Rosa’s General Maintenance Service Inc is located in North Port Florida, our service areas are North Port FL, Venice FL, Englewood FL, and Sarasota FL. We specialize in doing tile repairs.

The use of ceramic tile on your walls, and floors will enhance the look of your home. The most popular place to find ceramic is in your bathroom, and kitchen. Ceramic tile is one of the most cost effective options, and easy to clean.

However, there are times when tile repairs are necessary, whether it be a cracked tile, or a few loose tiles, or re grouting the entire surface. Replacing a few tiles can be less expensive then doing a complete bathroom, or kitchen remodel. We recommend having someone who is experienced in doing tile repairs take on this task.

Replacing a broken tile can be very easy or very hard, as with most things in life! The type of adhesive and the substrate…the material the tile is attached to…will determine the difficulty of removal.

Wall tiles are generally set in adhesive, while floor tiles are set in either adhesive, thin-set, or
mortar. Mortar, or mud, is still commonly used for bathroom and shower enclosure tile floors.Thin-set is like mortar which is a cement-based product. It differs from true mortar which may be applied directly over plywood or tile-board without the need for a metal-meshreinforcement necessary for mortar.

Here is a few tips to doing a tile repair job. We recommend removing the grout from around the tile(s) you want to replace first. The grout bonds and seals the area between the tiles,protecting the surface underneath from the moisture which can eventually loosen the tilesand damage the substrate. If you try to remove the tile without removing all of the grout first,there is a chance that the adjacent tiles will chip.

There are two types of grout. The unsanded grout is soft, and easier to remove, this can be done using a utility knife, while sanded grout tends to be harder and can be removed using a small cold chisel, you want to save a sample of the grout to match the color.

Once you removed the grout from around the damaged tile, you will give it a few carefully placed whacks to loosen the tile set in mortar or thin-set. Every piece of the tile is going to fight you during the removal process. You can use a cold chisel to break the tile into pieces, but you must be very careful to not damage adjacent tiles.

Once you have removed the tile, you want to scrape out any lumps or bumps in the mortar or adhesive to make the surface flat, smooth, and clean to prepare for the installation of the new tile. Once this is done you want to dry set the new tile to make sure it sits firmly without excessive rocking, and doesn’t sit higher than the other tiles.

Now you are ready to mix and apply the new thin-set to the surface, apply a 1/8″ layer and do not apply the thin-set closer than a half-inch to the edge of the surface. It is not necessary to use a special grooved trowel applicator for a small tile repair such as this. Press the tile into its place with a slight wiggling motion, which will spread the adhesive and assure a good bond.

Let the thin-set dry for 24 hours before applying the matching grout…Your local tile repair specialist, or a handyman will offer additional advice.