How to Replace a Broken Tile (Shower Wall Repair!)

How do you replace a broken or chipped tile on a shower wall? This short videos shares what tools make it easier and has tips for making this project a lot easier.

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The first step is to bust the old tile using a hammer then chisel out the remaining pieces.

Check the backer board for damage and repair it using the same material required by the manufacturer for proper waterproofing.

In this example, the shower was waterproofed using Wedi. If the blue foam is broken use Wedi joint sealant to waterproof it.

If RedGard was used to waterproof cement board, apply two layers over the area where the tile use to be.

Once the backer board is waterproof apply thin-set mortar to the area for the new tile and back butter the tile with the mortar. Set the new tile on the backer board and use horseshoe shims to ensure grout joint spacing.

Watch our video for the full details

[goodmandiad]

This isn't too bad for a small tile but what about a 12X24 on Wedi?
The Ramandi leveling things didn't break off and i was being very careful and chipped the smooth finish tile. It took my wife 2 minutes to locate the spot.
If I were to replace that tile I think the best bet would be to cut all the way through the Wedi and make a wedi patch and install it with the Wedi sealant. Any opinions? Not a big fan of using thinnest right on top of blue foam. The other thing is IO know Wedi sealant is supposed to hold thinnest as much as the cement part but I can easily know off the thinset from the sealant but an anything else you must chisel it off.

[mitziemcelhaney]

Does this apply if they cut the hole too big for the handheld shower fixture to cover it? It’s a 12x24 inch tile.😩

[justindabreu]

How about a marble tile in the corner of room under the wall tiles? Is this possible, it’s surrounding 2 tiles plus the wall tiles a few mm above the tile

[Albert-fejx]

Great video. THANK YOU for details in the description. Nice close-ups which were valuable. I don't know what "wedi board" is, when you should use it, or how it's different than what I know to be "blue board". When you mention 'those products like rxh5la7, and bl5we3b blue', it would be nice if you could cite them in the descr. I know you want to prevent the video from being a 60 hour project on a one hour job, so free is great.
Please consider a video on installing glass tile as I saw it in the tub enclosure you were working on. Everything is great until you come to the part where the tiles, especially irrgeularly shaped ones, don't fit in the three inches you have remaining to fill.
Bring back the beard.