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Easy fix for tile lines showing? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by HeyJoe@lemmy.world to c/homeimprovement@lemmy.world

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This is the same tile that existed when we moved in 10 years ago. Over the years, our kids have splashed water out while playing in bathtub and some toilet accidents... it has caused some areas to start showing hairline cracks revealing the big tile is really just a bunch of small ones placed together. Is there any easy fix to cover this somehow, or will my only real option to redo the entire floor? Thanks!

Thanks for the comments, and the answers are lining up with my thoughts. You are all correct, there have been countless lazy attempts in the house where they cut corners, so it would not be surprising if they did that here as well. Guess redoing this at some point is the #1 option.

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[–] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 62 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm no contractor, but I've done some floors before and I've never seen this lol

Is there a chance that this tile was just laid over hexagonal tile, instead of through the normal process of pulling up the old tile first?

[–] Bell@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Perhaps you can pull up a transition piece where this tile ends (a threshold or wooden transition maybe). That might show you/confirm the other layer that's maybe below it.

[–] Hylactor@sopuli.xyz 51 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

For what it's worth, it looks more like someone tiled on top of tile for some reason? Like under the big square is the hexagonal, and the big tiles are cracking along the low spots of the tiles below.

[–] espentan@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

That seems like the most plausible reason.

Tiling over old tiles isn't that uncommon, and here I suspect they used very little glue (or poor quality glue) so as to not increase the thickness of the floor too much (to avoid issues with thresholds etc.). Thin and/or low quality tiles could be another explanation, as to why they crack lack this..

Either way, I can't think of a way to fix this without ripping up the old tiles and laying new ones.

[–] Perspectivist@feddit.uk 38 points 3 weeks ago

Someone laid new tiles on top of the old ones. It's actually quite impressive how neatly it has cracked along the shape of the underlaying tiles. There's no quick fix for this though. You need to do what the previous person should've done which is to tear it all out and start from scratch.

[–] Placid@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

That's rough. Those tiles are broken because they were installed improperly. The proper fix is to redo.

However, that's expensive and or time consuming. A rug or bath mats would cover it in a pinch. I recommend not doing a tile surface refinish (sold as kits like Rust-Oleum) because the cracks will just show through again shortly, and you'll lose any non-slip properties those floor tiles have.

[–] vk6flab@lemmy.radio 6 points 3 weeks ago

Potentially cleaning with diluted white vinegar will make it less visible, but it won't fix the underlying issues.