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Floor Tiles in Tampines HDB Flat Suddenly ‘Exploded’, Nearly Injuring Toddler

2022-01-26 , 9:11 am

If you start hearing loud crackling noises in your home, you might want to stay off the floor.

A flat in Tampines had mysterious, loud crackling noises… only for the floor tiles to pop and crack.

Loud Crackling Noise Before Tiles Popped

On the evening of 22 January, the resident’s toddler was resting in a stroller beside his playpen in the flat’s living room. At about 7:34pm, CCTV footage shows an elderly lady looking around the house, trying to find the source of the loud crackling noises that just started.

While she walked toward the toddler, the floor tiles right in front of the stroller popped and cracked loudly, visibly startling the child. The elderly lady quickly pushed the toddler in the stroller away from the tiles.

The family vacated their home as a precaution, and waited at the void deck for half an hour before returning to the flat. Their unit was the only one affected, though their neighbour apparently heard the crackling noises too.

Reported Incident to HDB

The resident shared that though they reported the incident to HDB, HDB is not liable for damages since the family bought the resale flat in the open market. When they bought the now 25-year-old flat in 2017, they did not change the floor tiles as they were in acceptable condition.

On 24 January, a HDB maintenance officer came to conduct a flat inspection, and explained to the family the possible reasons why this happened.

The officer further arranged for HDB Tampines branch’s housekeeping services to help clean and ensure the protection of the affected area.

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Not The First Incident in Singapore

In fact, HDB received almost 2,000 complaints of floor tiles cracking back in 2017!

This could have been caused by factors including colder weather, humidity, wear and tear, or poor workmanship.

If your flat has any dislodged tiles, you should move the tiles to a safe area and cover the affected area with cardboard. This is to ensure your safety before you get the tiles repaired.

Get Your Floors Checked If Moving Into New Flat

The resident said that he’s learnt to get the floors checked by a qualified building surveyor, if moving into a resale flat.

It is also ideal to get home insurance to cover any possible accidents, and be sure to stay off the floors if you start hearing crackling sounds.