Hi everyone,
I have a serious problem with my home that has become noticeable within the last couple of years. I have a breakfast nook area connected to the kitchen, and the floor underneath the tile has cracked near the edge of the floor a few inches from where it meets the wall. It is cracked like this along all three walls of the breakfast nook area. This crack creates quite a bit of vertical separation between the two sides of the crack (between 1/4" and 1/2" in places). This vertical separation has popped up the tiles around the edges of the room (which is how I first noticed the problem). I don't seem to have this problem in any other room in the house.
If anyone could provide some insight into the following questions I have, I would truly appreciate it:
1. Is this something I could probably fix myself by removing all the tile in the room, paving over the cracked subfloor, and retiling? I don't really have experience with flooring, but I am pretty handy around the house.
2. Any clues what could be causing this? My only theory is that there is a hose spigot outside on one of the three affected walls, and I've noticed lately that it might be leaking a bit (on the outside - I plan on replacing the spigot this weekend). Could water from the outside be responsible?
I've attached two pictures: one showing the tile popped up around the edges of the room, and another with a couple of tiles removed, showing the crack.
Some additional information:
Thanks in advance for any help.
Richard
I have a serious problem with my home that has become noticeable within the last couple of years. I have a breakfast nook area connected to the kitchen, and the floor underneath the tile has cracked near the edge of the floor a few inches from where it meets the wall. It is cracked like this along all three walls of the breakfast nook area. This crack creates quite a bit of vertical separation between the two sides of the crack (between 1/4" and 1/2" in places). This vertical separation has popped up the tiles around the edges of the room (which is how I first noticed the problem). I don't seem to have this problem in any other room in the house.
If anyone could provide some insight into the following questions I have, I would truly appreciate it:
1. Is this something I could probably fix myself by removing all the tile in the room, paving over the cracked subfloor, and retiling? I don't really have experience with flooring, but I am pretty handy around the house.
2. Any clues what could be causing this? My only theory is that there is a hose spigot outside on one of the three affected walls, and I've noticed lately that it might be leaking a bit (on the outside - I plan on replacing the spigot this weekend). Could water from the outside be responsible?
I've attached two pictures: one showing the tile popped up around the edges of the room, and another with a couple of tiles removed, showing the crack.
Some additional information:
- The home was built in 1987 and is located in a dry climate (Las Vegas)
- There is no basement
- I've owned the home for 3 years
- I had a home inspection performed when I purchased the home, and they did not see any signs of structural damage
- I placed some caulk between one section of the crack about 4 months back to see if it ripped (to indicate if the problem is getting worse). It appears unchanged, so my guess is that the crack isn't getting worse.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Richard
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