Repair loose floor tiles

[Andrew Dwyer]

In one bedroom I have 4 x 60cm sq floor tiles that are hollow underneath where they meet. One in particular “ clicks “ when walked on.

I don’t have any spares and would prefer not to remove for fear of chipping the edges.

 

 

Movement has caused the grout to come loose as seen in photo.

On YouTube there’s a product “ Fix-A-Floor “ which is applied using a caulking gun but cannot see it on Lazada.

There is a very small gap between the tiles so the method of drilling 4 holes and injecting the product in , as seen on YouTube video, wouldn’t work well in this case but the using a caulking gun method appeals to me .

 

 

That’s a 1mm drill in the photo !!

 

So, anyone know where I can find Fix -A-Floor or similar alternative or anyone have any advice about this ??

I see a TOA Fast Bond product which translates as All Purpose Nail Glue??

 

TIA, 

Andy

[Reposed]

Only thing I can think of is expanding foam.

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 minute ago, Reposed said:

Only thing I can think of is expanding foam.

 

I would be worried that stuff would lift the tiles !!

[Reposed]

1 minute ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

I would be worried that stuff would lift the tiles !!

Indeed it might, if one does not restrain oneself. Though I think that would be unlikely. 

 

But like Dippity-Do, a little dab will do you.

 

I doubt regular caulk would suffice, but it is an alternative. But once you try that, if it fails, it's game over.

[Andrew Dwyer]

11 minutes ago, Reposed said:

 

I doubt regular caulk would suffice, but it is an alternative. But once you try that, if it fails, it's game over.

Yes, exactly.

I like the idea of using a caulking gun but with a more suitable product, the TOA Fast Bond looks favourite so far .

[Encid]

What about using this product?

 

Lazada search bring up quite a few options... see here.

[Andrew Dwyer]

36 minutes ago, Encid said:

What about using this product?

 

Lazada search bring up quite a few options... see here.

Yes , i saw those but most of them are just to touch up discoloured grout, i need something that will flow, or be forced , under the tile to stop the movement.

[FriendlyFarang]

I would probably just take something that's fine, like for example grout, mix it with a lot of water and let it flow in there. Put a little bit inside, wait a day, put some more inside... until it's full. If it doesn't want to go inside get a syringe and a needle, I do of course not know if grout is fine enough to fit through.

[jvs]

Try to lift the tile out if it is loose?

Use super glue to attach a piece of wood you can use as a handle,if the tile is really loose it will just lift it out.

[Don Chance]

Silicon.

[Andrew Dwyer]

2 hours ago, FriendlyFarang said:

I would probably just take something that's fine, like for example grout, mix it with a lot of water and let it flow in there. Put a little bit inside, wait a day, put some more inside... until it's full. If it doesn't want to go inside get a syringe and a needle, I do of course not know if grout is fine enough to fit through.

Yes, that was my original plan until I decided to take a look on YouTube and got interested in the Fix a Floor stuff.

I’ll post the video.

[Andrew Dwyer]

2 hours ago, jvs said:

Try to lift the tile out if it is loose?

Use super glue to attach a piece of wood you can use as a handle,if the tile is really loose it will just lift it out.

Yup, although it clicks and appears to be loose, only about a quarter of it is hollow when I tap it so I think it might be tough to get out and am still hoping to leave it in place.

The super glue idea is a good tip though!

[Andrew Dwyer]

2 hours ago, Don Chance said:

Silicon.

Hoping for something a bit more fluid to ensure it gets right under it, silicone would no doubt get far enough underneath to stop it moving but wouldn’t eliminate the total gap so maybe still a danger of it cracking at a later date.

[Andrew Dwyer]

This is the video that attracted my interest to the product, as you can see it is quite fluid.

On a longer video it is recommended to use a syringe for small gaps.

 

 

[KIngsofisaan]

You need to use a Syringe with a long needle to inject under the tile. 

 

 

[Don Chance]

21 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Hoping for something a bit more fluid to ensure it gets right under it, silicone would no doubt get far enough underneath to stop it moving but wouldn’t eliminate the total gap so maybe still a danger of it cracking at a later date.

