hairline crack in travertine floor tile

[Anonymous]

A friend was visiting with her toddler and b/f she could stop her, she pulled out a blow dryer from under the sink and dropped it on the tile floor resulting in a hairline crack in the bathroom floor tile.

The crack was in the corner and not very long (or noticeable) but spread across two tiles diagonally. It's now getting longer and running into a third tile.

Other than replacing the tiles outright, is there a way to stop the crack from spreading? TIA.

[Anonymous]

You can probably put some kind of clear epoxy in the crack. I would call a good tile store and ask their advice.

Now I'm glad we went with ceramic!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can probably put some kind of clear epoxy in the crack. I would call a good tile store and ask their advice.

Now I'm glad we went with ceramic!

Good suggestion. Now I know better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can probably put some kind of clear epoxy in the crack. I would call a good tile store and ask their advice.

Now I'm glad we went with ceramic!

But ceramic looks like crap. Travertine is amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can probably put some kind of clear epoxy in the crack. I would call a good tile store and ask their advice.

Now I'm glad we went with ceramic!

But ceramic looks like crap. Travertine is amazing.

Not when there's a crack in it.

[Anonymous]

A crack that spreads from tile to tile would indicate to me that the substrate is faulty. There is no reason that a drop from a hair dryer from toddler height would create impact that would do this without underlying problems.

[Anonymous]

20:32 again. I have 3 boys who are maniacs and a husband who is as gentle as a yeti, and we have 18" travertine tiles in our bathroom. You could drive a tank over it and it probably has been done by one of these people. No cracks.

We do have ceramic around out fireplace and have deep regrets because that does break on impact regardless of the substrate.

[Anonymous]

^^. ^My thoughts exactly. The underlying sub floor should have been prepared properly. No way should this have happened to your beautiful floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A crack that spreads from tile to tile would indicate to me that the substrate is faulty. There is no reason that a drop from a hair dryer from toddler height would create impact that would do this without underlying problems.

I agree. Three boys in my house & tile too and a dropped hair dryer would not result in tuat kind of cracking.

[Anonymous]

Google Ditra

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A crack that spreads from tile to tile would indicate to me that the substrate is faulty. There is no reason that a drop from a hair dryer from toddler height would create impact that would do this without underlying problems.

Well, we used Case Design and they fucked up so much that this wouldn't surprise me.

[Anonymous]

Definitely a problem with surface or adhesive. Not likely a problem to the tile itself unless a batch issue. The dropping of the hair dryer was coincidental at best. It is fairly easy but messy to rip up individual tiles and replace.

[Anonymous]

Probably didn't, and should have, use a pourable self-leveling compound between the subfloor and the tiles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^. ^My thoughts exactly. The underlying sub floor should have been prepared properly. No way should this have happened to your beautiful floor.

+1. Travertine is a very soft and porous stone (sealing is important also) and can break very easily and the quality of the substrate is very important.

FWIW you can find ceramic tile products that look like real travertine.