Whether your kitchen floor is new or old, nothing disturbs a room’s balance quite like a broken ceramic tile. After all, tiles were installed with a pattern in mind: break one link in the chain, and the whole thing fell apart. That’s why it’s important to know how to fix a broken ceramic tile – like learning how to change a tire, sometimes it pays to know how before you have to do it.
First, we can assume that the conjoining material between each ceramic tile is already hard, so you’ll have to do a little work that might include dust and debris. Make sure to wear protective eye goggles – you might even want to cover your mouth to prevent inhaling too much dust into your lungs.
Next, you’ll have to destroy and remove any leftover spots from the previous tile. Most likely, your tile is still in place unless the whole tile itself came out already.
To remove tile chips, you will want to follow a precise pattern: break the tile in the center using a hammer and nailset, and then cut the tile into an X pattern using a glass cutter. Then you can use the hammer to chip away the rest of the tile – beginning in the center – and pry up the pieces using a metal tool.
Once the area is cleared of the main tile bits, it’s time for you to dry it out – suck out the remaining debris with a vacuum cleaner. It might not hurt to sand down any protruding areas that might get in the way of the new tile, so be sure to vacuum after you’ve done the sanding.
Now that you have a clear area where your tile used to be, it’s time to replace it.
First, you’re going to want to fill the area with latex primer and allow it to dry – you should probably make sure to protect this area so that no one steps in it, particularly small children, if you have them.
After the primer has dried, you can apply tile adhesive, moving it left and right to ensure it settles properly.
It’s important to keep the tile level, so use a mallet to ensure it gets in far enough. Any extra tile adhesive from the sides can be scooped up with a stick or screwdriver.
Give the ceramic tile some time to dry, and you should be all finished. You’ve covered the spot in your kitchen that detracted from all the rest. Now, if you could just get a new set of cupboards.
