How to repair loose tiles?

[William57]

Repair loose tiles and tools require suggestion

[JacobZ]

Hi @William57,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and thank you for your question.

It all depends on the context of the tile.

Is it a wall tile? Is it a floor tile? Is it outdoors or indoors? Is it in a wet area meaning removing it could damage a waterproofing membrane?

In an ideal situation, you could use a Grout Saw to remove the grout from around the tile, then use a prybar to gently lever the tile up. This can be risky and you can absolutely damage the tile if you are not extremely careful.

Once the tile is removed, remove the adhesive that was used to fix the tile in place then replace it with a suitable adhesive and stick the tile back in place. After the tile has set in place, grout around it and clean up.

Let me know if this answers your question.

Jacob

[ludicrousgib]

Hijacking this thread with much the same question. I had a tile come up on my shower floor. It came away pretty cleanly, and the adhesive scraped off easily. 

I re-attached the tile using this: https://www.bunnings.com.au/dunlop-310ml-tile-all-plus-premixed-tile-adhesive_p6650104. 

After a couple of months though, the same tile has lifted again. 

I (perhaps) stupidly didn't grout after attaching the tile. Is this likely to be the cause of it lifting again? 

[JacobZ]

Hi @ludicrousgib,

To get good contact, cleaning away the old adhesive well is the first step. The second and more important one is how you apply the new adhesive. The lack of grout could be a contributing factor, but when tiles fail, the way the adhesive is applied is usually the problem.

You'll want to use a notched trowel to apply the adhesive to the floor so there is good coverage, but the adhesive sits in ridges. You'll then apply a smooth coat to the back of the tile. This is called back buttering the tile. When the tile is put in place, you need to compress the ridges by pressing down and moving the tile back and forth. This will create suction between the masses of adhesive which will bond them together in the intended way with perfect coverage.

Once the tile adhesive has been set, you should grout around the tiles, more for aesthetics than anything else, but it will prevent some water from getting under the tiles.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[ludicrousgib]

Thanks Jacob! 

The tile is quite small - maybe 50x50mm - so I can't get a notched trowel in the gap, but it put lines in it with a paddle pop stick. I didn't put the smooth coat on the back of the tile though.

When the tile came off, the adhesive was attached to the floor, but the tile was clean. The adhesive left on the floor was a rubbery consistency and I could pretty easily peel it off. 

I'll give it another go with the smooth coat on the tile to see if it makes a difference. 

Pic is from when the tile first came up before I tried to fix it. It doesn't look like there was any adhesive on there originally! 

  

[JacobZ]

Hi @ludicrousgib,

Do you have a photo of what it looks like now? 

You need to make sure the substrate is completely clean, dry and flat before setting the tile in place.

To do this, if you have not already, you may need to cut through the webbing so you can remove the adhesive that is underneath it.

Let me know how you go.

Jacob