Replace A Broken Floor Tile
Do you have a broken or loose ceramic, porcelain, or stone floor tile? This can be unsightly or even dangerous with sharp exposed edges. With a little patience, and a few basic tools, you can replace the tile and have your floor looking new again.
If your tile is just loose, there's a good chance you'll be able to reuse the existing tile. If you have a broken tile, you can't really repair it so you'll have to replace it. If you're lucky, whoever installed the floor had the insight to save a few spare pieces and you have one on hand. If you're not so lucky, you'll have to seek one out at a store or online. This can be difficult. Floor tiles famously become unavailable once a current lot is sold out. Even if a new lot is available from the flooring store, the color or texture match could be way off. In any case, don't jump ahead and remove the broken tile until you're satisfied you have a reasonable replacement tile.
Tools & Supplies
You won't really need any specialty tools for the project but you'll need these:
TOOLS
- Flat head screwdriver and/or other scraping tools
- 2-4" putty knife or scraper
- 1-2 gallon bucket
- Rags
- Eye protection
- Gloves
- Hammer
- Grout float
- Sponge
- Tile trowel (as needed for tile size)
- Grout saw (something like this:
SUPPLIES
- Thin set motor
- Grout
- Grout sealer
Thin set mortar: What's thin set mortar? It's basically the glue that will hold your tile down. Since you're replacing a single tile (or two) you won't need much. If your tile is greater than 4" on any side, you don't want to use a premixed thin set mortar. Why? On larger tiles, there's not enough air exposure to the thin set and it may never dry - or take a really, really long time. Not great. Don't be tempted by the claims on the container that the premixed stuff is good for larger tiles. It's not worth the risk. The best option is a powered thin set that is mixed with water. You won't need much but you still might have to buy a 10 pound bag because it usually comes in 25 or 50 pound bags. If you have any doubt on what you need, check with the person in the flooring department first where you are buying the thin set.
Grout: Again if you're lucky, there'e some left over grout from the original tile installation you can use. But most likely, you'll have to buy some. You can you premixed or the dry grout that is mixed with water. The key is matching the color. Be sure to make some test samples before you install the grout. For dry mix grout, a nice trick is to pour in some dry grout in the grout space and check the color. This works because the final grout color will be pretty close to the dry grout color. Once you've had a look at the color, just vacuum it out of the grout space and proceed to grouting if you like the color. If the color is off, you can pour in a different color and try again. For the premixed grout, take a sample of the grout and put it on some cardboard and let it dry overnight and check it the next day for color match. Matching the grout can be a frustrating job but its worth the effort in the end.
Note: Make sure to protect yourself with eye protection and gloves!
Okay, your have your replacement tile (or the loose tile you are re-installing), tools, supplies, and you're ready to go. What's next? Patience, that's what. The last thing you want to do when fixing a broken or loose tile is to damage an adjacent tile. So take your time!
Steps To Replace A Broken Floor Tile
STEP 1 Remove Grout Around Tile
Start by taking your grout saw, screwdriver, or scraping tool and slowly start scraping out the grout around the tile damaged/loose. This will take some time and effort. Could you use an oscillating tool or angle grinder and speed things up? You could, but if you don't have the expertise to use one of these power tools, its probably better to take the slow and steady route using hand tools to not risk chipping or breaking adjacent tiles. If your tile was already loose, it make lift out after some grout is removed. Great! Move on to the next step. Otherwise keep removing the grout until you have a grove as thick as the tile. Vacuum along the way to remove the loose grout.
STEP 2 Remove the Tile
Okay, you have the grout cleared out around the offending tile but it still seems pretty well stuck down. Don't try to pry it up from the edge. You might damage a surrounding tile. At this point, you can try giving the tile a hit with your hammer. Try and loosen or crack the tile. Eventually this should work and the tile will give in. Remember to wear eye protect and gloves. Remove all of the broken bits and pieces of the tile. Vacuum the area to see what you have. You should now be looking at the original thin set that held the tile down. This will have to be removed. Scrape, chip, and scrape some more until the old thin set is removed down to the substrate. Not that you have better access, clean any remaining grout that is on the adjacent tiles. Vacuum one more time.
STEP 3 Install the Replacement Tile
Check you replacement tile for fit. Make sure when in place, it should be lower that the surrounding tiles. If not, scrap some more. When you're satisfied that the hole is clear. Move onto adhering the tile. Following the manufactures directions on mixing and application. Use a tile trowel as directed by the thin set directions to apply the thin set. Use a putty knife to back-butter the tile with thin set and spread thin set on the floor. Put the tile in place and tap down with your palm and make sure its level with the surrounding tiles. It its not, you can carefully pull up the tile and remove or add thin set as needed and replace the tile. Once the tile is down, clean the grout space with a screwdriver tip to clean any thin set that may have oozed into the gaps. Let the thin set setup and dry according to its directions. Overnight is not a bad idea.
STEP 3 Grout the Replacement Tile
The next day, mix your grout (or use premix grout) and apply according to the package directions cleaning excess grout with a sponge as directed. Let the grout dry overnight and once again clean the tile and grout with a sponge and clean water. After another 24 hrs, seal the grout with a good quality grout sealer.
Wow! That was a lot of work to replace a single tile. Was it worth it? Of course it was. Your floor looks like new again!
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