Replacing Broken Tile, Easy Home Repair

Replacing Cracked or Broken Tile, Easy Home Repair

While my son was on vacation, I asked if he had any chores he would like done while he was gone and just didn’t have the time for. He pointed out these two tiles in his bath that had cracked. There had been some movement in the tile and eventually the two cracks appeared. He had plenty of tile on hand to replace the two but he didn’t quite know where to start.

He came to the right place. I actually have some prior experience with replacing cracked tile. Years ago, my then 4 year old and his much older neighbor friend (7 years) had decided to whack some ants that had gotten into our basement thru a slider onto a tile floor with a hammer. By the time I could stop them, 4 tiles had been cracked. They did manage to kill the ants! I guess that’s good?

Do not start this job unless you have tile that will match what you already have.

So with my vast experience in replacing tile I began.

This job is going to look a whole lot worse before it gets better.

Use a hammer and chisel to break up the tile that you will be replacing. All of the tile and the mortar that it was attached with will have to be removed.

I started out only wanting to remove the 2 broken tiles but I ended up expanding the tile removal area when I noticed 2 adjoining tiles weren’t stuck nearly as well as they should have been. Any movement in tile is a crack waiting to happen.

All of those ridges of mortar will have to be removed. You’re looking to get back to a flat level surface. The chisel and hammer works great.

I don’t know why these tiles cracked but while you’re under the tile, check out the flooring. If there is any bounce…any bounce at all…screw that flooring down until there is absolutely no movement.

While it looks like there was plenty of adhesive, this tile never had a good grip…I need more adhesive. I don’t plan to do this project again.

Use tile mastic, adhesive with a notched trowel to spread a nice thick coat over the entire tile area. If you’re doing a large area, you’ll want to work in smaller sections.

Lay your first tile down. Now pull it back up!

By doing this you can see where the tile is adhering to the adhesive. If it’s not sticking everywhere you’ll need more mastic, use the same notched trowel to back butter the actual tile. Oh, it’s going to stick now!

Three down and one to go.

If you get any tile mastic on the actual tile, wipe it off now before it hardens.

While the adhesive is still pliable, make sure your grout lines are even, the tiles are level and no extra adhesive is seeping up thru the grout lines.

Avoid walking on the tiles while they set and let dry overnight.

I was so happy, when I returned 2 days later, those tiles were solid. Time to grout.

Buy grout that matches your existing grout lines. It can be premixed or powder, the powder is cheaper but they only sell large bags or boxes, you’ll probably only need a little.

If you have one, use a grout float to push the grout into the seams. Wipe off the excess with a damp sponge. When dry, go over the tiles with a dry rag to remove any excess film.

While a grout float makes the installation of the grout easier, if you only have a tile or two to grout, you certainly can push the grout into the seams with your finger.