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So I had a relatively poor experience with our remodeling, but our problem now is that several pieces of tile creak when stepped on in the kitchen, and the grout between these pieces is cracking and falling out. There is also one tile on the edge of the dining room which does this to the extreme--I can see it move up and down by a couple mm when stepped on, and the grout on one side of said tile has nearly completely disintegrated. Is there any way to know whether it is worth cleaning out the grout and reapplying new grout, or will it all just crack again? I assume that the piece which is visibly moving up and down would have to be removed and replaced? Thanks for any advice. I've never done tile before, so I'm not sure how much I can get done by myself.
I suppose there could be some foreign object under the tile causing it to rock. It sounds more likely the base the tile is sitting on is not solid. The best solution would be to remove the loose tile and several around it. Then find out why the sub floor is moving. Take whatever steps you need to secure the sub floor and reinstall and grout the tile.
I have the same problem in my bathroom and I just retiled it. I have two tiles that are loose and they make that awful gritty sound when stepped on. I think my problem is I didn't put enough adhesive under them, or I didn't apply it evenly.
Quick question (so please dont take offense) you did use hardibacker board as a subfloor when the tile was installed? The reason I asked is that my in-laws went against me telling them to install it and installed it over 3/4 plywood instead. They are always redoing tile and grout.
Other than that, what you would have to do is retile it. Its a pain but its the only option. Make sure there is plenty of thinset too.
Questions...........
What is your substrate?
What type of adhesive did you use?
How big are the tiles?
What type of grout did you use?
Where did you get the instructions for installing your tile?
Post your answers, and I can probably help you.
BTW......Re-grouting will not solve your problem, unless you need a new hobby. Then you can take up re-grouting on a regular basis.
I'm afraid I don't know the answer to most of your questions. We had a contractor do a total renovation of our house, and being inexperienced in these matters, we didn't choose the best contractor for the job. What I can tell you is that they are 12x12 ceramic tiles, and that he did use some sort of backerboard, but I couldn't tell you what type. The house is 1930 construction and the floors were somewhat creaky before the tiles went in. The grout started cracking days after he put it in, and when we complained, he put more grout on top of the cracked grout. All of that grout has since fallen off. My father-in-law had suggested at the time that an elastomeric additive added to the grout would stop the cracking, but our contractor had never heard of such a thing. I had been thinking that if we replaced the grout with such an elastomer/grout in the areas where the tiles don't appear to be shifting, that it might not crack again.
Since there is only the one problematic spot in the dining room, what are the odds that I could pry that single piece loose, re-adhere it to the substrate, re-grout, and be in good shape?
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