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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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