Broken Tile Bathroom Floor

Carolina's Art
by Carolina's Art
6 Materials
$50
3 Days
Medium

So what floor to install for our country cabin? for the master bedroom bathroom, we decided to use broken tile with all the left over tiles we've had through the years in different projects.

The first thing we needed to do was measure and cut a piece or pieces of hardie backer and screw it to the plywood floor.

The hardie backer boards will protect the plywood from water and it will give the floor a firm surface to install the tile.

Once that was done, I mixed the thinset with the drill.

My husband used a smaller tool to cut the necessary holes like where the toilet goes and the AC vent, etc.

Here is the hardie already installed ready for thinset.

You mix according to the package instructions but basically it should be like a semi thick consistency.

As you can see, lots of mixed tiles piled up from different projects.

I had plenty of other accent tiles to pick from because my friend gave me some boxes of smaller sample tiles. I decided to use the brown tones and the blue tones. I planned my design according to what I had.

I started with a step down area design using these four small tiles and then adding the broken pieces around it. I basically used a hammer to break them (use protective goggles and gloves).

I measured and marked where I wanted these sets of blue tiles and then installed those first and then the broken ones around it.

Well, at this point I ran out of thinset and my back was killing me, so I decided to stop and continue the next day.

So I finished the floor and had to wait to come back another day to do the grout. I decided I wanted a bluish tone gray for the grout but Home Depot only had it as a special order item icon .

Well, by now if you have been following me, you know I will come up with my own solution. So adding acrylic blue to a gray was my plan.

My friend Mary helped me mix the blue and it came out just like I wanted, steel blue.

On to applying the grout! Mary had the great idea to insert glass beads into the little holes to give it a touch of glam. So I did that as I was applying the grout. Then I removed the excess with wet sponges and let it dry.

Here is the floor all done and dry and I love how it turned out. Now we can install the toilet and the sink cabinet, etc.

Closer look. Now, I have to plan the other bathroom floor icon

I had done the same idea for the outside concrete table. This is under the gazebo. It's a great way to use left overs and cheap too.

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  3 questions
  • Clayton Clayton on Dec 24, 2020

    Broken tiles have a sharp edge, unlike whole tiles which are smooth. How do you prevent accidents when walking on this floor? The floor is beautiful, though!

  • Joyce Joyce on Jan 17, 2021

    Hi Carolina - Beautiful floor! Do you seal it afterwards? If so, with what?

    Thanks:)

  • Natalie Natalie on Jan 27, 2024

    I have lots of tiles cracked in my kitchen and hallway. I do not have money to replace it but thought about to remove it and use same broken pieces to reinstall it again. What is the very first step I need to do to start my project? I do understand that I need to remove existing tile, the question is what is the easiest way to do that? Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks 🙏

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