How to replace damaged ceramic tiles

In many houses, there are many areas with ceramic tiles. Maybe it’s the shower area, the bathroom sink, or the floors. It could be your kitchen counters, your kitchen floors, your backsplash, or even your entryway. Ceramic tiles are beautiful and cost-effective. But what do you do when your beautifully tiled area has a broken tile? Don’t worry, this is a VERY easy solution. Here is an easy article on how to replace your broken mosaic.

Materials/tools needed:

grout saw

Latex Tile Adhesive

hammer

Chisel

Spatula to apply adhesive.

Trowel/Spatula to apply Grout

Sponge

Matching replacement tile

matching grout

The first thing you will need to do is grab your grout saw. She saw through the tile around all four sides of the tile. This should be easy enough, but try not to cut through the grout surrounding other tiles.

Next, you will need to break the tile. You can do this by placing a chisel on the tile and hitting the end of the chisel with your hammer. Once it’s broken, use your same chisel to get under the tile and remove it. Also, use this chisel to remove all the adhesive that is underneath. Make sure you get all of this adhesive. If pieces remain, it could affect the new tile, making it uneven with the others.

Once the old tile and old adhesive are done, you’ll need to get your new tile. Hopefully you have some extras lying around from when the tiles were first laid. Otherwise, you’ll have to replace with the closest match you can find in the store or on the internet. I’ve also seen some people get creative, coming up with a new pattern if they don’t have matching tiles. For example, if all the tiles are a light blue color but you don’t have and can’t find an exact match, you can replace that tile, and every third tile after it, with a dark blue.

You will now need to spread the latex tile adhesive on the back of this replacement tile using a putty knife, doing your best to spread it evenly. Place the tile in the space you have created where it will go.

Lastly, spread your grout into the joints around the tile, removing any excess with a damp sponge. Again, you want this grout to match the rest of the grout as closely as possible. However, there will often be a small difference as older grout will have slightly changed color over time. There is nothing that can really be done about it, but the difference will fade over time.

Are you ready. Enjoy your renewed ceramic tile and try to avoid touching it for 24 hours while it sets and dries.