Grout Problem

lxdollarsxl

I have a customer who has a problem with grout, it was laid about 3 months ago, and upon inspection it looks like along one side of the tile to have hairline cracks in it, it looks like its shrunk to me, i checked the tiles and none are loose, ive never seen this problem before, has anyone? is there an easy fix - or is it as i suspect a case of raking out and regrouting?

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Damned if im gonna do it more than once.

R&D Tile

Was it cement based grout or pre-mixed, what size joint, sanded or unsanded grout used?

If all of above tells me it's fine, there's movement in the floor.

lxdollarsxl

I have the bag that was used, Mapei Keracolors sanded, about 1/4 to 5/8. Im told it was laid on 3/4 Advantech which was screwed rather than nailed. I looked at another room which was done at the same time with same materials with the exception was different color grout and that has none of these problems.

__________________
Damned if im gonna do it more than once.

Mike Finley

I'd bet PeeWee Herman's left one that it is movement. Cracked grout = movement everytime.

lxdollarsxl

ok ty, now to find a way to fix it.

__________________
Damned if im gonna do it more than once.

Mike Finley

Color matched caulk, or tear it all up. There is always the exception such as being able to address the flex from below.

lxdollarsxl

well caulk would be better than taking it up, and if i rake out 2/3 of grout, will have something to adhere to. Thanks for the suggestion will save me some time and the HO money too.

__________________
Damned if im gonna do it more than once.

Mike Finley

...and I didn't even have to get the bullhorn out!

go dart

sounds like deflection. problem w/ underlayment
soft subfloor?
underlayment over vinyl ?

R&D Tile

OK, there's movement in that floor, forget about caulk or regrouting, this floor will only get worse in time, poor installation and subfloor preperations, there's MOVEMENT and it shouldn't have been set over the plywood alone.

The only fix is to redo the whole floor again, CORRECTLY.

lxdollarsxl

No its not ply that its on is Advantech - and its screwed down i dont know if that makes a difference?

__________________
Damned if im gonna do it more than once.

R&D Tile

You can not tile directly over Advantech, it's still a wood panel, if you look up their installation instructions for flooring, it states a tile backerboard must be used over it, or, a full mud job if tiling above it.

lxdollarsxl

Thanks, i did not do the tiling just got the job of repairing, after repainting the house. Seems like more than i want to do, maybe they should call back the tiler.

__________________
Damned if im gonna do it more than once.

lxdollarsxl

This gets better, after speaking again to HO i find that tiler laid down backer board on top of the advantech, so i take it this means some sort of movement? Any fix - i suspect i have to get underneath and pin somehow?

__________________
Damned if im gonna do it more than once.

Mike Finley

A backer board isn't a cure for too much flex in the floor. It can be part of the cure though.

AtlanticWBConst

Sounds scary:

Getting called-in to 'fix' something that may actually need to be completey re-done.
That always gets our hairs on end.....

Depending on the issue. You could be walking into something that someone else REALLY screwed up, and then.....once you get involved (trying to do a 'repair' on it).....they call you back when it cracks again...or cracks in another spot.....
Next thing you know, you are now the 'scape goat' for taking responsibility of 'fixing' it.

Just my 2 cents...

(Been there and RAN like heck from getting involved...)

If you do decide to take it, make sure that you put a clause in your contract. .... We do, if we did not actually 'start' the job, We will do our best to fix, but we won't put our name on it, since we don't know what the 'other guy' actually did - that we cannot see.

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- Build Well -

Mike Finley

That's some good advice.

R&D Tile

Good advice, but won't hold water, if you decide to take on a job like this, everything you touch now becomes your work, it's like going in to a new install where the old has to come up, just like redoing a leaky shower pan, if the new one leaks, it's your problem, not the first installer, if you take this on, it's your responsibility to find out what went wrong and why, or just redo the whole thing correctly and guarantee it, there are no quick fixes, do not take on this job unless you get the OK to start over, walk away if they are just looking for a quick fix that won't last, just my .02 worth.

747

Fullmud job thats oldschool the best way to do it.

allsolutions

I never use grout around the Perimeter. Colored caulk works the best.