How to avoid the appearance of cracks in ceramic coatings

The wide range of ceramic products now existing in the market is motivated by the multiple uses of these, that its scope has been expanded in recent years from an exclusive use in wall and floor tiles for bathrooms and kitchens, your job as exterior facade or exterior pavement terraces, without forgetting its application in pavements and coverings of local audiences such as hospitals or schools, among others.

However, the quality of a ceramic coating does not depend on only the technical characteristics of the tiles, but also the suitability of your use of the quality and capacity of the products used in its setting, of the correct choice of the method of work and a proper execution of the works of placement.

The support is usually composed of constructive elements horizontal, vertical or inclined of different characteristics, which determine the design of the system of ceramic coating. The greater importance of support, in connection with its possible coating, is both dimensional stability, as chemistry.

You can be set as a primary classification of supports that which divides them according to its provisions relating to the horizontal plane. In this way, there are horizontal supports (paving and slabs of concrete, forged metal, wood and ceramic tiles) and supports vertical such as brick walls or blocks, walls of brick and cardboard, gypsum, plates and plaster or wood panelspainted surfaces, tile and glazed bricks, among others.

Ceramic coverings of walls (tiled), and the soils (soldiers) can suffer fissures, motivated by a number of causes related to support, the ceramic material or choosing wrong placement techniques.

The main reason for the cracks in tiling usually the settlement or displacement of the support, or the holes remaining under the ceramic pieces when the adhesive has been placed by points. They may also appear in areas where meet structural elements with non-structural (e.g. pillars with leaves of separation factory), different movements on both sides make the occurrence of tensions with crack.

2. Longitudinal fissures on tiles isolated as a result of dynamic and static loads that exceed the resistance of the ceramic pavement system.

3 Treads causing impacts on tiles that stick out of the plane of the flooring (eyebrows, alabeos and lateral curvature).

Adequate prevention is to reduce support movements, have boards of movement in the meetings of the pillar with the vertical elements, whether they are dividing as enclosure, and discard the placement system for points.

The ceramic coatings for walls and floors can suffer fissures, motivated by a number of causes related to support, the ceramic material or choosing wrong placement techniques.

Photo: Gerla Brakkee.

Fissures in soldiers can submit various forms and due to multiple causes, the most common are:

• Fissures in isolated tile, corners and centers.

The main cause is the placement of the adhesive by points, which makes tiles have a fake support, also may appear for a setting too slow for the adhesive (loads of traffic act before that has sufficiently hardened adhesive), and finally, they may also be due to specific accidents, such as falling hard and heavy objects on the lining.

• Fissures on a line that takes several tiles.

Most likely, that they are due to structural problems of the support due to the loads to which it is subjected. Another possibility may be that the support is too compressible and deform too like polyethylene sheets used to reduce the noise impact.

Finally, this type of breakage may be due to not having respected boards of movement, so if there is a thermal change, support will tend to be open and the ceramic wall will depart.

• Fissures widespread without preferential direction.

Fissures are formed randomly in the entire surface of the lining, following ways that can be polygonal in several directions.

This type of cracks tend to be due to problems in the lower layers of regularization and levelling of the support. Often unsuitable for this use products are used, or if they are appropriate, its implementation is not correct, fissures which form in this type of layers then are reflected in the ceramic lining.

It has been an exclusive use in wall and floor tiles for bathrooms and kitchens, his employment as the exterior facade or exterior pavement terraces.

In order to reduce the risk of the appearance of lesions such as those that have been discussed, below a series of indications of performance:

• Avoid the placement of the ceramic pieces by points: it must cover 100% of the back of the pieces with the adhesive, avoiding that hollow areas are. You should check sound to hole in the lining once placed.

• Let slack between the end of the vertical tiling and the fences of the doors to prevent these 'grip' the tiles and prevent moving. Wait long enough (usually 28 days) after the enfoscados to put the ceramic wall tiles. Thus the rendering already will have hardened and retracted enough.

• Avoid new tiles directly on top of fissures of the stucco or joints between panels (e.g. plasterboard). Before new tiles it is necessary to seal these joints or cracks with some kind of elastic PuTTY or flexible tape.

• Use of materials suitable for the regularization of the paving layers. Products should not be used with many retraction and tending to fisurarse.

• Structural stability of the media: vertical media must not suffer as settlements. The horizontal supports must not suffer arrows of those authorized by the regulations. In the case of large lights can be to desolidarizadas layers, to reduce the effect of the arrow on the ceramic pavement.

• Comply with the boards of the solera and perform together in the ceramic lining. All joints of the solera must match together in the own ceramic pavement.

• Use adhesives and products of rejuntado proper. The elasticity of the adhesive is important to not induce tension between the support and the ceramic piece.

The cracks in tiling and soldiers are displayed for different reasons connected with all the actors involved in the placement of a pavement or ceramic wall tiles. The existence in the market of ceramic materials and adhesive products of good quality and the availability of a wide range of techniques of placement, do not ensure themselves the maximum performance of these floor tiles and ceramic coatings. It is necessary to properly combine all these elements to reach optimal performance.