A tile floor can look truly stunning in your home, and what’s more with a little careful maintenance it can continue to add a stylish touch to any room for years to come. Unfortunately, although floor tiles can be incredibly hardwearing they can crack, whether this is due to general wear and tear or dropping a heavy item on them, the effect is the same. A cracked tile in your flooring can really let the look of your room down, the big question is, can you just replace a single tile or do you have to replace the whole floor?
The good news is that replacing a cracked tile is easier than you might think, the only problem is removing the old tile first. Here we talk you through the steps you need to take so you can carefully remove the cracked tile and replace it.
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Safety First:
The process of removing the cracked tile will involve chipping it out, this can cause small fragments of tile to fly up. It is very important to wear a pair of safety glasses whilst you are doing this as small fragments of tile are very sharp and could be extremely painful if you should get on in your eye.
Separate the Tiles:
Whether you need to remove cracked ceramic floor tiles or a cracked porcelain wall tiles, the process is the same. The first thing that you need to do is protect the good tiles so that you don’t damage them as you remove the cracked one. Use masking tape and add a double layer to edges of the surrounding tiles. You will be working on removing some of the grout first; grout is essentially a type of fine cement.
Remove the Grout:
Start by carefully cutting a groove in the grout using a trimming knife, just a couple of cuts should be sufficient. Now, assuming that the gap between the tiles isn’t too small you can use a grout rake to remove as much of the rest of the grout as possible.
Tile Next:
Once you have removed as much grout as possible your next task is to very carefully start making the crack in the damaged tile bigger. Remember your safety glasses as this could create small shards. Using a hammer, a chisel and delicate blows carefully make the crack wider. Take your time, the idea is to make enough of a gap that you can get your chisel behind and lever of pieces of the tile; the adhesive behind should be soft enough to allow this. Once you have all the bits of the tile of tidy up the wall behind to remove the remaining bits of grout using your chisel or a paring knife, again make sure you do it carefully. Your wall should now be ready for the new tile.
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