The rest of the tile popped off easily and was virtually clean of mortar. The 24x48” tile beside it popped up during this process so we decided to remove them all and they all popped off very easily with almost no mortar on the tiles and lots of hollow voids beneath.
I emailed these photos to the original tile company and asked for an explanation about the caved in tile and air pocket voids underneath the tiles. Their reply:
"I’m not able to determine the cause of what you’re describing based on photos alone, particularly when tiles have already been removed, as the removal process itself can affect how the installation appears afterward.
There are a number of factors that would need to be reviewed in person to properly assess the situation, including substrate condition, installation method, site conditions at the time of install, and any work that may have taken place after our scope was completed."
^The removal process was using a hammer drill to get under the tile and big chunks popped off and were removed by hand.
^^Would a tile professional be able to determine the cause based on the photos? A lot of the additional factors indicated can't be reviewed since installation and demo is complete. But most of those factors would have already been reviewed by the original tile company during installation (substrate condition, installation method, site conditions at the time of install... only they would know that information).
I don't see how any subsequent work would negatively affect the floor or underside of the floor tiles. Applying pressure to the floor while removing the baseboard caused the tile to cave into a hollow void but it held up firmly a few inches out once the tile had solid ground below it... so it seems like if there was mortar all the way to the wall's edge the tile would not have caved in??
Appreciate your feedback