Tile Lippage problems on brand new floor

10 years ago

Hi - My contractors just finished installing my new tile floor last week and the grout has not been applied. But I am extremely concerned with lippage problems already.

After the tile set for 48 hours I inspected (I already had concerns). There are many many areas when one tile is higher by over the width of a nickle. I don't believe grout will fix this.

Also my dining room chairs rock almost everywhere you set them. In many places the un-levelness is enough to allow a quarter to pass under the "high" leg without touching, some places even 2 quarters stacked pass under the leg.

They seemed to make good preparations on the floor - it was reenforced to the joists and ditra matting was installed.

Contract has been notified and is returning tomorrow to look. Would appreciate some other informed opinions.

Thanks

Featured Answer

User

10 years ago

What size tile is this? Was self leveling compound used to make the floor flat? The floors being stiff enough, and having a crack isolation membrane under them is only part of the picture. The floor can't have any dips or humps unless the tile size is fairly small. The larger the tile, the flatter the floor has to be.

Also, with many large format tiles, only a 1/3 offset pattern is recommended, not a 1/2 offset. Large tiles have a bit of a droop in the middle and crown at the edges. That becomes very obvious when you try to do an offset pattern where the lower middle is supposed to align with the higher ends. You need to pull up the manufacturer's instructions online and view their recommendations for a successful layout.

It's probably not just one single thing that's the issue here. It's probably a combination that will need to be addressed.

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Comments (7)

Gazerbeam12345
Original Author
10 years ago
A few images - just 2 of the many tile affected.
annzgw
10 years ago
Not acceptable. Don't know how they could have missed something so obvious.
Do not let them grout anything, since there's got to be some repairs done. Buy yourself a 4' level and check the floor.
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Bruce in Northern Virginia
10 years ago
Is this tile or stone? We had 18x18 travertine installed several years ago and the renovation contractor tried to have a standard tile guy install it. The installer apparently had no experience with installing large, relatively thin stone and the lippage was significant. He started in the foyer with only about 30 sq ft, and after the first day we had them pull it up. We then found a new tile guy who knew how to install travertine and directed the contractor to use that installer.

The installation process for the two installers was much different.
- The first tile guy tried to install a thin layer of adhesive over a fairly large area (maybe 6x6 feet) and then drop a set of tiles onto it and level them out. He had a lot of trouble adjusting for the 18"x18" size and getting it all even.
- The experienced stone installer put on a thicker bed of adhesive and only covered an area of about 20"x20" each time. He laid the stone one a time and leveled and aligned all the seams as he went along. Since the adhesive bed was thicker he had more ability to adjust the height and reduce lippage. The process was much slower, but when he got done it was very even.

Bruce
mag77
10 years ago
Who did this? Bozo? Demand that it be torn out - ALL OF IT - every last piece, including the ditra underlayment - and have it replaced from the subfloor up with new underlayment and new tile by someone who knows what the heck they are doing. Do not pay the contractor one more cent. Do not allow the contractor to use the same installer. Stick to your guns. This is completely unacceptable. A boy was sent to do a man's job.
homebound
10 years ago
100% agree. Whoever did that is an amateur.
lazy_gardens
10 years ago
How large is the tile?

The big ones need special handling, often a thicker adhesive, and even little alignment plugs to prevent this.