The resiliency of ceramic tile makes it a natural for floors and walls in bathrooms and kitchens, where moisture is common.
But ceramic tile is far from invulnerable. It’s not uncommon for a tile to pop off a wall and join a homeowner in the shower.
When such problems arise, however, they usually affect only a small portion of the existing tile. This is the conundrum: Trying to repair that small portion so that it matches up with the rest of the tile.
The most common reason for tile problems is water damage. If the grout between tiles is not maintained, it may crumble and disintegrate, allowing water to get behind it.
The water loosens that adhesive holding the tile to the wall and softens the drywall or plaster behind the tile. The tile eventually falls off, and the wall begins to deteriorate, especially after it is exposed to more water.
The difficulty of the tile repair job will depend on when you catch the problem. Sometimes, a single tile that is loose needs only to be reglued to the wall and regrouted. Other jobs require replacing part of the wall underneath an entire section of tiles.
The trickiest part of a tile repair job is matching up replacement tiles with the existing ones. Finding replacement tiles of the same shape, size and color may be a Holy Grail-like quest, tile experts say.
“Sometimes, you can find the exact same tile but the shade is going to be slightly different,” says Kevin Kayat, a salesman at Tile Outlet, a tile store on Chicago’s North Side. “Patterns also change slightly and sometimes the colors change completely. Patterns are also discontinued.”
“While the standard bathroom wall tile now is 4 1/4 inches square, there can be slight differences between manufacturers,” says Rich Mitani, a sales manager at Peerless Ceramics, also on Chicago’s North Side.
“Tiles that are really old are the hardest to match,” says Bob Kleinhans of the Tile Council of America, a trade association for tile manufacturers. “Sizes and thicknesses are almost always different, as there were few standards for tiles of years past.”
In addition, replacing a handful of tiles is a fairly slow-moving and meticulous job, especially when you’re trying to salvage existing tiles. “It’s mostly an elbow grease operation,” says Mitani.
For example, Mitani says he recently replaced 18 tiles on the bathroom wall at his parents’ house, a job that took him close to a month.
“The replacement tiles were about 1/8-inch bigger than the existing tiles,” he says. “As a result, I had to shave 1/32-inch off each of four sides of the new tile to make it fit. It was such mundane work that I only did a couple at a time.”
What follows is a primer for tile problems both large and small.
Small repairs
If a single tile shows signs of coming off the wall, or if it is cracked or broken, the repair job takes only a few steps.
If the tile is salvageable, start by removing the grout that surrounds the tile with a chisel or a grout saw, a small device that looks somewhat like a utility knife.
Be careful not to chip the tile when removing the grout. Gently prod the tile away from the wall with a scraper. Then soak the tile in hot water and, with a scraper, try to remove as much of the dried adhesive from the back of the tile as possible.
Clear away any remaining debris on the wall and vacuum the space. Then apply a mastic or commercial tile adhesive to both the wall and the back of the tile (but stay away from the edges). Use a notched putty knife or small trowel to run gaps in the adhesive.
Gently press the tile back in place, being careful to center it properly. Quickly wipe away any excess adhesive.
Depending on the drying time of the adhesive (usually from a few hours to 48 hours), you should next regrout around the tile. Don’t regrout too early because gases escaping from the adhesive can cause small holes in the grout.
Dampen the joints around the tile and then apply the grout by pushing it into the joint with a wet finger. Wipe away any excess before it hardens.
If the repaired tile is in the shower or another area that could be exposed to water, cover the spot with a sheet of plastic and duct tape so that you can use the shower, says Kayat. “But when you’re not using the shower, take off the plastic so the air can reach the mastic and it can dry,” he adds.
After the grout has completely cured or dried (which can take as long as two weeks), seal it with a clear grout sealer.
If the tile is broken and you have no replacement tiles on hand (a good reason to buy extra tiles whenever doing an installation job), you’re going to have to match it up with a new tile.
