Tile & Grout Repair
The cracked floor tile in front of the tub from a dropped curling iron three winters ago. The three hollow-sounding tiles on the shower wall that have been on the punch list since the last home inspection. The bullnose at the tub apron that took a moving-box hit during the third bedroom switch and has been sitting in a kitchen drawer ever since. The corner grout that has eroded so far back that the shadow line at the seam runs deeper than a quarter. The bathroom-floor tile that pops underfoot at the doorway because the original installer floated mastic over a flexing subfloor instead of thinset over a rigid one. Tile and grout repair is the trade for the bathroom-tile problems that have been on the list for a while — failed tile removed without breaking the neighbors, replacement set in fresh thinset, regrout in the matched color and joint width, sealed against the next decade. Starting at $2,500 for a small spot repair up to $12,000 for a full shower-wall regrout and multi-tile replacement on a 1990s install past its service life. Most spot repairs finish in one to two visits with the cure time between thinset and grout being the schedule driver.
Service
How Bathroom Tile & Grout Repair Works
Seven sequential steps from the on-arrival inspection through tile removal, substrate prep, replacement set in thinset, regrout, and sealing — the sequence we follow on every spot tile repair.
Inspect and Tap-Test the Surrounding Field
Tap every tile in the surrounding field with a knuckle or a coin to identify additional hollows. Press-test the substrate for soft spots. Check the floor for flex with a straightedge. Surface every additional repair before the demo starts so the scope is honest before the first tile comes out.
Remove the Failed Tile Without Breaking the Neighbors
Grout-saw the perimeter joints down to the substrate. Score the failed tile with an oscillating multi-tool, working from center outward. Pop the tile out in pieces with a chisel and a hammer. Work from the joint outward — never from the field inward — to avoid breaking the neighboring tiles.
Clean the Substrate Down to the Bonding Surface
Scrape the old thinset off the substrate with a margin trowel until the substrate reads flat to a straightedge. Vacuum the dust. The substrate has to be clean enough that fresh thinset bonds directly to it — any residue from the old install will compromise the new bond.
Match the Replacement Tile and Dry-Fit
Pull a matching tile from owner attic stock when available, source from Daltile, Bedrosians, or Pental Surfaces for current production lines, or pull from a tile boneyard for discontinued lines. Dry-fit the replacement to confirm size and finish match the existing field. Cut to size if needed on a wet saw.
Set the Replacement Tile in Fresh Thinset
Mix Mapei Ultraflex 2 or Custom Versabond thinset to manufacturer spec. Trowel the substrate with the notched trowel size appropriate for the tile (1/4-inch by 1/4-inch for most floor tile, 3/16-inch by 1/4-inch for wall tile, 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch for large-format). Back-butter the tile, set, beat to plane, joint-clean with a damp sponge. Cure 24 hours before grout.
Regrout the Affected Area with Matched Grout
Sanded grout (Mapei Keracolor, Custom Polyblend) for joints 1/8-inch and wider; unsanded for joints under 1/8-inch. Color matched by product line to the existing grout. Float the grout into every joint at 45 degrees, strike with a damp sponge in two passes, haze off with a soft cloth after the grout sets up.
Seal the New Grout with a Penetrating Sealer
After grout cures 24 to 72 hours (per product spec), brush or wipe two coats of a penetrating sealer (TileLab SurfaceGard, Aqua Mix Sealer's Choice Gold, or equivalent). Second coat after the first cures 24 hours. The sealer keeps soap film, body oil, and cleaning chemicals from penetrating the grout pore network.
Tile & Grout Repair Pricing
Final pricing depends on the number of tiles, the tile size and material (porcelain, ceramic, natural stone), how much grout-line area is being restored, the substrate condition, and whether the replacement tile has to be sourced from a boneyard for discontinued lines. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Send us a photo of the cracked tile and we will tell you whether your line is still in production.
Why Handis for Bathroom Tile & Grout Repair
The most-common bad outcome on a small tile repair is the rookie installer who breaks two of the neighboring tiles trying to remove the cracked one in the middle, turning a one-tile job into a three-tile job. The second-most-common is the installer who matches the tile but mismatches the grout color so the patch reads as a brighter or darker line across the field. The third is the installer who skips the substrate inspection, sets the new tile, and watches it crack again in the same way six months later because the substrate is still flexing. After enough small tile repairs, every one of those failure modes has a step in the process that prevents it — and the step is non-negotiable on every Handis visit.
Estimate
List the tile failures by location (floor at the door, shower wall corner, bullnose at the tub apron, shower curb), include phone photos if you can, and tell us the approximate age of the bathroom and whether you have any attic stock of the original tile. We will quote the repair with replacement-tile sourcing options.
Customer Reviews
Recent tile and grout repair reviews from verified Handis customers.
Cracked floor tile in front of the tub from a dropped flat iron two winters ago. Tech removed the cracked tile cleanly, set a replacement from our attic stock, regrouted the perimeter, and sealed everything. The patch is invisible. We could not pick it out of the floor if we tried.
Three hollow-sounding tiles on the shower wall that the home inspector had flagged eighteen months ago. Tech tap-tested the whole wall first, confirmed there were no others, removed all three, re-set in fresh thinset, regrouted, sealed. No leaks, no movement, no repeat issues four months later.
Broken bullnose at the tub apron from a moving-box hit during a bedroom switch. The original tile line was discontinued so the tech sourced the closest match from a Seattle tile boneyard and grind-fabricated one piece to match the original profile. From across the bathroom it reads as a continuous edge.
Whole-shower regrout on a 1995 install. Tech grout-sawed every joint in the 3-wall shower plus the niche, replaced four hollow tiles he found during the prep, regrouted everything with the matched color, sealed it all. The shower looks like a different install. Six months later, every joint is still tight.
Eroded grout along the shower pan-to-wall seam. We had tried to regrout it ourselves twice and both times it crumbled out within months. Tech said the existing grout had failed because the joint had been moving and the regrout had no flexibility — he grout-sawed it deeper than we had, treated it with a flex additive, regrouted, sealed. A year later it is intact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis bathroom tile and grout repair.