Popping tile

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cb104

cb104

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Any idea what causes a tile to "pop" when you step on it? I have one tile in a bathroom that will pop when you step on it in the winter, in the summer it stops. Now, during summer, a separate tile in another part of the bathroom pops when stepped on, but that one stops in the winter. It is porcelain tile with cement backerboard underneath and a plywood subfloor.
 
Yes, it's a audible Popping sound. No, you can't see movement
 
Now, during summer, This caught my eye, it's not summer here.:)

I would think something is changing with the weather, wood swells and shrinks and my be had to find and harder to fix.
If you have access to the floor joists below, you might measure them and see if they need to be beefed up or watch for movement when someone else walks on the tile.
Other than that if it aint broke.:)
 
A small gap between the underlayment and the subfloor (or joists)?? A little flex provided by body weight may be just enough to make the sound. I've also seen where the old adhesive from a vinyl floor was not completely removed and the popping sound was the adhesive sticking a little and then letting go.
 
If you tap on the tile do you get a hollow sound? If so it has lost it's bond. Might be only the grout holding it together.
 
It might be the tile expansion and shrinking due to the moisture absorption.
 
Using a grout saw chip the excess grout where tile is popping and remove any grout or mortar residue from the tile you are going to reset. Cover the substrate with a thin layer of thinset using a notched trowel. Press the tile down on the substrate. Center it so there are even grout lines. When the thinset has dried, grout around the tile with matching grout.
 
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