Seeking advice on hollow tiles

[Domoman1 0]

Hi there,

My fiancee and I recently purchased a ~20-year-old apartment in the East Coast, and we realize that there are quite a few tiles which sound hollow when they're tapped due to debonding/drying of the adhesive. See photos here uploaded.

We've asked a few contractors to recommend whether or not we should hack and replace the wall and floor tiles in the affected rooms with new ones. So far, we've received mixed messages: some say that it's okay not to change them as long as you don't do any drilling on the affected wall. Other say that you should change them as they could pose a safety risk (popping out and potentially dropping on or tripping someone).

Our question is: What are the pitfalls of leaving hollow tiles as they are?

Thank you very much!

[kangeroo168 10]

Both of your Contractors are correct. Hollow tiles, if u don't tamper with them, shouldn't be a problem. However , there have been some cases where the tiles loosen so much that they drop out. That is what happened to one of my friends house in Tampines. His wall tiles all drop down. 

[Domoman1 0]

Thanks Kangeroo168! Do you know if floor tiles are also a potential danger?

[kangeroo168 10]

Floor tiles, u also must see how many are hollow. They may crack together or individually. They may also crack while someone is stepping on TOP of it, thus resulting in injury. Normally if a house have so many hollowed floor and wall tiles, it's best to redo all. Want to pain, just pain one time, rather than keep rectifying bit by bit in the future

[MrKangTeo 54]

On 17/04/2017 at 7:15 PM, kangeroo168 said:

They may also crack while someone is stepping on TOP of it

You bring up a very good point especially knowing that tiles can have very sharp edges

[Arfan 64]

Actually what causes these hollow tiles if i may ask?