, there may not be the problem with the tiles but the problem may be with the material below the tiles.
Causes of Cracked Tile
There are Three Major Reasons for Cracked Tile:
- Impact
- Subfloor Issues
- Natural Reasons
These Problems may Occur due to Following Reasons:
- Excessive movement in the underlying layer will cause a crack in the tiled surface (Thermal movement because of temperature changes).
For example, a normal 45 m long building will increase in length by 18 to 20 mm during day time in summer when the difference between the maximum and minimum temperature is around 20 °C.
- If the tiles are laid over a slab of concrete and crack appears on the tiled surface, then the slab is moving and it causes the structural issues and causes cracks in floor tiles.
- Movement or expansion of joints in tiles also causes the cracks in floor tiles.
- When the tiller has not applied full coverage of adhesive under the tile and there will be a void under the tiles. When the pressure is applied to that tile, it will crack from the corner.
- When heavy objects such as pots, cans, etc. drop over the tiles, the tiles break and crack.
- Cutting and poor handling can also cause cracking.
- Sometimes people purchase sub-standard tiles, it may also cause the crack in tiles because of poor quality and strength.
- It may get cracked under the heavy loads. For example, when someone put heavy furniture or refrigerator, it may also lead to cracked tile.