Tiles lifted after bath overflows

odd thing with a tenant they overfilled the bath and a few floor tiles have lifted in an adjoining living room 5 meters away that was not immediately near the spill.

Questions please, how on earth can this happen from a simple water spill? What would need to fix it and who is liable?

 

Is it a suspended floor or concrete slab? Are the walls framed or brick? Do you know if the tiles are directly sticked to the floor (as in NOT laid over click lock flooring)?

If there is wood underneath and the water has soaking in, the wood can swell. The swelling puts pressure on the tiles and they lift at a weak point. This weak point can be meters away from the initial swelling.

 

Concrete slab about 8yrs old. Tiles are glued down.

 

Water has penetrated the wall - water has caused swelling in the timber ? and this has compressed the tiles into a convex shape causing the glue to break and the tiles are now drummy. So water must have been sitting there a while ? More than once ? Does the bathroom floor have a floor waste and waterproofing ? Water shouldnt penetrate a wall. A tiler may recommend lifting affected tiles and re-adhere and then regrout but if its extensive they may all need to be removed. You likely need to test by tapping each tile with a coin to see which are drummy.

 

Hi thanks for the advice makes a lot of sense.

I've noticed over the years the odd tile here and there is hollow sounding or drummy as you put it.

The bathroom does not have drainage however the tiles there are perfect. Oddly its the tiles in the living area that have lifted. weird.

Who would be liable for this the tenant or the landlord? can I claim on LL insurance? And if I have to get the tenant out how can I do that?

 

How does a bathroom not have floor drainage?

 

Different adhesives. The bathroom is a proper waterproof glue possibly suitable for immersion (likley cement based) and the lifting tiles have a poor quality, old, non-waterproof adhesive that deteriorates with time. The one I come across in splashbacks and other places is often a tan/yellow colour.

 

Yes no drain... - Im thinking of fitting flood sensors on the bath to make sure it never happens again.

Who do you all think is liable for this? The tenant because they flooded the bath or landlord as tiles should not lift so easily?

 

There is no need for a floor waste in a house, as per the building code.

An apartment does require one though, reason being, a leak could occur in one unit causing damage to the unit below, and the occupant of the lower unit isn’t able to access the upper unit to stop the leak. (You don’t have this problem in a house)

you could try making an insurance claim as resultant damage from a water leak is often covered (depending on the insurer). There may be some long term building defects which may be contributing factors to the random drummy tiles which may end up in a decline from the insurer, including; incorrect tile installation (no intermediate/perimeter expansion joints, no water stop angle at the bathroom threshold, or long term moisture in the concrete slab (lack of vapour barrier).

I’d recommend contacting these guys for an economical repair
Tile Replacement, Removal & Tile Reglue Injection Sevices | T.R.I.M

 

The owner. Unless the tenant has damaged the property. Not insured. A overflow from a bath wont lift tiles.