Cracked tile index toilet

[Jennie]

Hi all,
I'm in a rented house. Since moving in, a hairline crack has emerged in quite a large tile under the toilet pan, leading to roughly the point where the pan is screwed on to the tiles. The bathroom is recently renovated, and the crack wasn't there when I moved in.
I'm curious as to what might have caused it. As a student plumber, I wouldn't want similar cracks to appear in my future clients' bathrooms.
i'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this.
Jennie

 

[Howsie]

Welcome Jennie.

Possibly cracked when it was installed and the dirt has got in and now you notice it. Possibly dodgy tile. Possibly a poor installation with not enough muck under the tile and the weight (the offence) has cracked it.

I'd point it out to your landlord ASAP.

 

[TomLane]

Possibly a weakness in the tile where the toilet has been fixed through it is my guess.

The weight of the toilet, then subsequent users sat on the toilet may have been enough to expose the weakness in the tile & make it crack.

When tiling onto floorboards that are loose or uneven, it is advisable to either secure the boards that are loose or lay larger boards to remove any regular joints from floor boards. This helps to level the floor as with wall tiles, floor tiles are best laid on a flat/level surface for best adhesion.

(In my experience anyway!!)

 

[erpkid]

It doesn't take much in the way of unevenness to create point loads. If we have a floor tiling job now we always use a fibrous self leveller. Then once set the notches on the trowel give you a perfect spread and level tiles. The base of the toilet may not be level so we usually us a bead of clear silicone to add support. When dressed the silicone should be invisible and when dry help to spread the load.

 

[Megaflo-Experts]

Other possible causes are stresses on the tile if the screw hole was too small, or if was slightly off centre. Both these conditions would create stresses which may well lead to the fracture.

Now armed with all these potential causes, you should advise your landlord as soon as possible.

 

[SimonG]

I would put a bet on poor installation of the floor tile.