Hair line crack in kitchen tile. Is this something to worry about?

Question

I was walking through a house I am trying to sell on a lease purchase and I noticed some trash on the floor. when i reached down to pick it up I noticed what looked at first to be a long piece of hair on the tile floor in the kitchen. When i reached down to pick it up i realize it wasn't hair. It was a crack in the title that started at the wall and went out from the wall about a foot to a foot and a half. The back patio just happens to be on the other side of the wall where I noticed the crack. so I walked outside to see if the patio was cracked. Sure enough there was a crack from the wall extending straight out about 3.5 to 4 feet. It's a very tiny crack.

My question is what I should do about this? I don't think it's a serious foundation problem, but if there is something I can do to prevent it from getting worse I would like to do it.

thanks in advance for your help.

My question is what I should do about this?  I don't think it's a serious foundation problem, but if there is something I can do to prevent it from getting worse I would like to do it.

thanks in advance for your help.

Brian S · Answer

I know this post is old but would like to still answer to help someone with this same situation......

As J Scott said, all concrete home slabs settle and will crack. Proper control joints in the slab with a soft expansion joint in the tile would be needed during the initial install of the tile. Also a crack membrane should and could be used over the slab as insurance against small slab cracks.

Concrete is always curing from the day it was installed and thermal expansion from hot to cold seasons will play a part with ground and slab movement.

you could remove tile tile in the affected area, add a thin liquid crack membrane or sheet membrane and re tile. If you just patch the tile without one of them the crack will probably transfer back up and crack the tile or shear the tile from the slab and they will become hollow and not bonded.

good luck.

J Scott · Answer

Agreed with what everyone above said...
                    
                    Just to add my thoughts, if the house is pretty new (you said 3 years or so), and it's a cement slab foundation, this is likely just typical settling of the foundation.
                    
                    Do you see cracks around the corners of the doorway leading out to the patio?  If not, it's probably very minor settling.  
                    
                    Unless you see large cracks from the corners of the doors in that area (which still may not be a problem), if any of the doors are askew or not closing properly, or if you see any other signs of foundation problem (slope to the floor, more cracks, etc), I wouldn't worry about it.
                    
                    As to your options, if you were to bring a structural engineer out, he'd likely just take elevation readings around the room to determine if the slab is really sinking or just settling (as well as do a visual inspection), and would probably charge you $350-450.  He might also pull up any carpet on that level to see if there are any visible cracks elsewhere in the foundation.

Josh Green · Answer

tough to tell as we don't know the age of the house and the geographics.

only one way to be sure and that is to have someone come take a look. may just be settling or may be a start of a sinkhole. worth having someone come and tell you for sure.

Brian Levredge · Answer

It could be a number of different things.  First off, is the house built on a slab, or raised foundation?  If the foundations aren't compacted properly before the concrete is poured in them, you can get settling issues with the house, which can be typical even for a young structure such as yours.  Really nothing you can do about it within reason.

When tile is installed, it is generally laid on top of a floated mortar bed.  The reason the floor is floated is because most times the floor isn't perfectly level and tile needs to be on a level surface or it will crack.  This is especially true of raised floor foundations because the floor joists are crap and it's next to impossible to get them perfectly level.  Or, it could the tile installer cut corners and laid it directly on the sub floor.  If you really want to fix it, you'll need to break out the old tiles and grout and install new ones and re grout.

Hair line crack in kitchen tile. Is this something to worry about?

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