There is nothing worse than having your beautiful ceramic floor ruined because of a damaged or cracked tile. It is amazing how a single bad or broken ceramic tile can destroy the look of your entire floor. Don’t fret, though! There is no need to replace your whole floor. You can easily replace a damaged floor tile with a little bit of work and before your know it your floor will be looking like new again. Here are some tips on how to replace a damaged ceramic floor tile.
The first thing you need to do is remove the damaged ceramic tile from the floor. You can do this by using a hammer and chisel to gently pry it up off the floor. If the pieces of tile are loose you may be able to pick them up out of the floor without prying, but in many cases you will need to work on it a little to get it all removed from your floor.
Once you have the damaged ceramic tile removed you need to find a replacement for it. Ideally you will still have some tile lying around somewhere from when your floor was installed. If not, take a piece of the broken tile and head down to your local flooring store to see if you can match it. If your tile is severely broken and you only have a small piece you may need to take measurements of your tiles before you leave your house to make sure that you are buying the correct size. The salespeople at the flooring store should be able to help you find a match. If they can’t, they may be able to refer you somewhere that you could get a replacement.
Once you have your replacement tile you are ready to begin replacing the broken ceramic floor tile. To replace the tile you will need a chisel, putty knife, tile adhesive for made for floors, and grout that matches the color of your existing grout.
Begin by chipping away any excess grout from around the hole left by the tile. Scrape any old adhesive from the previous ceramic tile up off the floor and make sure that there are no pieces of grout or dirt left behind. Examine the floor underneath the tile to look for any obvious signs or loose or sagging boards or cracks that may have caused the tile to crack. Repair any problems with the underlayment before proceeding or you will just wind up needing to replace the tile again before you know it.
Once you have cleaned away the old grout and adhesive and repaired the floor you can put in your new tile. Spread tile adhesive on the back of the tile using your putty knife and then position the tile in the hole. Make sure the grout lines around the new ceramic tile are even the entire way around and that it matches up perfectly with your existing tile. Allow the adhesive to dry according to the manufacturer’s directions before proceeding.
After the adhesive has dried, mix up the grout making sure to follow the mixing directions and then grout around the new tile. Wipe any excess grout off using a damp – not wet – sponge. You may need to make several passes with the sponge to remove all of the excess grout. Allow the grout to dry and use a clean towel or rag to clean off any residue or grout haze from your tile. Once everything is dry you can apply a grout sealer to seal the grout and help protect it from staining.
