Bouwbedrijf Dries LagemaatWhat you cannot see decides what you can
A tiled floor that cracks or sounds hollow is rarely the fault of the tile. It almost always goes wrong in the layer underneath: a substrate that is not level, not dry enough, or still moving. Time spent there buys you twenty years without worries.
Level first, then tile
Tiles of 60 by 60 centimetres or larger are unforgiving: every unevenness in the substrate shows up as a lifted corner or a joint that will not close. Measure with a straightedge and level where needed. A deviation of more than a few millimetres over two metres makes levelling a necessity rather than a luxury. Using more adhesive is not a solution: that is exactly what creates hollow spots.
Moisture is the silent culprit
A new cement screed has to dry before tiles may go on, and that takes longer than people expect. A rule of thumb is roughly a week per centimetre for the first four centimetres, and considerably longer after that. With underfloor heating a heating protocol belongs with it: the floor is warmed up and cooled down under control before tiling. Skip that and the stress will come out later, straight through the tiling.
Let the floor move where it should
A floor expands and contracts with temperature and moisture. That is why there should be a movement joint along all walls and around columns, and across the field on larger surfaces. Those joints must not be filled with hard grout. If they are concealed or forgotten, the stress finds its own way out, and that becomes a crack exactly where you least want one.
The four most common mistakes
- Tiling on a screed that is not yet dry
- Skipping the heating protocol with underfloor heating
- Leaving out movement joints or filling them in
- Too little adhesive contact, leaving the tile hollow
Tiling that stays put
Bouwbedrijf Dries Lagemaat carries out tiling for floors, walls and bathrooms, including the preparation of the substrate. We check level and moisture before the first tile goes down. Get in touch without obligation.