Somehow one of the tiles on your bathroom floor cracked. Luckily its a standard issue so finding a replacement wont be a problem. Sometimes hardware stores have a collection of random ones out back so be sure to ask if needed.
Ready to work? Your preparation should be as follows: wear goggles, have gloves (rubber and work) available, and apply painters or other heavy duty tape along the contours of the adjoining tiles to keep them protected.
Steps:
Using a carbide-tipped scoring tool grate the grout along the edges of the broken tile. Be careful not to apply too much pressure which may result in you breaking the neighboring tile.
Make the tile easier to chisel out: Using a nailset strike the tile in the middle or drill evenly spaced wholes in the broken tile. NOTE: careful not to perforate the foundation level too much. Its also good to have a vacuum handy to quickly dispense of small debris.
Remove the tile: Remember, youre not mining for gold. Banging lightly with a hammer, chisel out the broken tile until the space is clear. You can use a putty knife and brush or other small tools to aid you. If youre finding its not coming out as easy as you would like there may be an adhesive holding it in, which is normal. It will just take a bit more time.
Test the new tile: Placing it in the whole is anything obstructing a perfect fit causing it not to be level with the surrounding tiles? If so keep cleaning it out.
Adhesive: With a putty knife spread an adhesive on the bottom of the tile keeping some distance from the edge so it doesnt fill the gout crevices.
Placement: place the tile with adhesive in the hole wiggling it around a little, which helps spread the adhesive. Give it a little whack on top and make sure its even on all sides. Wait for it to dry, if necessary up to 24 hours.
Mixing gout: Mix it according to the directions and wearing rubber gloves push it into the crevices. You can use a piece of rubber of other semi-soft object to help you push it in. After it hardens for 15 minutes the excess can be cleaned up with a damp sponge.
Last step: give yourself a pat on the back
Jakob Barry writes for Networx.com where you can find more information about tile instillation.
Related Replace Floors Articles