What Are the Causes of a Loosening Tile Floor?

Improper Installation

• When tiles are installed, mistakes made during the process sometimes result in tiles becoming loose later. If the tile adhesive isn't given proper time to set and cure before people start walking on the surface, the tiles won't properly adhere to the floor. Also, adhesive that has started to set before the tiles are laid in place will not bond properly. A dirty surface during installation prevents proper adhesion as well. These mistakes might stay hidden for a while, but eventually the tiles will loosen.

Shifting Floors

• Many things cause structural shifts. As the ground beneath a house freezes and thaws, and as moisture levels change, the structure of a house shifts to accommodate changing pressures. The pressure exerted by that movement causes floors to buckle in places. That causes tiles to crack or come loose from its bed. When you put a tile back in place after a heaving floor has dislodged it, you should use a membrane to isolate the tile from floor movement to prevent it from loosening again.

Moisture

• Tile that is installed over a wooden subfloor may come loose if the floor gets excessively wet. Long term saturation of a wooden subfloor caused by a leak or trapped humidity causes the floor to warp, crack or rot, all of which may cause the tiles to come loose. Moisture also damages concrete subfloors and may cause them to crack, resulting in tiles breaking loose. Some types of adhesive are also sensitive to water and will lose its bonding properties if wet.

Termites

• People typically associate termite damage with walls or roofs more than floors, but loosening floor tiles could be a sign of a termite infestation. If termites burrow through the floor under the tiles, the infestation results in a higher moisture content under the floor. That moisture causes buckling of tiles which may crack or pull these loose. The same moisture might also cause the product holding the tile to the floor to loosen, depending on what type of adhesive was initially used.