Fixing hollow tiles

dcastillo · 11-30-2012, 03:19 PM

I did some searching and didnt see to much on this....

My issue is the house I bought has a lot of hollow tiles and even cracking grout...
I have no spare tiles and I know its just a matter of time before some crack, especially once I start to bring furniture in that room.
house was bank owned so previous owner wont help
I found a tile so hollow i cut the grout and it came right up (looks like thinset didnt grip to slab), using it to try and find extra tiles around town...
In case I cant find extra, I need a way to help prevent the hollow ones from breaking.

Has anyone ever used this before?
http://www.iafsystems.com/html/floor..._adhesive.html
Or have you used anything similar?

My idea is to completely remove and reset the tiles that are completely separated, but I need something to fix the ones that are only half hollow.

Thanx for any help
Danny

joecaption · 11-30-2012, 05:50 PM

Not going to happen, only way is to remove them reset in new thin set.
At what point to you just remove them all and redo it right and never have to deal with it again.
If there's as many as you lead us to belive the time may be now.

dcastillo · 11-30-2012, 08:43 PM

Thanx for the reply... Sadly the time isn't now....
This year alone I had to replace a refrigerator, a new AC system, and an entire new roof.... About 12K total
Plus child number three is on the way, which means I have to buy a mini van too.

Money is tight as you can imagine. I will live with any broken tiles I may end up with.... Just wasn't sure if there was a good way to reduce the chance of getting them.
Danny

Blondesense · 11-30-2012, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcastillo

I found a tile so hollow i cut the grout and it came right up (looks like thinset didnt grip to slab...

...My idea is to completely remove and reset the tiles that are completely separated, but I need something to fix the ones that are only half hollow.

Thanx for any help
Danny

Any tile that sounds hollow is loose. It may not be obvious if the grout has not cracked yet, but like your first one, if you remove the grout you will be able to remove the tile. Remove the grout, re-set it with thinset, then regrout.

FWIW, if you have several tiles like this, the odds are good that you have too much deflection (or bounce) in your floor to support tile. If so, this will be an ongoing problem.

dcastillo · 11-30-2012, 09:32 PM

Thanx for the info...
By " bounce" would you be referring to flex... Like you might find on the second floor of a house...
Cause this tile is laid on the concrete foundation directly... Just want to make sure I understand what you meant.
Guess I'll start cutting out more grout and pulling tiles up... Fun times

Thanx again
Danny