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By: Dalton C. Reynolds
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 selected 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.
Next you will need to chisel out the adhesive and clean
the area in preparation for new adhesive and grout. If you
are working on a wall, make sure that you are careful not
to damage the drywall behind the tile. In some case this
might need to be patched and replaced if moisture has compromised
the wall’s integrity. You will not know until you
get into the project. Cleaning the area is an essential
step because you want the new tile to be level with the
rest of the wall or floor.
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.
About The Author
Dalton C. Reynolds is a contributing writer for http://www.atlantadesigndirectory.com
and renovates homes for clients in the greater Atlanta,
GA area. Copyright © 2006 Dalton C. Reynolds.
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