Not long after the house was renovated, the wall tiles and floor tiles had the problem of hollowing. I believe every owner will feel upset when encountering this situation. They are worried that the hollowing of the tiles will cause water accumulation on the bathroom floor and cause rot and smell (with a peculiar smell). , and may make it difficult to drill holes in the wall in the future (such as when installing bathroom cabinets, water heaters, cabinets and other furniture), and the tiles are easily broken by the drill. A more serious situation is that the hollow range of the ceramic tiles expands and becomes loose. When the external force is too great, it is easy to break and fall off the wall, posing a safety hazard.
Tile hollowing is one of the common problems in home decoration acceptance. Recently, a netizen in Bazhou, Hebei, Ms. Wang, broke the news that she hired a paving master to help lay the tiles. After the construction was completed, she paid the master 6,900 yuan for nine days' wages. However, during the acceptance inspection, she found that most of the tiles were seriously hollowed out.
According to Ms. Wang, after the tiles were laid, she tapped them one by one with a small spoon and found that most of the floor tiles were hollow, and some of the tiles on the wall were also hollow. Ms. Wang contacted the tiling master to come and repair the problem. The tiling master explained that the wall tiles could not be repaired and that if they were repaired, there would only be more problems. In the end, only the floor tiles were repaired. After the repair, Ms. Wang checked and found that the floor tiles in the house still had hollowing problems. Ms. Wang said that materials and labor cost 20,000 yuan, and the construction master who was contacted later could not be contacted, so the money was spent. In the end, the problem of hollow tiles was not solved, and she could only consider herself unlucky.
So, what can be done when the ceramic tiles are hollow? First of all, we must first understand what causes hollowing of ceramic tiles.
Why do ceramic tiles appear hollow?
When ceramic tiles appear hollow, most cases are caused by improper paving construction, and a few are caused by poor quality of ceramic tiles. Ceramic tile hollowing is a bulging phenomenon caused by the presence of air between the ceramic tiles and the paving surface. There are three main causes of ceramic tile hollowing, namely paving materials, construction technology, and external factors.
First, material-level issues mainly focus on the water absorption of ceramic tiles and cement.
(1) The tiles are not fully watered before laying. Ceramic tiles with high water absorption rate are not soaked in water or soaked for insufficient time, which will cause the moisture of the cement mortar to be absorbed after being installed on the wall, resulting in weak adhesion of the tiles. Ceramic tiles may become hollow or even fall off.
(2) If the cement grade is too low and the stability is not up to standard, the density of the mortar will be inconsistent, which will lead to hollowing. Of course, the higher the cement grade, the better. High-grade ceramic tiles will lose their moisture after the water evaporates.The shrinkage is obvious, and if the tiles cannot withstand it, they will easily be "cracked". Or mixing cement, adding unknown chemicals, incorrect cement mortar ratio, expired cement, etc. can also cause hollowing of ceramic tiles. It is recommended to purchase cement according to the standards - it is best to choose cement No. 452, which is cement labeled No. 32.5.
Second, the construction process was not done well, resulting in hollowing.
(1) The base layer was not plastered properly, causing the tiles to hollow out and fall off. If the base layer is not cleaned, an isolation layer will be formed between the base layer and the adhesive layer, which will cause hollowing of the tiles.
(2) During the construction process, the construction master was lazy and did not roughen the wall (refers to pulling out burrs on the wall and floor before laying the tiles. The burrs can increase the friction between the tiles and the wall and the floor. Make the ceramic tiles stick more firmly); the base layer of the wall is too smooth or dry, which will also cause the ceramic tiles to hollow out.
(3) The ceramic tiles are not back-coated, or the back-coating does not meet the requirements, and the surface material and adhesive fail to form an effective bond.
(4) When laying ceramic tiles, the cement mortar of the bonding layer is not applied enough and cannot form a full tile, the tiles are not struck with a leather hammer during the laying process, there are not enough gaps between the tiles, or the tiles are Failure to protect the finished product in time after the application is completed will cause hollowing of the tiles.
