Building supplies

[Gary D]

The double polished 60cm x 60cm tile in the local tile stores around us start at about 135p. For 200p you get something very smart.

[hk blues]

I had nothing but trouble with the 60x60 tiles I had laid - they just wouldn't stay down!  Too much movement, poor quality tile and not the best installation I suspect. I'd say go for smaller tiles even if the fitting is slightly more expensive/troublesome.  I'm not sure about the wood effect tiles, they are rectangular and not standard sizes but I don't know about problems.  

[stevewool]

Never thought about the smaller size tile, have to look at those now, again thanks for everyone who has replied it does help people who could be making expensive mistakes along the way.

[Mike J]

22 hours ago, Huggybearman said:

As others have mentioned, I would also go with smaller tiles where possible. We had some quakes here in Mindanao recently and four of the large floor tiles had hairline cracks. All the smaller tiles were unaffected, just some grouting cracked.

Interesting.  Can you give more details?  How large was each area?  Inside or outside?  Were they installed at the same time?   Different installers or methods etc.  We will be putting down 80 square meters of deck tile in the near future and was not aware of more cracking with the larger tiles.

[Clermont]

6 minutes ago, Mike J said:

We will be putting down 80 square meters of deck tile in the near future and was not aware of more cracking with the larger tiles.

Mike stick with the 300 or 200 square any smaller and it is labour intensive,. Make sure the  concrete area your tiling is well settled, a month or two should do after laying of concrete. In the PI's expect over time a few tiles may crack but will only be fine cracks, nothing much you can do about it, and remember, most grouts are porous if your doing wet areas, google procedures.  

[Huggybearman]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

Interesting.  Can you give more details?  How large was each area?  Inside or outside?  Were they installed at the same time?   Different installers or methods etc.  We will be putting down 80 square meters of deck tile in the near future and was not aware of more cracking with the larger tiles.

They are in the upstairs bathroom. The large tiles 60cm sq, are on the floor, which have the hairline cracks. It is a single hairline crack extending to four tiles. The smaller tiles, 20cm sq, which were unaffected are on the wall. Only some grouting around four tiles came loose. I would think they were installed at the same time. The house was constructed in 2013, I believe. All the other floors throughout and the car port/front door have large tiles. Only the bathroom ones were affected.

[jimeve]

I have 60x60 tiles in my house upstairs and downstairs 3 large bedrooms, large balcony and terrace 15x 2.5 meters. Not one single tile has popped or cracked. It's all down to the builder who does the slabs and foundation, and of course the tiler. These were not the most expensive tiles BTW.

 

[hk blues]

4 hours ago, jimeve said:

 It's all down to the builder who does the slabs and foundation, and of course the tiler. 

 

Yep...agreed.  We had no choice in the matter as the tiles/tiler were the developor's.  We had 3 separate areas where a good 6-8 tiles popped.  Gave up and pulled the lot up and replace with laminate - at the developer's expense which was nice!

[Huggybearman]

14 hours ago, jimeve said:

I have 60x60 tiles in my house upstairs and downstairs 3 large bedrooms, large balcony and terrace 15x 2.5 meters. Not one single tile has popped or cracked. It's all down to the builder who does the slabs and foundation, and of course the tiler. These were not the most expensive tiles BTW.

 

Were you affected by the recent earth tremors in Mindanao? Our house was shaking quite noticably during the second one which lead to the tiles cracking. The Luxe Hotel and Ayala Mall here in CDO also had quite significant, albeit relatively minor damage. The third floor of the hotel had to be closed as parts of the wall plastering and ceiling fell off. And TGI Fridays kitchen ceiling fell down leading to its closure until it was repaired.

Edited November 14, 2019 by Huggybearman

[Mike J]

21 hours ago, Huggybearman said:

They are in the upstairs bathroom. The large tiles 60cm sq, are on the floor, which have the hairline cracks. It is a single hairline crack extending to four tiles. The smaller tiles, 20cm sq, which were unaffected are on the wall. Only some grouting around four tiles came loose. I would think they were installed at the same time. The house was constructed in 2013, I believe. All the other floors throughout and the car port/front door have large tiles. Only the bathroom ones were affected.

I suspect that when they  poured the floor in the CR it may not have been a continuous pour?  When that happens you can get a small crack that forms between the pours and will, in turn, cause a crack in the tiles.  The crack will normally be quite small because the rebar will prevent it spreading but it can still be enough to crack tiles.  In the US they will use an isolation membrane between the cement and the tile to prevent this.  I have not heard of it being used here and have not seen it in the building supply stores.