Two rows of tile, about 8 10" tiles each, are raised up forming a tent like formation. We pulled up one tile to see if the foundation had shifted/cracked or if it was wet but we saw nothing like that. In other areas when stepping on the flat tile, it either sounds hollow or has a crunching sound and feel to it. Need help if any of you know what this might be and/or where to turn for answers. My mother is in Fredericksburg, TX.
Did a little research - Did you get the concrete tested for moisture content? It may not look wet, but can still have a high enough moisture content to cause the tiles to release. Are your tiles tight against the walls? And/or grouted right up to the walls? This can cause buckling
the "hollow" sound is not good, and indicates failure of the mortar. I was once a construction defect "expert". I worked with a tile expert on a few cases. He had a golf ball mounted to a golf club shaft, and would walk around tapping on tile to listen for that hollow sound.
jmatt...havent had it tested yet. A tile person thinks it is the mortar. We pulled up a tile and the mortar was sparse. As for tight against the walls, not sure. The house was built in 1987.
Just a guess but what about tiles tenting from lateral pressure from a wall or shifting from the edges of the room in the foundation. House sounds to old for there to be actual changes to the moisture in the concrete. You could even have heave in the foundation which is the opposite of your typical foundation sinking. Would expect cracks at some point in the foundation or tile. The lack of mortar may be why the tiles tented up instead of cracking through the grout or tiles.
In 2005, a buddy and I went to Omaha for the CWS. We won . . . . Before I left home, I contracted with Home Depot (mistake) to install new tile in our master bath. When I got back home two weeks later, the tile job (under the supervision of another friend) had been done, but I noticed that there were "hollow" places under about half of the tiles. And there was a row of tile about two inches wide along one whole side of the bathroom. Ugly. I have laid tile before and even I knew that one begins a tile job by first measuring and dry-laying tile to be sure that a thin strip of tile doesn't end up on any wall. One also knows that you have to get sufficient thin-set down on the floor or else the tile can fail. I made them re-do the entire job -- with experienced tile layers. I won't ever contract with Home Depot contractors ever again. And moisture CAN be an issue for tile OR hardwood over concrete.
