When you look down and see a broken tile floor, you want to know why it happened. By figuring out the reason, you’ll be able to protect the replaced floor from the same issues.
In other words, if there’s an issue with your home’s subfloor, you’ll try to address it before retiling your floor. If the damage affects one area, you can resolve it with a simple cracked floor tile repair. In other cases, the usual solution is to install a new floor.
Below are two of the most typical causes of a damaged or broken tile floor and what you can do to protect it.
Heavy Impacts
Dropping a heavy item on your tile may lead to cracks. If a sharp blow is the reason, the damage typically appears more like a chip. Kitchen tiles are at increased risk due to pans and pots, glassware, and other heavy items there.
However, if you notice a crack extending across multiple tiles, it means that the concrete underneath has cracked. You can ask your contractor to install a crack isolation membrane during tile flooring installation to prevent tile cracks from developing in the first place.
In general, these impacts affect your floor’s edges, not the center. They’re also more common around cabinets and doors since people are more likely to drop something heavy while opening a door.
Environmental Factors
Ceramic can tolerate temperature changes, but tiles are porous. And the more absorbent they are, the more moisture they can hold. Therefore, tiles will be drastically affected by quick changes in temperature and moisture levels.
Like glass, which cracks under extreme changes in temperature, ceramic also breaks. That’s why tile walls and floors with sufficiently spaced expansion joints, giving each tile space to expand and contract.
Need New Tile?
When tile breaks, you probably want to get a specific square (or the entire floor) replaced. However, take your time to find the reason first. If you’re interested in our tile flooring installation services, please call us at 614-273-0988. Our flooring contractors strive to help homeowners keep their homes looking beautiful through quality tile installation.
