How To Fix a Chipped Floor Tile

[DIY Guy]

I have a ceramic tile floor and one the corners of one of the tiles has chppied off. it is really small but it bugs me a lot. What can I do to fix this? Do I have to replace the tile?

[DIY Guy]

There are a couple of options to deal with the chipped tile. You could replace the tile, and I'll explain how later. However, if you want a simple fix, find a permanent marker that is close to the tile color and color in the chip. Once colored in, you'll probably have a hard time spotting the chip. If the floor has a gloss finish and the chip stands out because it is flat, you could go over the chip with a polyurethane floor finish - choose the shine that best matches your floor.

Now if you really want to replace the tile, you can do that. First, make sure you have a suitable replacement tile available. Compare the color to make certain it won't stand out because of a color difference.

Put on eye protection before doing these steps.

To remove an old ceramic tile, use a grout saw to cut through the grout all around the tile down below the thickness of the tile. This is important, because if you hammer out the old tile and grout is connecting it to adjacent tiles, you very well might crack nearby tiles.

Once the grout is removed, use a tile scoring tool (like a glass cutter) to score an "X" through the tile. Make sure you cut through the hard upper surface of the tile.

Use a hammer to break the tile in the center. It should break into pieces that can be picked out. Use a mason's chisel to rmove any pieces that are still secured by the old thin set mortar.

Remove enough of the old hardened mortar to make room for the new tile plus the fresh mortar to secure it. Clean and vacuum the opening.

Butter the back of your replacement tile with thin set tile mortar. use enough to match the height of the tile with the surrounding tile. It should even be a bit higher. Set the tile in place and adjust the gap all the way around so that it is uniform. Place a small piece of thick plywood over the tile so that it is supported by the surrounding tile. Step gently on the plywood. this will level the new tile to the height of the surrounding tile.

Carefully remove the plywood. Scrape out any excess mortar in the grout joint. Realign the tile if necessary.

Allow it to dry for 24 hours and then apply grout with a sponge to fill in the grout line. Allow the grout to set for 20 minutes and then wipe away any excess grout and haze. If you wait too long, the haze may become permanent.