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Four years ago I had my livingroom, kitchen and washroom ceramic tiled. Now the tile is making all kinds of cracking sounds, and the grout has cracks in it. It appears to have come unglued. Can I pull these up and remortar and grout or do I have to buy new tiles. My son said that the installer probably didn't prep the cement before tiling. I can't find the tile installer/handy man anywhere...all numbers for them no longer exist. I thought I was getting a deal...well now I know.
I suspect that the tiles were installed over a floor surface that wasn't level, often when you find tiles cracking and things that's what the problem is. Hopefully someone who knows more about tiling will come along and give you some advice, my thought is if the floors not level all the tiles need to be pulled up, put down some self-levelling stuff on the floor, then retile overtop of that. But maybe there's an easier way!
The tile itself is in excellent condition. It has not cracked. When you walk on it, it makes a crackling sound and it feels like the tile has lifted or is no longer stuck to the foundation. The grout is cracking, yet, but not the tile. Thanks!
Sorry if I wasn't more clear--in my opinion given what you're describing it's only a matter of time until you have cracked tiles too, the grout cracking and the crackling noise when you step on the tile are the first signs, but it's very possible when the tile isn't adhered well to the floor like that for the tile itself to break if you step on it wrong. I do suspect the issue is that the floor underneath the tiles is not level.
It sounds like the subfloor that the tile is laid on wasn't prepped properly. Possibly the wrong backerboard (if any) was used, or he laid the tile over cement that wasn't acid washed to make the thin -set adhere to it properly, and now it's popping off.
Call a reputable tile installer and have him look at it before you start trying to re-lay loose tiles...you might just make the problem worse.
