What Causes Tile Popping and How to Prevent It
What is Tile Popping?
Tile popping is where your floor tiles pop out, break, or bend, looking like a tent that creates unevenness on the floor. Tile popping is a common problem for floor tile owners and happens to many kinds of tiles, like ceramic, porcelain, and vitrified tiles.
Tile flooring is the trend in flooring options because of its lustrous appearance and overall aesthetics, and these do not need any special polish and finish to make it look so. Let's look at the causes of tile popping so you can determine how to prevent it.
Causes of Tile Popping
Uneven Subfloors
The preparation for tiling work is just as crucial as the tiling itself because if it's not well done, all the work will go to waste, and uneven subfloors are one of the effects of lazy prep work. It is essential to have a suitable subfloor that is flat and even. Uneven subfloors will make the tile pop out, as some will have a different amount of adhesive; thus, some will not bond well and make the tile pop out.
Insufficient Cleaning before Installing Tiles
The cleaning preparation is more than just removing unwanted dirt on your subfloor. This method will make the tiles appropriately placed and bonded correctly to the subfloor. If not cleaned properly, the adhesive will stick to the dirt, mess up the bonding process, and make the tile pop up.
The Curing of the Concrete was Not Completed
You cannot speed up this process as this part requires time and patience. You must first correctly cure the concrete before placing the tile so it will not be under compression and buckle up later.
Use of Adhesives or Bonding Agents with Poor Quality
The applied adhesive may dry off very quickly when exposed to direct sunlight and, when used with poor-quality adhesive, will have a chance for your tile to pop up or tile tenting. Changes in temperature and humidity will affect your bonding process and will lose grip, so ensure that you do not have poor-quality adhesive or bonding agents.
Use of Old or Defective Tiles
These kinds of tiles are not on-par with new and fresh tiles. These tiles crack faster than the new ones, and their protective coating wears down quickly. The old tiles tend to pop up with foot traffic, exposure to cleaning agents, and sudden weather changes. When you notice old tiles around your floor hatches, consider repairing them as quickly as possible.
The Tiles are Too Large
Due to its large size, this tile pops up if not correctly placed. The trick in installing these large tiles is to gently tap them with wooden or rubber hammers during the trilling work so that they will stick with the adhesive.
The tile has Absorbed Too Much Water
Many installed tiles are sealed and prevent water absorption. Unfortunately, some tiles are porous, some have micropores, and some have cracks that can get water into the tile. If moisture is absorbed, the tile will swell and expand, creating pressure that will make the tile pop up.
How to Prevent Tile Popping
The causes mentioned above are mistakes during preparation, installation, and the materials used.
To prevent you from experiencing tile popping during preparation and installation, you should procure a step-by-step manual on installing floors and studying them meticulously so you can install the tiles the way you want and worry not about tile popping. If you're not into doing the installation yourself, hire a professional and check their credentials to ensure you have the person to do the job correctly.
If you experience tile popping, there are many ways to fix it, but the process will make too much noise. If your work area is inside an occupied building, it is ideal that the building has sound proofing materials so that the noise won't disturb other rooms.
And as to the materials you will use, double-check all the peripherals you will use throughout the installation process. Also, only buy the things you need at legitimate stores, not shady sellers.
Final Words
When you are planning to tile your floors, ensure that you have taken all these measures properly to prevent the popping up of the tiles.
