Options for tile on 2nd floor with cracked slab

[<<]

I live in a townhouse on the 2nd floor. The building sank or shifted or whatever and we have a cracked slab on the ground and 2nd floors. The foundation was repaired and pulled straight with cranes and big cables and everything.

I want tile put in. I have had 5 tile guys out to look at it. They cut my carpet and looked under the pad at the cracks and I have 5 different answers about what I should do. The answers and explanations are:

1. Don't do it, you can only have carpet or vinyl from now on. Foundation repairs don't last. It will buckle again later and break all the tile.

1. We'll do it, but you need 5/8" wood sub-flooring nailed down. If it buckles a little, the give in the subfloor will keep the tiles from breaking until they align the building again.

2. We'll do it, but you have to vacate for 2 days while we pour leveler up to 1/4" thick and screed it all out. If it buckles, call the company that repaired the foundation.

1. It looks like a really good foundation repair. The floor looks almost perfectly level and the cracks are now only hairline. We'll do it with 1/4" latex modified thinset and leveler if necessary. If it buckles, call the company that repaired the foundation.

2. Basically the same as (2) but floating 3/8" sub-flooring. If it buckles, since the floor floats nothing will crack.

Cost is not a factor, they're all within $200 of each other. These guys all have good references so I don't think anybody's really wrong, just different ways and I just don't know which way to go.

Does anybody have experience with any of these methods to say if one certain way is better than any other way? Which of these is most likely to give me the least grief?

Thanks!

Judy

[dadiOH]

When was the repair effected? Has the slab been stable for a year or more? Was what caused the movement in the first place also corrected??

If the slab is now stable and the original cause of movement has also been corrected all that needs doing is to lay the tile. If not, I'd go for the sub-floor. There are also membrane products for bridging tile over a cracking slab.

-- dadiOH _____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[LBaker]

You want to use a system that will decouple the tile from the concrete. I would use the Schlutter ditra mat for this installation. It is an orange matt that is thinsetted to the floor and the tile installed over top. Here is a link to the product.

">" I live in a townhouse on the 2nd floor. The building sank or shifted or

[RB]

You probably need a crack isolation membrane, or uncoupler layer. The best one out there in my opinion is Schluter's Ditra.

An older product is made by Noble. None of the suggestions you have received meet the Tile Council's guidelines.

I'd suggest getting an installer that is competent.

RB

< wrote: