Cracks in ceramic floor tiles (hardwood floor, house, tile)

[startrek]

We are seeing some cracks in the grout and tiles in our 1.5 year old home. Initially there were cracks in two tiles which the builder has replaced. Now we found that at at different places in the house there are more cracks. Especially in the hallway there is a long running crack from the wall through the tiles and grout to the other room (almost 8 ft) till the hardwood floor starts in the dining room.

Do the floor tiles crack when the house is settling? We are worried this may be a foundation issue. There are some cracks almost at the ceiling and wall in the second floor game room and in one of the bedrooms. There are some minor cracks on the wall towards the ceiling on first floor too. But the builder says these cracks are from the settling of the house. We already contacted the builder about these cracks on tiles but I want hear what your thoughts are and what do we need to do before getting this issue out of hand.

Thanks in advance!

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by startrek

We are seeing some cracks in the grout and tiles in our 1.5 year old home. Initially there were cracks in two tiles which the builder has replaced. Now we found that at at different places in the house there are more cracks. Especially in the hallway there is a long running crack from the wall through the tiles and grout to the other room (almost 8 ft) till the hardwood floor starts in the dining room.

Do the floor tiles crack when the house is settling? We are worried this may be a foundation issue. There are some cracks almost at the ceiling and wall in the second floor game room and in one of the bedrooms. There are some minor cracks on the wall towards the ceiling on first floor too. But the builder says these cracks are from the settling of the house. We already contacted the builder about these cracks on tiles but I want hear what your thoughts are and what do we need to do before getting this issue out of hand.

Thanks in advance!

Floor cracks - it could be foundation and it could be that they did not level the floors before laying tile. Either way, they need to take care of it.

On the sheetrock cracks - where exactly are they? If you have treyed/coffered ceilings - whenever two pieces of sheetrock come together and they are not taped and floated correctly, you will see cracks at the joining lines and its not a big deal, but they should take care of it. If it's not at a seam, that's foundation.

By the very fact that you have both floor and walls issues going on indicates there may be a big problem. Who is the builder?

[lhafer]

Who's the builder?

I have a friend going through this exact same problem - after 7 YEARS!! Cracks just started showing up, and they are bad. She's contacted their builder, who has come out to look at it, do foundation tests, etc.

Do the cracks in the tile and the cracks in the sheetrock line up? Meaning, are they in the same location, running the same direction? That could mean foundation issues. After 1.5 years - could also mean some settling as well.

Have they been there a while, popping up periodically? Or did they start showing up all at once in a short time span?

[startrek]

We are still under warranty and it's a perry home, cracks on the walls were there since a long time, but they wanted to fix at the end of our warranty. But we started seeing tiles issue since couple of months.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by startrek

We are still under warranty and it's a perry home, cracks on the walls were there since a long time, but they wanted to fix at the end of our warranty. But we started seeing tiles issue since couple of months.

Can you post pictures of the cracks?

[tdhg566]

how dry is your yard around the foundation, and do you have (and if so, do you use) an irrigation/sprinkler system? The last month it's been pretty dry around here.

[tdhg566]

Originally Posted by startrek

...cracks on the walls were there since a long time...

Please define "a long time". It's very normal to for small interior cracks and popped nails to appear in sheetrock during the first year. It happens as the wood dries, esp. over the summer as the A/C pulls moisture out of the air.

[texas7]

Mine cracked - straight line across from one end to the other - builder repaired. Problem it seems was not applying whatever it is that is supposed to be applied under the tile to prevent that when the house settles.