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Learn how to replace cracked tile and install a new tile in your home like a professional tiler! 

This tile replacement guide will make sure to teach you everything you need to know to successfully complete your home improvement task quickly and easily. 

I have cut out the unnecessary steps seen on other broken tile replacement guides as they only add time, cost and excessive hassle to what really is an easy repair.

This guide will provide you the knowledge to achieve professional results without the price tag of hiring one, it can’t get any better than that!

• All Tiling Tools Needed To Repair Floor Tile
• Steps On How To Remove Floor Tile Safely
• Steps To Install & Grout New Replacement Tile
• Professional Tile Setter Tricks 

To make things easier for you, I’ve located them all in one place and broken the tools down into sections.

5 – Grout around the replacement tile and buff it and the surrounding tiles with a microfiber cloth. – You’re Done! 

Lay a drop cloth around the area you’ll be working and get your tools ready. Open a window and make sure to block off your work area if there are any children or pets around. Wall and floor tile repair causes many sharp bits of tile to go flying and we want to avoid any injury.

Now’s a good time to put on all your safety equipment and especially your safety glasses.  

Insert a grout removal blade into your oscillating multi-tool. Start in the center of the grout line and allow the machine to do the work for you. You simply need to hold it in place, the tough carbide tipped blade will saw into the grout and turn it into dust!

I love the Dewalt DCS355 for this work as it’s trigger allows me to very carefully regulate the speed of the tool, making it easy to avoid making any costly mistakes. It’s also cordless, has a quick release function to replace blades quickly and a handy flashlight to illuminate even the darkest of areas.

Once you have removed the grout from one section, carry on and remove all the grout from around the cracked and broken tile.

Grout Saw – A grout saw can be handy to get into tricky spots like next to a baseboard with gently grinding away some grout that’s on the surface of the tile. Ceramic tile especially have quite weak glaze and benefit from gentle motions over faster mechanical vibrations.  

If you need more help with removing grout, check out my handy guide to removing grout with an oscillating multi-tool. It’ll teach you everything you need to know and more!

Start by applying light to medium hammer hits all over the broken tile in place. Start from the center and bang around the tile. The idea is to start breaking the structure of the tile. You should be wearing work gloves for this, ignore me not wearing any – I’ve got elephant skin.

Mare sure you don’t go banging with all your might as the vibrations will travel around the substrate and can damage other tiles. Yes, even though you have removed the grout around the damaged tile.

So take it easy. It’s better to take this step nice and slow.

Once you have an opening for your cold chisel, use that to start chipping away at the tile and removing it all.

Continue working slowly and patiently until you have removed all of the tile.

If you are removing tile from backer board, be careful not to remove chunks of it. If you remove too much of the cement board, you may need to replace it with a new piece.  

*Safety Reminder*

Please make sure to wear work gloves and knee pads! 

Broken tile pieces are like glass and can be extremely sharp. Use your safety equipment and move the broken pieces of tiles very carefully. If you are disposing of the tile in your household rubbish, wrap it in newspaper and tape it with masking tape – keep your city waste management workers safe!  

Before you go and start mixing your thinset, it’s very important that you prepare your surface first. 

Start off by removing any specs of old grout that may have remained during your tile removal. There is usually blobs of it on the substrate. If you grabbed the DeWalt grout removal blade, you can use the flat side of it to grind away the grout and even thinset! It’s absolutely fantastic and much safer than chipping grout off with a chisel. 

Next, you’ll want to prime your substrate to provide a nice and clean surface for your thinset to stick to. Your tile may have very likely have failed because the previous installer skipped this step. The tile primer will prevent the substrate from sucking up the water from your thinset and also kill the dust that is on the surface. This will give you excellent thinset bondage and strength which equals a lasting tile install. Primer works on all common surfaces like concrete and backer board.

Applying a tile primer is very easy. Simply pour some primer onto the substrate or into a container and distribute it around the surface with a mini painter roller or paintbrush. Give it about 10-30 minutes to fully dry.

If it doesn’t, you’ll have some old thin-set or grout that needs chipping off.

Mix up your thinset in a bucket using your trowel. It should be firm but soft enough to move slightly if you tip the bucket sideways.

Not sure which thinset to use? Get a modified thinset that offers the best adhesion to most substrates. It’ll ensure your new tile will last a long time.

Place some thinset onto the substrate and use your notched trowel to spread the thinset evenly across the surface.  Make sure your thinset lines are diagonal in one direction and not random. This is so you push all the air out when placing your tile.  

Next, repeat the process on the back of your new replacement tile. This is called back-buttering and it ensures you get 100% coverage.

Install your new tile by pressing it into the thinset. Check that there are no raised areas or dips and if necessary, add or remove thinset to give you a flat finish alongside the other tiles. 

With that done, you are done for today! Pack up your tools and clean the thinset off your notched trowel before it hardens. Cordon off the area, apply “wet tile” signs all over and enjoy the rest of your day. 

You are 90% done! 

Wait 24 hours before grouting to allow the thinset to cure properly. 

Start off by removing any dry thinset that is lurking in the grout lines. A sharp utility knife works wonders for this. 

Wait about 5-10 minutes for the grout to set, you’ll see the tile surface starting to get hazy.

Wring out your sponge and wash off the grout, be sure to only run the sponge in one direction. Use if to clean the tiles and form your grout lines so they are perfectly smooth. Clean your sponge in the bucket and keep going.

Do not over water the grout! You don’t want to introduce too much excess water to the wet grout as it will wash out the color pigments and it’ll end up patchy.

Once you have finished grouting, clean up your grouting equipment while you wait for the grout to set.

Optionally, you can also apply a grout sealer after the grout has hardened for a couple of days to get the most out of your floor tiles.  

And that’s it! You are done! 

Congratulations – you have successfully completed a damaged tile repair job like a professional! 

Learning how to repair a damaged tile is an excellent introduction to a wide raft of tiling techniques. From removing old grout to breaking up an installed tile safely. You will also learn how to apply tile adhesive (thinset mortar) and grout.

This How To Repair Broken Tile Guide aims to teach you how to replace tile like a professional would. These steps are exactly how I have been replacing broken or chipped tile for over 25 years in all locations that benefit from tile use. I also added some handy tips that I have learned over the years. (Like the oscillating multi-tool and grout saw.) 

In those years, I have never broken a bordering tile or damaged something I shouldn’t have, so I am confident in providing you with this knowledge. As long as you take your time and take care, you won’t either.

I hope you enjoyed this guide and it proved helpful! 

I’d love to see your successful tile repairs. Feel free to email me or tag me in your social media posts. 

Thank you for reading, I’ll see you on the next one! 

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