Floor tiles suddenly lifting with a bang

[poppysdad]

About 30 minutes ago sitting under our ceiling fan going at full throttle to try to keep cool we heard  a succession of small bangs. We immediately thought the fan elements were overheating and switched it off. Then a few minutes later the bangs started again but not coming from the fan. As my Thai lady walked over to the wall switches she felt like a mini earthquake coming from the floor and suddenly 5 large tiles rose up a millimetre or so with the grouting all spilling up around the edges. 
I’m not suggesting that we had an earthquake by any means but I assume that the extreme heat of late has probably caused some expansion in the tiles and with no room to go sideways they’ve gone upwards. The temp here yesterday reached 41 and currently it’s 40. 

[steve187]

the standard spacing for floor tiling is 3mm, Thailand in their wisdom fix tiles with almost no gap, there for any expansion results in tiles popping, another problem is fixing porcelain tiles with sand and cement, porcelain tiles will not stick to sand and cement, a porcelain suitable adhesive is required.

 

i have spent the last few days breaking up loose 600 x 600 porcelain tiles in a house that we rent out, not an easy job, the best way is to completely take up the old tiles without remove the sand and cement bed, level the floor with a suitable floor leveller compound or adhesive and retile with correct adhesive using a 3mm gap and a deep maybe 8/10mm notched trowel,

 

i spent 40+ years in the UK as a floor and wall tiler, both before and after adhesive came on the market. i almost cry when i see the tilers at work here, everything cut with a grinder, no dry cutter or wet cutter, no laser levels

good luck

[userabcd]

Have seen this happen in some condos as well.

 

Expansion movement of the tiles where there is no allowance for expansion and contraction and eventually the tiles lift with a bang in the weakest part.

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, poppysdad said:

large tiles

It seems with large tiles the chance of having problems is much higher compared to smaller tiles. And with even larger tiles it gets worse.

 

This guy seems to know what he is talking about - at least I get that impression.

 

 

[lkn]

10 hours ago, steve187 said:

another problem is fixing porcelain tiles with sand and cement, porcelain tiles will not stick to sand and cement, a porcelain suitable adhesive is required

For our condo it was definitely insufficient bonding. After some of the tiles started to come undone, I had the building staff tap on all tiles, and mark those that gave a hollow sound, which indicates that the tile had not bonded to the substrate. After seeing how many tiles had not bonded properly, we decided to retile the entire floor — removing the tiles did confirm that bonding was woefully insufficient.

 

And yes, it seems to be a common problem in Thailand. Same with plumbing, lots of drainage seems to lack proper smell traps and/or venting, so the smell of sewage in your bathroom is not uncommon in Thailand.

[Henryford]

Happened to several condos in my block last year.

[RafPinto]

The big bang theory.

[ThailandRyan]

On 4/14/2022 at 2:50 AM, lkn said:

For our condo it was definitely insufficient bonding. After some of the tiles started to come undone, I had the building staff tap on all tiles, and mark those that gave a hollow sound, which indicates that the tile had not bonded to the substrate. After seeing how many tiles had not bonded properly, we decided to retile the entire floor — removing the tiles did confirm that bonding was woefully insufficient.

 

And yes, it seems to be a common problem in Thailand. Same with plumbing, lots of drainage seems to lack proper smell traps and/or venting, so the smell of sewage in your bathroom is not uncommon in Thailand.

Tiling is just one of many problems seen in Thailand, just take a look at the sidewalks and how badly in disrepair they are.....

 

It is not only Tiles that are a problem in homes or condos.  I have wooden laminate in my Condo, and the flooring near my sliders to the main balcony have started to become soft in some spots as the bonding agent, or cement used has deteriorated.

[RafPinto]

58 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Tiling is just one of many problems seen in Thailand, just take a look at the sidewalks and how badly in disrepair they are.....

 

It is not only Tiles that are a problem in homes or condos.  I have wooden laminate in my Condo, and the flooring near my sliders to the main balcony have started to become soft in some spots as the bonding agent, or cement used has deteriorated.

Bonding agent?

Go to immigration, plenty of reliable agent hanging out there ????

[PJ71]

It's called 'tenting' when this happens.

[BritManToo]

On 5/4/2022 at 12:18 PM, ThailandRyan said:

I have wooden laminate in my Condo, and the flooring near my sliders to the main balcony have started to become soft in some spots as the bonding agent, or cement used has deteriorated.

More likely termites.

[OneMoreFarang]

39 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

It's called 'tenting' when this happens.

I think that term is not only used for tiles...