Uh-oh

Yesterday the kids had finished up school
and had run outside to play…
I had gone to shower….
Ruby’s therapist was here…
Dw was keeping an eye on everything
and suddenly he heard a very loud 
P-o-p!!
Hmmmm.
What was that?
Clearly, the kids were outside playing.
There was no one that would be making a 
loud popping sound inside.
A few minutes later the kids came in and
were walking through the 
foyer and suddenly they came running to get us…
Here’s what they had found….
The tile in the foyer had buckled and popped up…
across three full tiles and one small tile piece…
It buckled UP.
No one had dropped anything on it at any point
that we are aware of in any way.
It buckled across {basically} the entire foyer width.
To our knowledge there is no leak underneath
{Dw lifted them and felt but couldn’t feel anything wet}.
So here’s my question:
Anyone out there in bloggy land know of someone who 
has a home that’s built on a concrete slab
that has had tile buckle and pop UP?
The house is about 10+ years old…

A handyman has said he will come in the next few days
to see what his thoughts are.  
Three tiles buckling and popping in unison?

Totally weirding me out over here
and at this moment, we’re completely stumped.
Anyone have any ideas?

21 thoughts on “Uh-oh

  1. My husband believes it might be thermal expansion. The builders did not leave enough room for temperature expansion. It might have been along the edge of the room they did not leave enough room to expand (i.e. not using the appropriate spacers or leaving them in) and that's why it buckled in the middle of the room.

    1. Hmmmm. Okay. I don't really know anything about this, but that's why I threw it out there…because we are wondering WHAT IN THE WORLD happened? Thank you for asking him. Hope to know more in the next few days….

  2. Probably your tile was grouted to the wall or baseboards instead of caulked. That fixes the tile in place and prevents it from being able to expand and contract with the weather. When it gets cooler and the humidity drops our houses actually get smaller and lots of people have problems with tile that's not properly installed. Please make sure you stay away from tile that is making a popping or cracking sound, tile pieces have been known to fly off with such force that they imbed in walls or ceilings.

    1. I told Dw about the tile pieces lying and imbedding in the walls or ceilings. That would be so scary! But then, the way these tiles look – so weird! Thank you for your input!

    1. We haven't fully taken the tiles out to see…Dw only lifted out half of one. We wanted it to stay exactly as it is so the man coming to see it, sees exactly what it looks like…Thank you…

    1. Seriously, right? This afternoon there was a helicopter circling nearby and come to find out, literally a stone's throw, there was a major gas leak and homes were evacuated. How weird is that? I guess they had the news helicopter circling so they could have up close footage if the area blew up. Lovely thought, of course.

    2. Not a lovely thought. My firefighter dh worked the big, nasty gas explosion here a couple years ago. 🙁

      I was thinking earthquake, but that doesn't sound quite right. Snakes in the foundation? 😀

  3. Hey Linny – Ok – I can confirm this with our Building Official but….What has the temp been lately at night? In the day? I would bet this tile is not original. It likely was installed before you bought it. With the high temps in the day, if it was installed during the spring/summer, and installed very close to the edge of the rooms, (or supporting members that I can see in the photo) it would have been fine in the summer. Now, as temps drop – we are in desert too, more coastal, but it was 75-80 today and tonight will be in the 30's, the house may contract, leaving the tile no where to go, but to buckle. In our house we often hear big (disturbing) cracks in spring and fall.

    Option 2 – how close to an earthquake fault are you and do you check the equivalent of this site? http://www.data.scec.org/recenteqs/
    It may be the sand shifted below you.

    1. The tile is original and it spreads throughout much of the main floor. The temp during the days has been in the 70-80's and 60's at night. Not exactly a major change. I couldn't get on the site for a fault line, and looked extensively. Thank you for your input.

  4. My mom and dad had this happen in a new home they had built…the whole kitchen. As it turned out, the tile was laid without the adhesive.thin set underneath. When the house shifted it started buckling like dominoes. They had to have all the tile throughout the house relaid. Hope this helps…sorry that has happened for you all.

    1. It seems likely that the house has shifted, it's just over 10 years old and I've never heard of such a thing. Did your mother have insurance or anything that paid for it? Thank you for your input.

  5. Contractor Hubby says he needs to see more. Is the drywall cracking? What does the concrete look like underneath? Was there a room addition that this is the seam of? Are there other air pockets in the tiles around? Man, I would never have thought about any of that stuff! He says it's very weird and he's never seen it before and he wants to know when you find out!

    1. Hey Susan,
      Drywall is not cracking – at least haven't seen it. Dw barely lifted up one half of one of the buckled tiles…he was looking to see if it was moist {it was NOT}….there is no room addition on any part of the house. Not sure about other tiles around having pockets of air…however, just a few minutes ago Dw was walking int he kitchen and one of the tiles is bulging there. ugh. Sounds like it's going to buckle as well. This is not a good sign. Thank you for your input and your husband's input. ugh.

  6. Here in South Africa, all our houses are concrete slabs, atop foundations, then brick etc, ie no dry walling . We had the same, but it was a settlement issue. Those 2 areas were chipped up, & a type of reinforcing 'webbing' applied to that section of the concrete slab, which showed a visible crack when exposed! I had a panic, thinking everything was compromised. Back went the tiles, with builder assuring all would be fine.. Our house was over 20 years old when in happened, & no further problems 8 years later. So it sounds awful, but was actually not bad to fix, just about 7 tiles lifted & replaced in each of the 2 rooms. Hoping you get it sorted out easily & painlessly.

  7. I guess other people have answered with more experience about conditions where you live. But I was thinking about this and wondered if you have a large tree nearby the house. Sometimes tree roots can do stuff like this.
    I will be praying it isn't a big expense and that none of your treasures get hurt. I guess it would be a bit scary when you already have gone through a big ordeal with a house.
    Love in Him,
    Sandy in the UK

  8. We live in Phoenix and a few years ago we had the same thing happen. There was a small earthquake that day that we felt. I did not hear of any yesterday but a shift in the earth may have caused it.

  9. Just wanted to say sorry!! It's always a bummer when things start breaking and falling apart. I pray it can be fixed under insurance or something.

    On another note, I'm stuck here in the DRCtrying to bring our precious boys home. Could you email me? mwtigers@hotmail.com

  10. Perhaps this will help, since there was no moisture, perhaps drought was the cause.. "After a period of prolonged drought, the soil under the foundation of the home can dry out, and this can cause the house to settle, causing structural damage. Floor tile that buckles years after installation can be a sign of drought damage. As the subfloor shifts, grout loosens and tile may pop loose, causing "tenting" in the tile floor. Drought damage is especially apparent on tile floors installed over a concrete slab." Hope its nothing too serious. -Rachel

  11. You've probably had somebody in to check on this by now…but just in case. My husband and Dad thought it might be a cable in the concrete that had snapped. We live in Tucson, and they're assuming Phoenix uses a similar construction. Apparently in the "floating slabs" that houses are built with here there are cables running through the concrete. They thought it looked like one had snapped. They also thought that it would be a major repair, but likely under warranty if the house is under 10 years old. Hope this helps, or at least that it's an quick, cheap, easy fix.

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