Replacing Cracked Tile

For a small job like replacing a broken tile use pre mixed grout.

Replacing cracked tile.

Breaking the old tile can scatter jagged chunks and small sharp slivers. Find a nail polish or a combination of polishes and mix to match your tile. Patching hairline cracks is. You can add mastic to raise a replacement tile that s too thin but a tile that s too thick calls attention to the repair.

That makes work gloves and eye protection critical. On the following pages are ferrante s steps for a perfect repair. If the tile is too badly cracked to repair it you can just replace the damaged tile. Watch the grout lines around the tile to ensure the grout and surrounding tiles don t also crack.

If not you ll need to either. Perhaps it would be better to replace the entire floor. Or for a more diy option try using wood glue and nail polish. You can easily replace cracked and broken ceramic and clay tiles if you kept extra tiles and grout mix.

Work the grout into the seam using a grout float. If replacing a tile isn t in your budget or if the tile isn t badly damaged you can repair the tile. Debris from this project also can scratch acrylic tubs and showers. If you have ceramic glazed tile and cracks here is an easy fix.

If the tile only has a thin hairline crack in it you can fill it with an epoxy. Professionals often replace a damaged tile but this isn t necessary with a hairline crack for which epoxy filling provides an effective way to seal and hide the crack. Move the float across the seam diagonally rather than along the gap to avoid pulling the grout out. If you don t have a matching tile to replace the broken one with evaluate how the rest of the floor tiles look.

Place the cold chisel on the deepest crack in the tile and carefully hit it with the hammer until the cold chisel is underneath the tile. Once it s up remove the rest of the tile with your hands. Damaged tiles allow moisture to get under the tile so replace broken ceramic tiles right away. Ditto for clay tiles.

But even then you ll be glad to have tile underfoot because replacing a broken or chipped one is pretty simple to do. If your cracked or chipped ceramic tile is too big to repair as described above then replacement is probably necessary. Replace broken or missing ceramic tiles to prevent further damage.