I just finished typing this once before and then it “disappeared”. So, if this question comes out twice, sorry.
My current job involves leveling one side of a house by jacking the floor joists up along the perimeter and replacing the wall and sill plate underneath. Above in one corner is a bathroom with a cast-iron tub and a tile shower surround (glazed ceramic 4×6).
I did an inspection of the tile before starting and didn’t see any cracks. Kept checking during the process and still no cracks. Finished, and as I am going over the tile very closely I start to notice numerous very fine hairline cracks in some tiles in the surface of the glazing, maybe 1 in 5. Actually these cracks are smaller than a hair and you can only see them if you are very close and the light is just right. I have even seen some tiles sold with this type of cracked glazing, only larger, as a feature of the tile. These are so small that I could easily have missed them in my initial inspection.
Question is, did I cause these cracks? There are no cracks in the grout lines which is where I would have expected anything to show up first. Will these get worse with time or will they stay as is now that I am done? I have already decided that I will point them out to the Homeowner tomorrow and see if she had noticed them before and I will offer to replace the tile if she desires. I just wondered if anyone had ever had the same thing or seen this before.
Thanks,
B
Replies
not saying ya cracked it it not ...
but I once had to replace a tile floor ... with wood ...
because I layed the tile over what I thot was a suitable subfloor ... and I was wrong!
The cracks showed at first in the tiles themselves .... the grout was fine ... in the beginning. But this was a fairly straightforward "crack pattern" ... I could match up the cracks with the backer board joints ...
I checked for "thickness" ... found an easy spot to check ... at the threshold of the kitchen door down to the basement .... ya know what I found out after I tore it all out ... for some reason ... someone had scabbed on an extra strip of 1/2 ply under the 3/4 under that doorway!
little tiny strip ...
never even bothered to wonder why .....
ever since ... I do more than just a quick check!
Good luck to ya ... hopefully it was always there and thry thot it added character
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
These cracks are sort of "spidery" and they don't seem to follow a pattern. The tile looks to be about 20 - 25 years old and it's over sheetrock ( i know, this is almost enough reason in itself to replace it) so i wouldn't expect to see joint lines show through. I'm interested to see if they get worse. Next time will get more than a quick check, definitely.
No way to know for sure, but I would bet that the jacking did cause some cracking. Tile walls and floors are very rigid and even a small amount of stress can cause cracking. Even if you jacked it without cracking the tiles, they may have cracked when you let the jacks down. (How many of us release the jacks as slowly as we raised them? - lol)
I don't do a lot of leveling work but when I do, I always tell the HO that it's a virtual certainty that additional repairs (or replacement) will be necessary. If they can't accept that, I pass on the job.