Ceremic Tiles - Defects

Defects

Dislodgement

This is the most common defect found in this method. It occurs when there is a loss of bond of the tile to the adhesive, making the tile loose and eventually letting it fall. This can cause grievous hurt on others if it falls from a high position.

The loosening of the bond can be linked mainly back to the preparation, before the wall tiles are placed, when certain criterion are reached, dislodgements are unlikely to occur. These criteria are:

• Good preparation of the concrete background
• Having thicker or equal coats of rendering
• Ensuring that tiles are solidly bedded
• Successful application of jointing material that would prevent water from loosening the tiles
• Ensuring movement rates, rendering and background concrete are all equal

To rectify spoilt wall tiling, first, the damaged tiles have to be removed then replaced by those in good condition. Appropriate adhesive or mortar should be used to re-install the tiles, vetical and horizontal movement joints should be provided as well.

Another way to fix this is by injecting polymer resin between tiles, however if not carried out properly, this may cause tiles to pop out.

Chipped Tile

Chipped tiles would be tiles with cracks and a part of it had fallen off.

Chipped tile repair is easy if you have the right products and some skill. You need oil paint that matches the color of the tile, special primer and clear two-part marine epoxy. It is also a good idea to have some toothpicks handy.

- step by step guide on how to fix chipped tiles -

The first step is to gather the needed materials for the job. You will need a small amount of oil-based primer/sealer, high gloss oil paint that matches the color of the tile exactly and a syringe of two-part clear marine epoxy.

The primer sealer can often be purchased at a hobby shop. They sell paints in small bottles very similar in size to fingernail polish. The finish paint will probably have to be mixed at a top-quality paint store that just sells paint. Hopefully you have a spare tile you can drop off to the paint store. If you give them a day or so, they can spend time when they are not busy to get a perfect color match.

Once you have all of the supplies, you can get to work. The first thing to do is clean the chipped area with soap and water and rinse with clear water. Use a hair dryer for several minutes to ensure the tile is completely dry. Even when you think it is dry, continue to blow warm air over the chipped area for 15 minutes. The exposed tile can soak up lots of water and it may take a while to wick out all of the moisture from the tile.

Once the tile is dry, use a very small brush and carefully apply some of the primer/sealer to just the chipped area of the tile. Do not get any on the upper glazed surface immediately adjacent to the chipped depression. Do not apply so much that you end up with a puddle of paint in the chipped area.

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Wait two hours and then apply a coat of finish paint in the same manner as you applied the primer/sealer. Once again do not get any on the glazed surface of the tile and do not apply any excess paint so it puddles in the chipped area. If one coat of finish paint completely coats the dark area of the tile so that the color looks perfect once dry, then it is time for the final step. If there is a color difference, apply a second light coat of finish paint 24 hours after you apply the first coat.

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Once the color matches the surrounding part of the tile, then wait an additional 24 hours. The final step is mixing the two-part marine epoxy that will fill the chipped area so it is the same height as the surrounding glazed part of the tile. Be sure the marine epoxy is clear and that it says it is waterproof on the label.

Carefully squirt out equal amounts of each part of the epoxy onto a scrap of cardboard and mix it very well. I prefer to use a toothpick for this task. Be sure the chipped tile area is lighted very well so that you can see what you are doing.

Apply the epoxy with the tip of a toothpick being very careful to only get it in the chipped area. Carefully dab a small amount of epoxy at a time and add just enough so the top of the epoxy is level with the top of the tile. It usually takes an hour for the epoxy to fully set. Protect the epoxy from any foot traffic for a minimum of 24 hours.

Grout failure

Ceramic tile grout is available in several forms. Tile grouting requires the proper type and the proper mixture. Follow these tips and with a little grouting practice, you will get great results on your ceramic tile flooring or ceramic wall tile. Tile grout can be ruined by adding too much water when the grout is first mixed or while finishing the tile grout joints thus this is a common problem especially for places such as toilets.

Grouting ceramic tile is a skill.

The most common reasons grout crumbles and disintegrates with minimal force are water - too much water. Virtually all powdered wall and sanded floor grouts are made from Portland cement. Some grouts have extra additives such as powdered latex or acrylic modifiers that make them bond even better. You can also purchase liquid acrylic modifiers to mix with grout that makes them more durable, but I have had nothing but problems with these liquids when working with colored grouts.

Portland cement is an unstable chemical compound in the grout bag. It becomes stable once it unites with water molecules. It can get those from water vapor in the air or from liquid water that is mixed with the powder. This is why bags of Portland cement or grout are often placed in special bags with plastic liners. The plastic blocks the movement of water toward the dry unstable powder.

Grout needs to be mixed so it sticks readily to a putty knife and does not droop or fall off .

PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

If you inspect the leftover grout in your possession, it should be a fine powder with no lumps or clumps. The presence of small, hard lumps or clumping means the grout may have started to mix with water vapor. Clumps or lumps mean the grout is bad or is going bad. But if the grout appears like a bag of fresh baking flour, then it is my opinion the grout is perfect. When you mix grout with water, it is important to add just the right amount. This is no different than making cake or pancake batter. Add too much cooking oil and water to cake and pancake mix and you get a runny batter that will not produce the desired foodstuff. The same is true with grout. Add too much water as you mix and the grout will never get as hard as grout mixed properly.
The proper consistency for grout is like that of a thick cake batter. The grout, once mixed, should readily stick to the end of a putty knife. When you grab a glob of grout from the mixing bucket, it should not droop off of the putty knife. If the grout is runny and can be poured like a milkshake, too much water has been added. You can fix the problem by adding more powdered grout and blending the mixture until the grout thickens.
This is why I always only mix part of a bag of grout at one time. I always want to have extra powdered grout in case I add too much water to the original batch. Furthermore, you only want to mix as much grout as you can apply to the tile in 30 minutes.
The installer could have also ruined the grout after it was mixed perfectly. He could have re-tempered the grout by adding water to it as it was getting hard in the bucket. This, in my opinion, should never be done. The added water breaks apart the crystalline chemical bonds that are forming as the grout transforms from a plastic substance to man-made rock.
Finally, the installer could have issued a death sentence to your grout as he was finishing the joints. If he used a sponge that contained too much water, the water could have diluted the grout while it was hardening between the individual pieces of tile. The sponge used to strike and finish the grout joints must have all excess water squeezed from it before it touches the grout between the tile.
It helps to cure grout in places that have low humidity. Parts of the West and Southwest have very low relative humidity, and the water in wet grout can evaporate too quickly. When this happens, the grout can lose strength. The best way to cure grout if the humidity is low, is to cover the freshly-grouted tiles with damp white-paper towels. The paper towels will readily stick to the wall tile. The next step is to mist the paper towels with clean water every hour or so to ensure they stay damp.
It also helps to run a humidifier in the tiled area for 48 hours. This water vapor helps the grout gain every bit of strength possible. It takes days for the grout to achieve its final strength and the first few days of the process are critical. If you keep the grout slightly damp for 48 hours after it is installed, it should last a lifetime.

Tiles caving inwards (in a shower)

install a one-piece vapor barrier on the wall studs before installing the ceramic tile backer board. It is important for this plastic to lap over the tub or shower-base flange. This membrane protects the wood wall studs from getting wet in the event of a catastrophic leak. Be sure you tuck the vapor barrier membrane into the corners tightly as you install it.

The wall studs are then covered with a cementitious or totally waterproof gypsum-based backerboard. These products are often the exact same thickness as regular drywall. They are often easy to handle and cut. Simply follow the written instructions that come with them as to the proper fasteners to use. Some allow you to use hot-dipped galvanized nails and others require screws.

I prefer to hold these backerboards up from the tub or shower deck about three-sixteenths of an inch. I do the same at corners and horizontal seams. After the backerboard is installed, I then vacuum up any dust and caulk the gaps with pure silicone caulk. Some written instructions will also tell you to tape the joints with a special tape and thinset mortar. If you do this, you need to be really careful about not creating a hump at any of the corners or horizontal seams. If there is a hump in the wall, you will discover the ceramic tile will rock back and forth at these high spots on the wall.

The first row of tile must be perfectly level. I achieve this by installing the second row of tile first. I nail a straight board to the wall that acts as a ledge for the tile to rest on as subsequent rows of tile are added. Once the mastic or thinset is firm, I remove the boards and install the missing row of tile just above the tub or shower.

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The tools required to install a ceramic tile shower are minimal. You can purchase a tile cutter, a rod saw, mastic or thinset trowel and grout float for very little money. The key is to take your time making sure the wall studs are plumb and in the same plane. With the walls straight and plumb, the ceramic tile installs very easily with minimal effort.

The joint between the first row of tile and the tub or shower should not be grouted. That joint should be filled with a high-quality caulk. As you grout, you will get grout into this joint. Don't fret as you can scrape this grout out of the joint with a toothpick as you go or with a putty knife as soon as you sponge the grout lines. Wait a day for the grout to cure before you caulk the joint.

Tile staining

Although ceremic tiles may be very hardy and resistant to chemicals and water, they, in some cases, may be prone to staining. Accidentally staining or on purpose staining it is very hard to get anything to stick to ceramic tiles. Any paint even epoxy will wear off and look shabby very quickly.

One way to distract people from the plain white is to take out tiles in a pattern and replace them with some colorful tiles that will draw people's attention from the main color. You can take out those tiles by using a hand grout saw to take off the grout surrounding the tiles you want to remove. Then smash those tiles in the center with a pointed centerpunch and a small hammer. Work your way out toward the edges of the smashed tile until you have cleared their entire square. That is where you are going to cement-in and grout the new colorful ones. It is time consuming but it will upgrade the floor and make people forget the basic off-white.

Stains can be removed using stain cleaning.

When cleaning ceramic tile, do not abrasive scouring powder. They will scratch and dull the shine on the ceramic tile surface. Unless your cleaning products label states specifically that it is safe for a tile surface, so not use it.

For severely discolored and dirty tile and grout, where cleaning with detergent will not work, use a 50/50 cleaning solution of bleach and water to remove any dirt that is present.

If cleaning does not work, there is always the alternative solution to change the tile.

Overview on Wall Tiling:

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reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceramic#Properties_of_ceramics
http://www.bedrosians.com/ct-defin.htm
http://www.askthebuilder.com/CeramicTile.shtml
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/4417/home_improvement/painting_and_decorating_tile.html