Store Your Extra Tile for Repairs

Store Your Extra Tile for Repairs

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A bit of forethought when you tile a floor in your home can
preserve the look of your floors and save you money in the
future. After you have elected your new tile for a surface in your
home, be it a kitchen counter, a living room floor or a bathroom
from a local tile resource, you will have to have a tile installer
measure the space to determine how much tile you will need for
the job. Some people prefer to have the area measured before
they begin their search. This just depends on whether you will
be hiring the installer yourself or asking the tile company to
recommend one. You might even be tiling the floor yourself and
arrive at the tile store with your measurements. In any case,
once your selection is made it is a good idea to talk to the store
representative about buying a bit more tile than is needed for
the job. There are many reasons for this which will be outlined
next.

When your new tile is selected you will take possession of a
shipment which has been manufactured at the same time. This
ensures that all of your tile will match. This is true of natural
stones as well. Think of this as you would a dye-lot with respect
to the manufacturing of carpet. While natural stone can vary
from crate to crate, tile, with an artificial finish, will match in
much larger quantities, but there is still color variation.
Purchasing more tile than you need at the time of installation
will ensure that anything that may have to be repaired in the
future will have a replacement that matches the originally
installed product. You can tuck these extra tiles safely away in
the attic or basement until you need them.

Failure to do this may result in 2 problems. The first problem
would be having to find out if the tile is still in production if it has
been years since the tile was installed. The second problem,
even if the tile were still being produced, is would it match the
original floor? A little planning ahead will save you time and the
hassle of locating the same product. You can almost guarantee
in the case of natural stone, that you will not be able to find a
match with the same color and pattern. Any replacement you do
with a non-original piece will always look replaced.

If you do find that you need to replace a tile in the future, here
are a few tips that will assist you. Whether water damage in a
bathroom, or movement in the floor, sometimes a tile will need
to be replaced. You might have noticed that when you walk on a
tile, it will have a hollow sound underneath it. This means that
bond between the tile and the adhesive that it is set in has
broken.

To replace this tile you will need to first remove the grout from around it. This can be done with a
grout saw or similar tool. Always wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from any debris. Once
the grout has been removed you will need to break the tile and remove the pieces. To break the tile
uses a hammer and a chisel.

Once the tile is shattered you need to pry any pieces which may still be adhered to the wall or floor.
A sturdy, flathead screwdriver can be used to do this.
Once the area is free of adhesive you can then apply new adhesive and place the new tile in the
open space. It is recommended that you use spacers that are the same size as the original grout
lines. These can be obtained at a home improvement or hardware store. After the adhesive is dry,
it is time to grout. It is best if you take a piece of the old grout and match it to what is currently
available on the market. The color of grout has a tendency to age over time and you will want an
exact match to avoid having the tile look like a patch job. Any questions you may have about
replacing your tile should be directed to a quality tile installer or tile company.

Plan ahead when tiling your home. Whether it is new construction or a new tile addition to an
existing home, a few extra tiles will save you major frustration and make any repairs hard to detect

.