Third, the ceramic tiles are hollow due to external factors.
(1) When the tiles are not completely bonded to the cement, they are impacted by external forces, such as being stepped on or hit by hard objects, causing the tiles to separate from the cement, resulting in hollowing of the tiles.
(2) Climatic differences and temperature changes. If the ceramic tiles are too close to the heat source and are subject to temperature changes that are sometimes too cold or too hot, they will expand with heat and contract with cold, resulting in hollowing and falling off.
In general, there are many reasons for hollowing out of ceramic tiles. The work of laying ceramic tiles will test the construction experience and skills of the master.
How to solve the problem of ceramic tile hollowing?
There are generally three types of hollowing in ceramic tiles, namely corner hollowing, partial hollowing, and 2/3 area hollowing. When decoration encounters these three situations, the following methods can be used to deal with them.
The corners are hollow. If you find that the edges of the tiles are hollow, you can water the hollow parts on the edges (that is, use the gaps between the tiles to use smallBreak it open with a shovel, and then pour the cement into the gap with water. The hollow area will be automatically sucked in until it is filled and solidified), thus avoiding the need for complete replacement.
Partial hollowing. If there is a small amount of local hollowing in the ceramic tiles on the wall and floor, if it does not affect the stable installation of cabinets, mirror cabinets, showerheads, water heaters and other furniture and appliances, it does not need to be dealt with. However, if it affects the installation and daily home life, it is recommended that Knock out some tiles and re-pave them.
2/3 of the area is hollow. If 2/3 of the tile area has become hollow, it is recommended to remove it and re-pave it. At this time, the adhesive used for paving is particularly important. If the tile area is small, you can use cement, which is more adhesive than cement; To stick tiles on a flat surface, you can use tile glue/tile adhesive. If there are multiple tiles in a small area, it is recommended to use mortar, which is more suitable than cement.
Repairing the hollowing problem of ceramic tiles also greatly tests the construction skills of the tiling master. Therefore, when encountering the above hollowing problems of ceramic tiles, it is recommended to find an experienced and professional master to help solve it.
How to avoid hollow ceramic tiles from the beginning?
In order to achieve better decoration effects and solve the problem of hollow ceramic tiles from the root, it is very important to choose the right ceramic tile laying method.
There are two main methods of laying ceramic tiles: thick laying method and thin laying method. The thick laying method of ceramic tiles is subdivided into dry laying method and wet laying method.
The dry paving method mainly involves mixing sand and cement at a ratio of 3:1 and then adding a small amount of water. The viscosity of the cement and sand must reach a level that can be grasped into a ball by hand, and then the mixed sand and cement are paved. On the ground, use a flat plate to smooth the surface. When the cement applied on the back of the tile has a very high viscosity, it needs to be hammered down with a rubber hammer after the tile is placed on the ground. At present, the dry paving method is mainly suitable for laying floor tiles, because the thickness of dry paving mortar is large, the paving is firm, it is not easy to hollow out, and the paving effect is better.
Different from the dry paving method, the wet paving method is to mix sand and cement at a ratio of 2:1 and then mix with water. The amount of water should be more to increase the viscosity of the sand and cement, and then apply it to the water. The back of the soaked tiles is attached to the wall. The wet laying method is more suitable for laying walls and small-sized ceramic tiles.
The ceramic tile thin-laying method is a commonly used method for laying ceramic tiles. It mainly uses a dry work pasting method of kneading and squeezing for solid positioning. During the decoration process, a special tile adhesive and a toothed scraper are used to scrape the tile adhesive into stripes on the construction base surface, and then the tiles are pasted on the cement in sequence. The thin-laying method adopts the method of "tile adhesive + back glue". The bonding strength of tile adhesive is higher, 3-4 times that of traditional mortar, and it can be used directly by adding water. There is no need to mix cement mortar on site.
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Laying ceramic tiles is an important part of the house decoration process. Therefore, when decorating and laying ceramic tiles, the construction must be carried out in accordance with the relevant laying techniques and requirements to avoid the problem of hollowing of the ceramic tiles.
