Desperately Seeking Tile
by
Julie J
+10
It's 3-1/2" hexagon tile - circa 1961. We ripped out a shower and put in a tub. Now we're gonna sell the house and need to fill in the bare spots. We have some of the salvaged tile but it's embedded in concrete. World of Tile in NJ doesn't have this color. Any ideas would be helpful and appreciated. Thank you!
13 answers
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Dang, I though I was going to be so clever and suggest World of Tile. I thought they had everything! You tried eBay?
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 27, 2013
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Just a thought and depends upon the difficulty. How about finding a contrasting or even coordinating color to border the tub? You would remove some of the tiles and make a border. I would use a white tile or even a darker color tile. I assume replacing or covering the floor is out of the question?
The Garden Frog with C Renee
on Jul 27, 2013
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If you can find the tile, you may be able to paint them with a bondable primer, then a color match. You can also try and find some salvage businesses in town. They specialize in reusing and selling items that are harder to find.
Straight Nails Construction
on Jul 27, 2013
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Thank you, everyone. Douglas: I found some 'salesman sample' tiles on eBay (right size, various colors). I just don't know if there are enough of them. Renee: We were hoping for a simpler solution than removing and replacing even more tiles. My husband suggested putting linoleum over the whole floor. Arrggh! I really hate to cover up that vintage tile if there's another option. Straight Nails: I do still have some tiles but they are stuck to thick hunks of concrete (see photo). Is there a tool that could easily cut them out of it?
Julie J
on Jul 27, 2013
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I had a similar problem when we moved our laundry room to the newly finished basement we took out the cabinets and there was NO TILE under them. I wanted to use that area as a huge back entry way and everyone who was coming in that door or going to the basement was going to walk by this area. I was confused on what to do as well, then I went to a tile store "The Tile Shop" and bought a few different tiles and found a tile that had all stones in it and laid it down as part of a design on the floor. We did take a saw and cut some other tiles out first and then I added a bench on top of it, so it looked like it was intentional. Everyone commented on how cool it looked with the different tile and asked how I came up with the idea to mix the tiles. They were all shocked when I told them the truth, so I say go for adding a different tile. Sometimes our worst nightmares become a great feature. Good luck.
Amy Schmidtke-Prill
on Jul 28, 2013
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We have a 50 year old house and we took our tile in to a tile store and they matched it for us and ordered it. We had to order more than we needed, but it was worth it.
Sherrie
on Jul 28, 2013
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Floor and Decor outlet, Kenesaw, GA.
Kirt N
on Jul 28, 2013
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I would cut out a perimeter or border strip and install some nice contrasting tile. This way the original rustic tile would be saved and you would have a project that looks "planned". check out this article I wrote http://www.networx.com/article/a-great-entry-tile-repair-idea
KMS Woodworks
on Jul 28, 2013
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That is not concrete on the backs of the tiles...it's grout. A good sander might get it off and you could reuse those tiles. Check with the tile dept. at Lowes.... someone there should be able to give you advice. In fact, bring a piece in with you so that they can see it.
Tegma
on Jul 28, 2013
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Thanks, all. I never expected to get so many good suggestions. Patricia Morse: it is indeed concrete that the tiles are in. If you look at the picture I included, you will see that it is about an inch thick. I think I will take a hunk of the concrete with the tiles in it to a tile shop and see what advice they may have.
Julie J
on Jul 28, 2013
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Sorry, I guess I didn't look at the picture to see the missing concrete. Hmmm.... maybe some kind of a saw would remove that, tho' tricky without breaking the tile. See what advice the tile shop has..... it would be great to be able to use the original tiles. Another suggestion.... I've seen a lot of people adding small beach stones along their tubs. Would you be able to remove enough tile along the tub to make that idea work? You'd want at least 6" to make that look like part of the design - all across the front of the tub, but more depth if needed.
Tegma
on Jul 29, 2013
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Bwtile.com will match and/or make your missing tile for you if they don't have I in stock. They specialize in vintage tile.
Karen Young
on Jul 29, 2013
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It looks like ones we had. I believe they were from Daltile Mftg. I'd go with the border idea or random placement. The Drummel tool makes easy work for removing grout to help popping out tiles. Personally, we just ripped up all the old and replaced it with big 13 x 13 tiles. Went down really quick and looks great.
Joanne Costello
on Sep 09, 2015
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