To find the best match at a tile store or home improvement store, take along an existing tile or a photo of the existing tiles and precise measurements, says Kleinhans.
If the existing grout is a unique color, you may have to experiment with grout colors to come up with a similar shade.
Bigger problems
One loose tile can sometimes cause a much larger problem. The solitary loose tile allows moisture to spread behind other tiles, causing a large area of the wall to deteriorate.
The simplest way to determine how widespread the damage has become is to first remove the loose tile as described above.
Then pry a screwdriver under the neighboring tiles. If they come up easily, they need to be taken off and re-adhered as well. Again, follow the steps above for preparing the tiles.
Check the wall for integrity. If it feels solid, you can simply glue the tiles back on and regrout.
If the wall is starting to deteriorate, it needs to be repaired. Damaged drywall should be cut out and a new piece of water-resistant drywall should be put in its place.
“You may want to remove more of the existing wall than you need to, to reach a stud to anchor the new piece of drywall,” says Kleinhans.
If there is not much of a gap between the existing wall and the new piece of drywall, you don’t have to fill in the seams with drywall compound (the tile mastic will serve as a bonding agent).
Coat the new drywall, however, with a clear sealer and allow it to dry completely.
Plaster-and-lath walls should be repaired with a patching compound and again sealed to prevent future water damage.
After repairing the walls, replace the tiles, and be careful to line them up precisely with the existing ones. Grout and seal as instructed above.
As mentioned, one of the most frustrating challenges is finding replacement tiles for broken or missing tiles. You’ll often need to improvise.
“If you can’t find a tile that matches exactly, you can buy a mosaic or decorative tile that works in well with the existing tile pattern,” says Kayat.
You can also try to “rob Peter to pay Paul,” says Kayat, by stealing existing tiles from a less inconspicuous spot-say, behind a toilet tank-to use as replacement tiles.
This, of course, means the added work of removing the tiles from the inconspicuous spot, cleaning them, and reinstalling them at the repair site.
Often, existing tiles are structurally in good shape but are dingy from years of neglect.
“The solution is a good cleaning,” says Mitani. “Good commercial cleaners will take care of most water and soap stains. Sometimes, bleach and a good scrubbing will also get the tiles clean.”
Dingy grout, however, is another story. “Once grout is stained, it usually goes from white to gray or black and there’s not much you can do with a cleaning,” says Mitani. “What you need to do is grind out a little bit of the existing grout with a grout saw or screwdriver blade and put new grout over it.”
“Again, it’s a fairly meticulous and slow-moving job, as you have to go down each row of tile to get out all the grout,” he adds. “You also have to be careful that you don’t chip the tile.”
Sometimes, existing tiles are in good shape structurally but are out-of-date cosmetically, with a color or pattern that smacks of the 1960s or 1970s.
An option here is to have the tiles painted with a water-resistant epoxy paint. The problem is the grout is painted over along with the tile.
But before you paint over the tiles, it’s important to repair any grout problems so the grout doesn’t crumble after the tiles are painted.
There are also companies that professionally paint tiles. These firms are usually listed as bathtub refinishers. Again, they tend to paint right over the grout.
If you’re planning to reconfigure the bathroom or kitchen and want to salvage the existing tiles for the remodeling job, your best bet is to soak the tiles in hot water as described above.
“Sometimes, existing tiles can’t be salvaged,” says Kayat. “A lot of times older tiles were set in cement rather than mastic and they won’t release from the cement.”
As a result, there comes a time when existing tiles are not worth salvaging. A good rule of thumb, say Kayat and Mitani, is if more than 20 percent of the existing tiles are in bad shape, you may want to consider starting a new tile job.
“Many times, a new tile job can be quicker and easier than repairing existing tiles,” says Kayat.
“You’ve got to consider your time in addition to cost when debating repair versus replacement,” says Mitani. “Unless you really love the existing tiles, you might find you’re spending way too much time trying to salvage them.”
