# Washroom Tiles



## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

All these ceramic tiles came off a couple of years ago and we never ended up fixing it. As a result, water from our showers had began leaking through the cracks and ended up breaking through the basement ceiling. We patched up the basement and no one is allowed to use that tub now unless it's for a bath. 

One of the main reasons we never got around to fixing the step was because most of the tiles broke when they fell off and we didn't have any extras. Well today I was tidying up some more in the garage and found some spares. Add those to the ones that fell off in one piece (that still have some residual grout on them) and we still come up about 3-4 tiles short. 

I've been suggested the following:

Redo the entire washroom
Try to find the tiles elsewhere and hope they are still in stock (since the house is 35 years old)
replace the steps with slabs of marble of the same colour

I've been to several big ceramic shops but none of them have my tile(s). What should I do?


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## kendallt (Feb 21, 2007)

Find tiles of the same size that compliment the ones you have. If you choose the location for the new tiles, you can make it look planned.

Alternate is to remove the half tiles on the front, and do both those sections in different color. 
Also, check behind/under the cabinets to see if there are tiles you can remove from there and re-use in 'visible' sections.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

I used to be the night manager for an apartment complex that had tiles, not only in the bathrooms but in the kitchen too, including counter. All of them were falling off as they hadn't used the right backing board and adhesive. Re-tiling an entire bathroom is a mess as you usually have to pull off the backing board too. The odds of you finding an exact replacement for a 30-year-old tile are almost nil. As kendallt suggested, take those tiles off the steps and replace them with something that looks like you planned it that way and then used the spares for the rest of the bathroom as needed.


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

Should I replace the steps with new tiles that look planned or new marble, which would only need 3 long pieces?


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

The problem with long pieces on a step is that you need a really good, flat base or they will crack.


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

Would I be able to redo the wood for the steps to make sure it's straight without cracking any of the surrounding tiles I don't want removed? Which still raises the same concern: should I go with tiles on marble?


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

I wouldn't overthink this. You can remove tiles with a heat gun. In fact, if you don't have a heat gun the only way to remove them is to break them and chisel them off. Find some new tiles that don't look bad with the one's you have and install them. If you want to use longer strips of artificial marble you may need to put down latex underlayment to ensure there are no dips. Check your steps with a straightedge.


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

Depends on how solid the substrate is. The 'bed' (mortar for setting the tread) will take care of deviations in the plywood. But.....the plywood must be strong enough to eliminate flexing as the tread is being stepped on.

EDIT:

Oops....way late on my reply.

Use the existing tiles on the risers and install new treads.


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