Hi all, I had my bathroom fitted around 2yrs ago and I've started noticing a crack developing across the centre of the room. Visually I'm not too fussed but I'm cercerned as to whether the joists are holding up appropriately. Or perhaps this is just 'settling'. The tiles were laid on plywood for an evening surface. What do you all think? Should I be concerned? Thanks,
Hi there Radio, Can't see the cracked tiles in your picture. Is there any sign of a corresponding crack(s) appearing in the ceiling below, assuming here the bathroom is upstairs. It could be that the plywood under the tiles has shunk slightly and caused the tiles to fracture especially if there's a joint between two sheets directly under the crack. Also take into account you have a C/H radiator and the pipework may run underneath and across the floor in that area, as the area you've highlighted is midway between either end of the radiator. If the ceiling below is ok I doubt you have anything to worry about structurally.
Hi mate, Unfortunately the downstairs ceiling was boarded and plastered a couple of months this ago but before this there were no signs of cracking. The radiator runs from the door, not across the room so that's a positive. If there an issue with the joists I'm hoping there will be more signs of movement and not just a swift arrival into the kitchen below driving a full bathtub!
No! You don't want to be riding that bath down into the kitchen! That outer wall will be one of the strongest in the house and I'm sure you'd have found some signs of things moving by now. One thing occures to me, if you recently had the ceiling below boarded and replastered, could that work have caused the crack on the floor tiles above? If the boards were fixed using clout nails instead of dry wall screws it's possible that could have caused the crack you now have from the hammering. Or has the crack been there longer?
For a bathroom refit just 2 years ago, laying tiles onto plywood is an old stylie method with much better options availble these days in material choice As it’s a new bathroom, and the tiles are cracking, I’m surprised you say that your not ‘visually to fussed’ but realise that for now, structural soundness is your main concern Any slight deviation, movement in subfloor can lead to tiles and grout cracking as even with flexible adhesive and grout, tiles really don’t like any movement at all Depends on many things but without some level of destruction, finding the cause is a tricky one Depending on what thickness ply was used (maybe you know ?) flooring ply at around 5mm will smooth over an uneven floor but liable to deform if floorboards are really uneven as this stuff is just too thin and flexible Possible 15-18mm ply was used ? But this, along with adhesive and tiles will give a step at doorway which many people don’t want I recon tiles will have to be lifted to investigate subfloor but after 2 years, will the installers be interested in returning ? Good luck
Hi Dave, looking at the lip and the size of the tile it looks like it can't be much more than 5mm ply. What should be used nowadays to prevent movement? It started with a small crack which was visible on a white tile, perhaps this has allowed some moisture ingress and further deteriorated the ply base. I had some ladders in here scraping back the walls and it cracked further. I think feel like putting this right will be a major job, bath will have to come out, radiator etc, lifting the old tiles, putting a new base and reinstalling everything with new tiles. For the sake of a hairline crack, if there's no structural issues, it's not worth it in my mind. Maybe in a few years! The new boarded ceiling downstairs was fitted with screws, I can't think of any reason this would have affected the ply base or tiles. Cheers Paul
If the floors are strong enough the thickness of the ply should not be any issue, I tiled my kitchen ten years ago and fixed 6mm ply to the chipboard flooring (can't tile on chipboard) and no issues. Then again the ply was screwed down at 100mm centres everywhere, primed with SBR and flexible tile adhesive was used.
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