Ceramic tiles are one of the highest quality and durable flooring products that you will find in the building and construction industry. The materials that make up a ceramic tile are derived from natural materials. This is quite unlike flooring products such as carpets and vinyl, whose materials are synthetic substitutes for the purpose of enhancing quality. You may have ceramic tiles of different colors, sizes, shapes or thickness in your kitchen, bathroom, patio, lobby or even veranda floors.
If these tiles have been properly installed, they are extremely difficult to get damaged. The damage occurs in the form of chipping, breaking or cracking in the tiles, the caulking or the grout lines. The most common causes of breakages include heavy objects dropping on the tiled floor and substrate movement, which leads to structural deficiencies.
The following are trouble-free steps of fixing a broken, cracked or loose ceramic tile floor
- Application of a sealant to fix small cracks in the grout
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Some cracks are too small for a replacement. However, you have to repair them before the crack becomes bigger, which will eventually cause the entire tile to break loose. There are penetrating sealants that you can apply to fix this problem. These sealants increase the grout’s density. They are invisible and have no effect on the aesthetic value of the tiles.
- Surface clearance
If the tiles are completely damaged, start by getting rid of the broken pieces. After this, hack off the grouting that is beneath. Be careful with the hacking because you do not want to cause chipping of the adjacent tile edges. Clear out all debris when you are done with this.
- Laying the Foundation
The next step is wetting the surface for roughly 35 to 40 minutes. This is followed by pouring a cement and sand mixture in the ratio of 1:2 respectively onto the surface. Make sure the mixture is consistent by adding a precise amount of water. Mortar must be spread evenly, and your cake icing for this foundation is cement grouting.
- Tile replacement
You can now install the replacement tiles. The tiles will be placed on top and leveled by gently pounding with a mallet. If there are left-over tiles from the initial flooring project, use these as replacements. If the broken tile is at a corner, purchase an appropriately-shaped replacement tile. Ensure that you leave even spaces on all side of the tiles. Leave the tiles to set fully.
- Grouting
After a day, add grouting that is uniform with the tile evenly around the joints. There is a hard rubber trowel for doing this. Using a damp sponge, wipe off the grout that will have spread to the tile surfaces. It takes approximately three hours for the grout to dry. At the end of this time, wet the area and wipe the tiles dry. Your ceramic floor will be looking as good as before.
- The finishing touches
Grout is susceptible to porosity due to the cement in it. This makes it highly absorbent to staining agents. You can apply a sealer to the tiles that are unglazed in order to reduce their permeability. If the cracks are in the grout joints, which is the key cause of continuous staining, use a silicone sealer. In case you want to give enhance the appearance of the tiles after doing the repairs, there are a variety of tropical sealers for this purpose.
You do not have to wait until the tiles break in order to carry out fixes and maintenance. Sometimes, you may spot a loose or cracked tile. A loose tile becomes permeable and if left unchecked, saturation of the internal floor structure can happen. Since most ceramic flooring is in the wet areas of your house, fix this problem before it spreads to the adjacent tiles. When the damage is small, it will be easy to fix and also cheap.
Author Bio: Bradley Petersen is a freelance writer who enjoys writing blogs oriented towards masonry cleaning. He provides useful tips and guidelines, which he has collected over the years.
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