Uneven Wall Keeps Cracking Tile

The problem is that the wall is uneven.

Uneven wall keeps cracking tile.

Sometimes you will see a chip taken out of the tile where the object hit. Tiles may crack pop loose or lip a condition that occurs when the corners or edges of some tiles stick up higher. Tiles laid over existing cracks usually crack due to uneven floor movement along the tile. If you put a 48 straight edge up against the most sunken areas there s a gap of almost a 1 2.

There are various types of tile underlayment but all serve to smooth out uneven spots in a subfloor and create an unbending layer that prevents the floor from flexing underfoot. An uneven floor or wall surface can lead to several problems in a tile job. In kitchens especially where heavy objects such as cans pots and pans get dropped ceramic tiles frequently break. Lippage is hard to avoid with large tile and easy to see with narrow grout lines or tile that has square rather than rounded edges.

When tile setters apply an uneven or insufficient layer of mortar to the tiles and subfloor tiles sometimes shift peel from the floor or crack under stress. To counter this apply an uncoupling membrane to the concrete before the tile is installed. Heaving and uneven surfaces raised tiles or uneven floor surfaces on opposite sides of a crack might indicate slab foundation damage. This is known as lippage and it can diminish the most professional of.

This fix is only practical for interior tile floors and when the gaps between the tiles are 1 4 in. In any of those circumstances leveling clips and wedges help you lay tile flat. There is also a spot near the window trim where the wall appears to be built up too much enough so that the tile could end up proud of the trim which i m pretty sure won t look so hot. This membrane bonds to the concrete floor and then bonds to the tile.

Lippage is the technical term for uneven tile edges though is more common.