Did you know your floor tiles can “pop”? I didn’t know. One fine day, while recovering from a flu and walking towards the kitchen to get a refill of hot coffee, I felt the ground underneath tremble. The caffeine in coffee is known to give the drinker a good feeling which can be described as “heady” especially when your head is already spinning from fever, but this was different. Thinking that it’s an earthquake, I thought it is wise to rush out when I saw the path to the door bursting like firecrackers. Not sure what was happening or what to do, I dialed the number of a neighbor who said, “Yes, I heard the loud sound and was just about to call you because I know what it is. It has happened to us too. The tiles of our apartment floors too had cracked.”
According to the Internet, “Floor tiles bursting or popping (which is also called ‘tile tenting’) usually happens due to trapped air/moisture, poor adhesive coverage and significant temperature swings that cause expansion/contraction, creating stress that the weak bond can’t handle, often compounded by substrate issues or heavy impact, leading to failure. The main causes are installation errors, thermal stress, and moisture, requiring proper expansion joints, full adhesive contact, and a stable subfloor for prevention”. That was very useful information.
In case of our neighbor, she said that it happened because the tiles were not properly fitted or fixed to the floor with the mixture of water, cement and sand which is used to glue it to the ground. “It’s the promoter/developer’s fault,” she said reassuringly. Which has become a refrain with anyone who knows about such occurrences.
But the promoter/developer has washed his hands off anything to do with the building after selling it off so it hardly matters to him that the ground is quite literally slipping from right under your feet.
Though the neighbor helpfully offered to provide a reliable mason for the job, I know my mom has a trusted Man Friday by the name of Shombhu Bera. She gave me his number when I called my mother with the details.
I now know why my mother is so impressed with him. I very rarely see such a meticulous worker. After inspecting the damaged area thoroughly, he said, “Didi, these days people don’t have integrity. They don’t like to do any job with adequate care. The people who did this floor, did not put enough “moshla” (the mixture of water, cement and sand) which would hold it together. So there are large gaping empty spaces between the bottom of the tiles and the ground which it is supposed to be attached to. The laborers finish a job that is meant to take more than three days in less than three hours. But ultimately it’s the promoter/developer’s fault,” he adds reassuringly.
Shombhu Bera is his own boss and when a promoter/developer hires him and his team, he tells them categorically, “Please don’t rush us. If you want us to complete a work that requires three days in three hours, please look for others.” Indeed it is a lesson in meticulousness to see him work. He takes time over each and every square inch as though it is the only piece of land that he has to deal with. He stays focused on only that work which he is doing, putting cell phones on silent and refusing to talk throughout the time he works. And I think he has OCD because when he leaves a workspace, it is so spotlessly clean that you would wonder whether he was actually dealing with dirt, cement, sand and soil.
Shombhu Bera is also a walking-talking encyclopedia in matters of masonry. He can spot a crack on the floor or door and tell you whether it is from old age of the building or the whether it is the result of new age laggardness. He can look at a ceiling or wall and tell you exactly what brand of paint, plaster or polish was used. He knows the prices of sacks of sand and bags of cement like the back of his hand.
He says that while earlier people preferred concrete or cement floors, people no longer like it as much. “First there was cement or concrete. Then people preferred down-to-earth options. Then came the “mosaic” floors. This was followed by a preference for marble and now the most popular choice for floors is tiles. There are a variety of designs, colors, textures and types of finish (whether glossy or matt for instance) and people can choose. In fact the demand for cement floors have reduced so much that the special color that people used in the olden days, like red or green, are difficult to find in shops. People don’t like simplicity anymore, they prefer showiness.”
At about age 42, Shombhu Bera has been working in this field for over two decades. “My father used to be a daily laborer working with construction companies on a hire basis. As a child I used to like to accompany him and found the whole thing fascinating. Concrete, brick, stone chips used to attract me like magnets and I used to help my dad with the mixtures. He has instilled the values of integrity in me. He has always told me, for a few extra bucks don’t compromise your honesty. We cannot take anything with us when we leave this world but the sense that we were and worked with honesty.”
He says, “My parents named me Shombhu, another name for Lord Shiva and I try to live up to it.”
(The writer is Editor, Features)