How To Repair Loose Floor Tile

Not only is it not an eyesore, but a loose floor tile is actually very dangerous especially if one has children at home. Knowing how to repair loose floor tile is a very helpful skill for a homeowner and would help cut down repair cost as well. Actually, it is not very difficult to repair loose floor tile. With an average degree of skills and enough patience, one can repair this by himself and without hiring the services of a contractor. It is essential though that you have all the materials and tools ready at hand. You will need a chisel or putty knife, hammer, rag and sponge, adhesive, mineral spirit, grout and goggles to protect your eyes. It is also ideal if you have spare tile of the same color and design as the loose one in case it gets broken, so it is always wise to have spare at the time you have your tiles fixed. Put on your goggles and get ready to begin the work! The first and probably the hardest part in repairing a loose floor tile is getting the loose tile off the floor. This has to be done carefully so as not to break the tile and the ones surrounding it. Remember not to force it out, lest it breaks. Instead, gently remove it with a putty knife or a chisel. A helpful tip if you are not too sure about how to remove the loose tile is to place a preheated iron on top of the loose tile. This will help the adhesive to loosen. Once the tile is off, remove all leftover adhesive and smoothen the area where the tile used to be using the putty knife or chisel. You can use a rug with mineral spirits to soften the stubborn ones. When the old adhesive is fully scraped off, prepare the one you will use to fix the loosened tile. Using the putty knife, apply the new adhesive for the tile, making sure the area is covered nicely. Now gently put back the tile to its place. The last step is to apply grout on the newly fixed tile. Since the grout of the rest of the tile pattern may have lost a bit of its color through time and have become faded, it might be wise to feather a bit of the new grout to the old so it will somehow match and the difference in color won’t be that much noticeable. You can use a damp sponge to wipe the excess grout and clean the sides of the tiles as well. Follow these easy steps and you are well on your way to repairing your own loose floor tile to be as good as new!