cracks in travertine floor

[plh]

I have a new home that was started in Aug. 03 and finished in Dec 04 with 18" tumbled travertine flooring placed with thinset directly on the slab in a portion of the downstairs. 2 months ago I noticed a crack developing in the travertine perpendicular to the long axis of the house that continues from one side to the other. The cracked sides are even with each other and there is no evidence in the drywall, doors, ceiling molding, exterior fascia, or masonry. My builder says this is not unusual and reflects natural settling. He has suggested waiting a bit and replacing the cracked stone. Is this on the level, so to speak or should I be worried about bigger underlying issues?
Thanks, Pete

[CThomp]

Settling is normal. Kind of a shame you had to spend a bunch of money on travertine to see that happen though. You wouldn't happen to be in Florida would you? I guess technically the builder should load test the slab but most only do it if you ask them too.

[plh]

North Texas , Red Clay ! I had a conversation with the builder today and it will be resolved. He's a good guy and a good builder. It is probably a cosmetic issue which is desirable. There were 85 piers placed and there is some heaving going on in this one area. I'm going to wait a few months to allow for weather changes and hopefully some rain (none for the last 12 weeks, just watered flower beds) before replacing tiles and caulking cracks.
Pete

[CThomp]

Good idea. Let it finish heaving and doing what ever else it has to do. I was wondering about your location because of the often poor construction down here in Florida. Houses are being put up so quickly the craftsmanship is suffering. My dad walked a house in Lakeland where the builder had a bunch of idiots put down a bunch of travertine. The guys were supposed to polish it and instead they painted white!!. Yeah there is a law suit pending from what I understand. The whole house was full of problems like that. In a million dollar home too.

[11chaos]

You get any of this in writing, or is it still under warranty? Regardless, good luck!

[Tom R]

Plh, - - hate to say it, - - but it would actually be BEST to wait about 2-3 years before applying tile directly to concrete, - - most of the 'main' settling will occur within that amount of time.

Anyway, - - that being said, - - when the tiles get re-done, - - use an isolation membrane to 'span' the crack before laying the replacement tiles.

Even 15# felt paper will serve the purpose, - - use about a 1" or 1 1/2" wide piece over the crack, - - thinset right overtop of it, then your tile.

[perryrip]

Plh,

The tile should have been initially put down with a "ditra" type membrane to accomodate the cracking of the slab without cracking the tile. It is the "book" standard and should have been done. If you specifically stated you weren't willing to pay for the membrane than that's one thing, but if you didn't it should have been a standard practice. If you have questions go to the John Bridge forum and read all about it.

perryrip

[Bob_S]

I am a factory rep and train installers for a distributor in Seattle and can tell you I see a lot of this happening. Everyone is absolutely correct about the membrane. Any time you put tile (especially large format) over a green slab you need to have some sort of membrane down because if you don't and the concrete develops cracks, the crack can transfer up into the tile. With a membrane you can get up to a 1/4" crack undrneath and the tile will never show it. Well worth a few extra bucks for a whole lot of insurance, especially when you're talking about a large travertine.
The best thing to do at this point is to get your hands on some more of that same tile so that you have it when you need it. Sometimes the tile can look vastly different. Then wait out the settling issue and replace the bad tiles. Hope this helps.