Hairline Cracks in Bathroom Floor Tiles (subfloor, foundation, ceiling, bathrooms)

[glamatomic]

A few days ago, we just got back from a couple of weeks out of town.

Upon return, I noticed that there are hairline cracks running along the bathroom tiles on the floor of the master bathroom. Additionally, there is a "creak" if I step on either side of the crack that was not previously present.

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the subfloor, but the section of basement underneath has a finished ceiling so I'm not able to look without a bit of hassle.

The house was built in 1959 so has its fair share of "creakiness" but the cracks along the tiles have me a bit concerned.

Is this potentially a major issue? What kind of professional should I call in to take a look? Is there anything my husband and I should look at/ attempt to resolve in the meantime?

Thanks

[turf3]

Houses settle. Unless your tiles are set in a thick base of cement the way they did it back in the 30s and before, sooner or later you're likely to see a crack. Even with the cement base, enough settling and you'll see cracks.


If you want you can call a tile guy and see if they could reset a few tiles; but I suspect it'll be hard to find anyone who wants to take on such a tiny job.


If it were mine I would try to get some kind of adhesive down in there to stop that small motion, and then leave it. I could not recommend any details unless I could see it in person.


But the chance that this means anything else, is vanishingly small.

[NC211]

I suspect air bubble in the thinset of the tile. They missed a section or didn't set it correctly into the thinset (twist it a little) to make sure the back of the tile is completely covered. There is something called back-butter when you lay tile. It's basically put thinset on the floor, and then on the back of the tile as well. Set it, wiggle it a bit to get it set right, and shouldn't be any air bubbles. Back buttering takes more time, but is the best way to make sure each tile has a solid 100% seat into the thinset compound. There is also a technique with setting them as well to make sure the grooves of the trowel used to spread the thinset don't line up to trap air. Might have one put in the wrong way.


We have tile in 4 of our bathrooms. House is 18 years old. Tile was put in during construction. Only one tile has a crack. I pulled it, looked on the back, and could see where the section the crack formed, didn't have thinset on the back of the tile (air bubble).


I say all of this as a total rookie who is a YouTube junkie though. Not experienced in laying tile (yet).

[K'ledgeBldr]

Is this original tile in that 1959 house?

If it is, and you're just noticing cracks that were not there before I'd say something moved significantly. What? My guess would be a joist- a concentrated approach. But that not to say the foundation didn't do a little dance.

Clearly, the only way to know for sure will be to open the basement ceiling. Check the subfloor and joists.

But, I also wouldn't put a lot of gloom&doom into it- hairline cracks are not the end of the world. I would expect nothing less from a 60yo house.

[nybbler]

My 1959 house had that thick base of cement. If there's new cracks in that I'd say opening up the ceiling to see what's going on is probably worth it.

[glamatomic]

Thank you for all of the suggestions!

I just wanted to come back to update. Yes, the tiles are the original 1959 tiles (in Mamie Pink!). Since I posted this, I haven't seen any further cracking... Thank goodness! It was definitely concerning though, so I'm keeping an eye on it.

Thank you for all of the responses!