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Short Summary
Main recommendation: To replace a cracked floor tile, remove the surrounding grout, pry the broken tile out gently, set a new tile with an acrylic tile adhesive on a small plywood patch, then grout and clean it. The video stresses matching the tile's origin, which here was solved by tiles the previous owners left in the basement, and notes that setting tile over plywood is only acceptable for a small patch.
Key Points
- Start by cutting out the old grout around the broken tile with a utility knife, keeping the blade tight against the tile, so the tile loosens without stressing neighboring tiles.
- Pry the broken pieces up slowly with a chisel or nail set, watching the grout lines for cracking in the surrounding tiles.
- Use an acrylic base adhesive instead of traditional thin-set, because it is meant for small areas and the subfloor here is plywood.
- For a small patch, grout with a premixed grout matched as closely as possible to the existing color, since the old grout has aged and stained over about 15 years.
- For a full new tile floor, the video says not to lay tile directly on plywood; use a cement board subbase set with notched trowel and screwed about every 8 inches.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Cut out old grout: keep a utility knife tight to the tile edge and go over the grout line repeatedly until a thin gap forms.
- Remove the tile: work a chisel under the broken piece, tap it gently, and pry back and forth; lift the loosened pieces out one at a time.
- Prepare the subfloor: wipe the area with a damp sponge to remove dust and lightly dampen the wood so the adhesive doesn't set too fast.
- Set the new tile: spread acrylic adhesive with the flat edge of the trowel, then comb it with the notched side held as upright as possible; press the tile in firmly and check that it is level with neighboring tiles.
- Clean excess adhesive and let it dry for a few hours before grouting.
- Grout: apply grout with a rubber float at a diagonal to the joints, drag a round tool handle along the joint to guide it in, lightly float across again, then wipe with a wet sponge without pressing hard enough to create divots.
- Curing: keep people and pets off the floor overnight, and the next day wipe with a damp coarse cloth and buff with a dry one to remove haze.
- The previous owners had left spare tiles in the basement, which made matching easy; the presenter suggests taking a tile to a reputable tile store, where staff can identify it from the back, for example a faint "Made in Italy" mark.
- Separately, Tom mentions that for regrouting an entire floor later, a carbide grout knife can be used to drag out old grout, then vacuum and damp-sponge before regrouting—this was offered as parting advice, not part of the single-tile repair steps.
Bottom Line
A single cracked tile is a manageable DIY repair if the old grout is removed carefully first and a matching tile and grout are found; the hardest part is often finding a match.
