Tile is the most permanent floor and the most local to repair: one tile comes out and one goes in, and nobody can tell. Grout is a wear item that is raked out and redone. The repairs that matter are the ones that are not really tile problems at all — a crack that runs straight across several tiles, or a patch that sounds hollow — because those are the substrate moving under the floor, and a new tile over a moving slab cracks again.
A single cracked tile, a chipped edge, a stained grout line: those are the tile floor’s equivalent of a scratch, and a homeowner with a grout saw and a chisel handles them in a day. Keep spare tiles from the original order, because the same tile bought later is a different shade and a different size.
A crack that runs in a straight line through several tiles is a crack in the slab or a joint in the subfloor telegraphing up. Grout cracking in long straight lines is the same story, and tiles that sound hollow when tapped have lost their bond. Replacing those tiles without a crack-isolation membrane or a substrate fix repeats the failure; those are the pro calls on this page.
DIY a realistic job for a careful person · Hire it the tools or the skill are the job · Replace a repair costs more than it is worth
A dropped pot, a point load, or a void in the thinset under that tile so it had no support. If the crack is in one tile only and the neighbors are sound, it is a tile problem.
If the tile broke over a crack in the slab, a membrane goes down over the crack before the new tile does, or the new tile breaks along the same line.
The slab has cracked, or a plywood subfloor joint or a control joint sits directly under the tiles with nothing to isolate it. The crack in the tile is a mirror of the crack underneath. The diagnosis, on Why Floors Fail →
A slab that is actively moving — one side higher than the other, a crack that keeps widening — is a structural or soil question before it is a flooring one, and a tile repair over it is money spent twice.
Grout mixed too wet or too dry, never sealed, cleaned with acid, or simply old. Cement grout is a wear item.
Grout cracking in long straight lines is not a grout problem, it is movement underneath; regrouting it fills the crack until next season. See the item above.
The tile never bonded — thinset skinned over before the tile was set, the tile was not back-buttered, the substrate was dusty — or the bond has broken from movement or moisture. A hollow tile is a cracked tile waiting for a heel. The diagnosis, on Why Floors Fail →
Hollow tiles across most of a floor mean the tile was set on a substrate that was never going to hold it — dusty, wet, or moving — and the floor is re-laid. Tenting (a ridge of tiles lifted clear of the floor) is the same failure with expansion added, and it is a re-lay with movement joints this time.
A dropped object on an edge, or a tile edge left proud that catches everything.
A chip on a tile in a wet area that exposes the body to water, or a chip that has cracked through, is a tile replacement.
Acid — a cleaner, wine, juice, urine — dissolved the surface of a marble, limestone or travertine floor and left a dull spot. An etch is a change to the stone, not a stain on it. The diagnosis, on Why Floors Fail →
Honing removes surface; a stone tile that has been honed many times, or a thin stone veneer, eventually has none to give.
Yes, and it is the classic tile repair: rake out the grout around it, break the tile out from the center with a chisel, clean the thinset flat, set a matching tile in fresh thinset, and grout. Half a day plus curing. The catch is the match — keep spare tiles from the original box, because a tile bought later is a different shade and often a different size.
Because the floor under it cracked in a straight line. A crack through several tiles is the slab or a subfloor joint moving and telegraphing up. Replacing the tiles alone repeats the crack; the repair is a crack-isolation membrane over the crack under the new tiles, or a flexible sealant joint where the movement is.
A few hollow tiles are removed, both surfaces cleaned to sound material, and the tiles reset in fresh thinset with full coverage. A hollow tile that is intact and out of the traffic path can also be injected with a bonding adhesive through a drilled grout joint. Hollow tiles across most of a room mean the floor never bonded and is re-laid.
No. New grout over old is a thin skin that cracks and flakes within a season. The old grout is raked out to at least two-thirds of its depth with a grout saw or an oscillating tool, the joints are vacuumed, and the new grout is packed in fresh. Regrouting a room is a weekend and $30 to $80 in materials.
A two-part epoxy tile repair compound or a color-matched ceramic filler, worked into the chip slightly proud and shaped with a razor blade as it sets; some kits include a glaze coat. It is a good repair on a floor tile away from water. A chip that exposes the body of a tile in a shower or a wet area is a replacement.
One tile, done yourself, is $40 to $120 in tools and materials. A professional charges a minimum visit of $150 to $300 for a tile or two. Regrouting a room yourself is under $100 in materials; a professional regrout runs $2 to $4 per square foot. A crack through several tiles with a membrane is $300 to $1,000 and up. A full re-lay of an unbonded floor is a new floor.