Why don't you take all the tiles out and install a underlay and do it properly?

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

59 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

Why don't you take all the tiles out and install a underlay and do it properly?

 

That’s quite a jump from silicone ?

[Oblomov]

The problem with forcing anything into the cavity is it may push some solid but loose tile adhesive and then the tile will be prone to cracking as it will create a sharp impact point when subjected to the weight of walking on it.

 

Tiles are often laid too close with the wrong grouts so that on expansion and contraction they have nowhere to go but to lift.

 

If you can get the loosest tile up you'll then easily remove the other loose ones and then be able to clean the screed beneath and the tile and re-fix using flexible grouts and adhesives.

 

We had a rogue tile removed by carefully cutting the grout out with a mini-grinder after wetting the grout to reduce dust, then fixing a plywood panel to the tile face using silicon (which can be cleaned off) then easing by using timber attached to the plywood.

 

I wish developers would leave spare tiles on completion of units.

 

Good luck and I feel your pain!

[Bassosa]

I had this problem and solved it with this glue I found on Lazada. Chinese product. I removed some grout in places and squirted this fairly liquid glue into the tiles. It took a lot of glue with the cement soaking it all up but eventually the cavity was completely filled. I totally solved the problem.

 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Bassosa

[itsari]

I had a problem with many 60 x 60 floor tiles in our house . I managed to raise the loose tiles  easily due to the substandard way of laying floor tiles in Thailand.

Option one was to remove them all and start afresh . 

Option two was to buy a thinner tile in the same color and relay them where i had taken the loose ones up.

I went for option two and the result is not 100 percent yet acceptable and saved a great deal of money .

[Andrew Dwyer]

28 minutes ago, Bassosa said:

I had this problem and solved it with this glue I found on Lazada. Chinese product. I removed some grout in places and squirted this fairly liquid glue into the tiles. It took a lot of glue with the cement soaking it all up but eventually the cavity was completely filled. I totally solved the problem.

 

 

Wish I had waited for your post ????

[chickenslegs]

8 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Wish I had waited for your post ????

Sounds ominous.

[Andrew Dwyer]

In the end impatience took hold and i cleared a lot of the existing grout ( from where it sounded hollow underneath.

 

 

The gap was very small, less than 1 mm mostly.

Bought a 20 ml syringe and injected as much grout as I could into where the 4 tiles meet.

Then a combination of the gf tapping the tiles with a screwdriver head while I pushed grout into the gaps with one of those plastic spatula thingy’s, the tapping works well and the grout is seen disappearing into the void.

The small gap made removing the grout difficult as I could only get a box cutter in there so removing the tiles would have been more work than I was prepared to do.

It’s done now and I think it’ll be okay, time will tell .

Wish I had waited for Bassosa’s post about the tile repair glue but c’est la vie ????

[bbko]

If you don't mind paying for the international shipping, this place can send you Fix-a-floor;

 

https://fixafloorworldwide.com/

[kuma]

On 7/10/2022 at 7:20 PM, Bassosa said:

I had this problem and solved it with this glue I found on Lazada. Chinese product. I removed some grout in places and squirted this fairly liquid glue into the tiles. It took a lot of glue with the cement soaking it all up but eventually the cavity was completely filled. I totally solved the problem.

 

 

This looks like a potential great solution. I found this thread tonight as I have a brand new floor just laid that they had to replace 20% of the tiles two days after job completed, they were full of gaps. Now there is one tile left to fix and I want to try this product, in case I need it in the future. 

Found it on Lazada with mixed reviews. Anyone else have experience with this?

Cheers

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

5 hours ago, kuma said:

This looks like a potential great solution. I found this thread tonight as I have a brand new floor just laid that they had to replace 20% of the tiles two days after job completed, they were full of gaps. Now there is one tile left to fix and I want to try this product, in case I need it in the future. 

Found it on Lazada with mixed reviews. Anyone else have experience with this?

Cheers

 

I bought a similar one years ago but it was more of a grout than a glue, okay if you want to fill the gaps between tiles ( or use like a filler to fill small holes etc ) .

I didn’t try it for the loose tile as it wasn’t liquid enough to get underneath the tile.