cracked kitchen floor

Hi Guys
My kitchen floor has cracked into 13 seperate sections running front to back and in every direction to stress points eg each side of the range, patio doors etc. In the center of the floor there is also a dip to a max of 1/4 of an inch. there is also a hollow sound from some parts of the concrete floor. the area is 17ft x 30ft .My planner says its natural but not to tile again just in case. Has anyone seen anything like this. My house is 6 years old .

We had hall tiles that one day heard a huge creak (had the SKY man in that day and thought he'd let a Tv fall it was that loud) and one tile cracked and about six lifted but held together by grout, turns out we had a bad bag of adhesive and the tiles in this area could be picked off by using a screwdriver, tiles outside the bad patch had to removed by small jack hammer. house was about five/six years old. We retiled.

There was always a hollow sound around these tiles when someone with high heels walked on them. We had no hollow sounds or cracks in the concrete floor though.

don't want to frighten you but it could a Pyrite problem. It usually manifests itself around this time - 5 - 7 years. I'd get a professional in and if needed test for it - cost over 1k though. Check if your structural insurance covers pyrite problems - As far as I know Premier does but Home Bond does not.

pauljames said:

My planner says its natural but not to tile again just in case.

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No expertise whatsoever in this area, but I would not be happy with this answer.

If you cannot tile your kitchen floor ‘’just in case’’, then there is a problem.

thanks guys i will get it tested hopefully its not pyrite

Did you check to see if you have any plumbing leaks? Leaks under floors can cause collapse in the floor if ongoing for a period

thanks, I dont think we have any plumbing leaks but not certain we have no signs of dampness anywhere on the floor. we have a engineer arriving on Monday to check it.

I wouldn't worry myself too much over cracking of tiles. Its not unusual for a concrete floor slab to be poorly constructed such that it contain many cracks. The floor slab might be moving very slightly and that combined with in containing existing cracks is enough to cause the tiles to crack.

If it starts to get worse then you need to do something. Do you have a house guarantee such as Homebond? Give them a call and get them to have a look at it. You might also be able to claim from your home insurance, check the small print.

The worst possibility is pyrite but is this a problem in your estate? If no other house in your estate has a pyrite problem then the probability is your house was not built using fill with a high sulphur content. Pyrite swells so you should be able to identify if the floor is being pushed up.

The more likely problem, if their is a problem at all, is that the hardcore fill material under the floor was poorly compacted and has slightly settled. A leaking pipe can also cause settlement. I would doubt from what you are saying that you have significant settlement or subsidence problem.

If you want to be conservative and gather a bit of evidence for a possible claim then hire an engineer to visit and write a report. Then you have something to measure any future movement against.

thanks, we are a stand alone build in the north west so hopefully Pyrite is not the issue. i have been told today that there should have been expansion joints put into such a large concrete slab 17ft x 30ft my Architect says the flooring contractor should have put some in and my flooring contractor says he followed the Architects plans and no expansion joints are in the plans who is right?