ᐅ Tiling over expansion joints

Created on: 27 Jun 2019 07:40
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lasa64
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lasa64
27 Jun 2019 07:40
Hello everyone,
wood-look tiles will be installed in the open kitchen, living, and dining area on the ground floor. There are two expansion joints throughout the entire ground floor. How would you handle this? Is an uncoupling membrane necessary, or should the tiles at the joints be connected with silicone? I would appreciate your feedback.
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guckuck2
27 Jun 2019 08:47
Plan the joints with the tile and screed installers so that they fit the laying pattern.
The joint between the tiles themselves is then filled with silicone.
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Mottenhausen
27 Jun 2019 12:33
Interesting topic. What happens if the screed grid becomes too large in both directions and expansion joints are installed at a 90° angle to each other? In that case, the wood-look tiles mentioned above can only be aligned with one of the joints, while the other joint will cut through the installation pattern. :-( Therefore, I am also grateful for any good ideas regarding Iasa64’s question.
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Scout
27 Jun 2019 13:46
You have three options:
- Use a decoupling mat.
- Set the tiles at the joint lines and seal the joints with silicone.
- (For joints in more than one direction) Use square tiles instead of rectangular ones, or if there are exactly two joints meeting at a right angle, place the tiles at the intersection of the joints and lay them out from there.

Regarding the joints, you can provide the floor plan to the tiler in advance and ask for recommendations for the screed installer. You then coordinate these proposals with the screed installer for final approval.
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Otus11
27 Jun 2019 14:09
We do have crossing joints, but we coordinated the locations of the expansion joints with both the screed installer and the tiler.
There are expansion joints (EJs) in the screed, and the tiles end exactly at the level of these joints.
The tile joints were grouted with standard hard grout.

This works perfectly (although it does not comply with the standards, as the tiler pointed out).
However, it eliminates the need for a sill in the floor joint. In case of damage, the grout can simply be replaced.
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guckuck2
27 Jun 2019 16:54
Mottenhausen schrieb:

If the screed grid becomes too large in both directions and therefore expansion joints are installed at a 90° angle to each other, then the wood-look tiles mentioned above can only be aligned along one of the joints. The other joint will cut through the installation pattern. :-(

But you would have to encounter that situation first. In our case, this was never an issue. We only have one joint in the open-plan living/dining/kitchen area right in the middle of the room (all the other joints are located at door thresholds, where they are hardly noticeable), and this one joint runs flush with a wall, so it could be properly planned.
Otherwise, a good solution would be using anhydrite screed instead of cement screed.