Sunday, February 21, 2016

Replace that Broken Floor Tile

So just a small Disaster then....  Dropped a stubby bottle, and it lands unfavourably on the floor, and takes a nice chunk out one of the tiles. Well then... let's have a crack at replacing that shall we?






Step 1.

Get yourself a grout remover - I cannot stress that enough.  This little tool will be the difference between replacing one tile or the tiles next to the broken one as well.

 
Grout Remover

This is used to remove the grout around the broken or chipped tile and will prevent damaging the adjacent tiles.  You will find the grout is ground away quite easily.





This shows all the grout around the broken tile removed.



Step 2.

The hard part...

Using plastic sheet to cover as you do this, you need to use a heavy duty chisel to break the tile and start getting under it.  Depending on how well the tile was cemented down will govern how easily this part goes.  Make sure you wear eye protection!  I also put a plastic sheet around to stop the flying fragments, and cleaned as I went.






You can see once you get a start it will become easier.  Be careful near the edges.  The broken tile can then be removed.

Step 3.

Then scrape all the old cement away, and any left over grout, taking care not to damage the tiles around it.



You will then have the broken tile removed, and ready for the replacement tile.



Step 4.

Mix up some tile adhesive as per instructions.  You can get that from any hardware for about $7 a bag.  Ideally use a 10mm adhesive spreader to get your adhesive down.


Step 5.

And lay your tile, watching the levels are the same as the surrounding tiles.


Step 6.

All that is left to do is grout.  This is simply mixed as per instructions, so it is like a paste and squeegee in to the gap.  Using a damp sponge, wipe across the grout to take up the excess and I find working at about 45 degrees to the grout line will do the job nicely.


And that's it, well apart from a good mop to get the last of the grout residue.

Hopefully the is the last one that I need to do in my bar!