Why to maintain tile & stone joints grout?

Nothing is static. It is known to everyone that everything in this world moves at its own speed or due to its properties and it is especially true in buildings. Concrete and mortar expand and contracts so do with wood and other building materials also. Hence, the basic answer is the movement and it is very important to accommodate this movement or else this movement will cause the failure of the materials installed. Here are some of the failures caused by the movement:-

In the above photos, it is observable that the tiles/stones are installed without joint gaps and the installed tiles/ stones are unable to accommodate the movements, as a result, debonding and popping up occurs.

What makes the tiles/stones to move?

The tiles / stones fixed on the wall/floor will also make movement due to many reasons. The following are a few reasons which make the installed tiles/stones to move:-

Physical Building Movement: This is the movement of vibration and deflection caused by the process of installation of other building application / materials. This type of movement is the most common and will lead to failure if the proper measures are not implemented. 

Shrinkage of Concrete / Mortar: Shrinkage of concrete/mortar occurs during the process of curing and hydration. In today’s world, fast track construction has become normal to install tiles/stones over new concrete/mortar surfaces that may not undergo all the shrinkage that it shall. In many cases, you may see tiles / stones tented up over new installations. The continuous shrinkage of concrete takes place; as a result the gap is formed in between tiles / stones and concrete / mortar.

Thermal Movement: The thermal movement includes temperature fluctuations and changes in the environment. It is easy to understand in case of exterior applications. All installed tiles / stones are subjected to the continuous cycle of cooling and heating systems, that heat and cool the air. Moving air across the installation will cause the temperature to fluctuate and results in movement.

In exteriors, imagine an installation exposed to the sun, these installations can reach surface temperatures up to 140°F (60°C). If a quick rain shower comes and douses the installation with cool rain. In this instance, the surface temperature will drop to 70°F (21°C) within a few seconds. This type of stress needs to be accommodated by joints between the tiles / stones or else, debonding occurs. Interior installations that have skylights or area surrounded by windows and glass doors needs to be treated as exterior applications.

Moisture: In some cases, the finish material used shall absorb moisture due to its porosity. Over time, this absorption of moisture shall cause growth in the finish material. This growth can lead to loss of bond, if place is not available to accommodate movement.

Dissimilar Building Materials: The use of dissimilar materials in the construction is unavoidable and this leads to dissimilar joints. There will be always movement in between the two different building materials, if they are not treated well, this movement will transfer to the surface where tiles/ and stones are present.

Is the paper joint is not enough?

If we install the tiles / stones side by side, allowed to cure and dry for 24 hrs. After that, it needs the sealing of joints. For any material, used to grout the joint gap, shall need some surface to adhere strongly, so that it avoids the penetration of water, acid and other contaminants to the substrate on which the tiles / stones are installed. But, in case of paper joints the surface of adhesion is very small and the provided grout material will goes off making the place for the contaminants. These contaminants will spread around the edges of the tiles creating unhygienic surface all over the installation.In all the above mentioned cases, it is best honour to provide joint gaps between the tiles/ stones, so that it can accommodate the movements. What if, we provide the paper joint i.e. installing the tiles/ stones just side by side?   

Whatever the material which has been used as grout for provided paper joint, will definitely fails within a short period and causes the effect as shown in the photos. The weak paper joints will show the way to dirt, moisture, chemicals and other contaminants to get inside the substrate from the top and may causes weakness in the substrate.

In order to avoid the failure of substrate and also to increase the durability of the tiles / stones, it is strongly recommended to provide the minimum joint of 2 mm between the tiles / stones and grouted with proper recommended grouts.

Other uses of tile joint grouting:

If in case of any problem and tile / stone needs to be removed and re-fitted with new. The process will be every easy. 

Tile and stone joints will avoid the cracks extension and avoid the damages to the adjacent tile & stone.

Hides the the imperfection of tile & stone edges.

Improves the look, beauty/handsomeness, and appearance…

Accommodates the movement.

Provides the easy cleanable surface, hence no chance of place to mould growth.

Many thanks to google.com, doc4242, dindoc, from where the details have been collected.