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Visiting a friend in Puerto Rico, I was shown a strange problem – the floor ceramic tiles in the entire house had begun to pop from the subfloor. The same thing had happened once before, with an almost explosive blast. The tiles were replaced at great expense, and the same thing is beginning to happen (already can feel hollow spots below tiles that are getting high).
The house is slab on grade, in an area with a very high water table. The tiles were installed over an original terrazo floor. It seems the problem is one of hydrostatic pressure forcing the tiles off, so I am looking for a solution which does not require major excavation. I thought of possibly “floating” a tiled cement board floor over the existing floor, but have never heard of this type of thing before. Any ideas??
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If there were enough hydorstatic pressure to force the tiles off the floor, it would be flooded. I suspect that the problem is the prep. of the original terrazo. This floor was undoubtedly ground very smooth and finished with a sealer. Chances are very good that it received repeated coats of wax or some other kind of polish, possibly even containing silicones. The solution you suggest would involve removing all the tiles. Once that is done, the floor could be roughed up, either mechanically or chemically. If there is indeed a water problem, either a liquid applied or sheet waterproofing system could be used and the tile reset.
If by "floating" backer board, you mean isolating it from the floor underneath, this is not a good idea. If you mean sticking it to the floor with thinset or mortar, this will not solve the water problem if there is one. A better solution would be as I have already suggested, or to put down a membrane and pour a reinforced setting bed on top, then set the tiles in thinset.
*A liquid, trowel-applied membrane will fail under the condition of hydrodynamic head pressure. Ergo, the tiles will become loose.Explosive blast? Nope, never heard of such a thing. Perhaps the house is over an ancient burial ground. Best wishes.
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Visiting a friend in Puerto Rico, I was shown a strange problem - the floor ceramic tiles in the entire house had begun to pop from the subfloor. The same thing had happened once before, with an almost explosive blast. The tiles were replaced at great expense, and the same thing is beginning to happen (already can feel hollow spots below tiles that are getting high).
The house is slab on grade, in an area with a very high water table. The tiles were installed over an original terrazo floor. It seems the problem is one of hydrostatic pressure forcing the tiles off, so I am looking for a solution which does not require major excavation. I thought of possibly "floating" a tiled cement board floor over the existing floor, but have never heard of this type of thing before. Any ideas??