Ask Mr. Handyman: Fixing Broken Basement Tiles

QUESTION TO MR. HANDYMAN

How do you fix a broken wooden floor tile in the basement? Carla P., Fairfield CT.

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I must say that having a wood floor in a basement is not the norm. You say that it is a floor tile, as opposed to a board. This leads me to think you may have what is called, Parquet flooring. These are tiles made up of wood strips. They tend to be about four inched square. Generally, these tiles are not used as a basement floor. Concrete is a bad sub-straight for gluing a wood floor onto. The moisture and humidity in a basement and the basement floor would be too high for this type of flooring material. For our readers that may be considering this, installing a vapor barrier of plastic sheeting, then a sub-floor of 3/4” plywood on 2” X 4” nailing strips would be the best way to do this.

Enough of that, you have a wood floor that has a broken tile you wish repaired. Replacing the tile would be the best fix, but not the easiest. If you do have a Parquet floor, the tiles are tongue and grooved. Each tile locks into its neighbor. You would need to do some removing of wood that forms the tongues on the replacement tile. Otherwise, the tile will not plug into the other tiles around it. Before you do all this though, you need to remove the old tile and glue. If the tile is still glued and tight, the old hammer and chisel would work. Be careful not to upset the tiles nearby though. Remove the old glue and clean the area well. Add some new glue to the replacement tile, keeping the glue away from the edges of the tile. Install the tile keeping it flat at all times. Lay some books on the tile for weight and let the glue dry.

Another fix to consider is to use some wood filler that is either stainable to match the color, or the pre-colored filler if you can find a good match. If the tile is cracked and no pieces are missing, you might be able to glue the part back in place. Lay a piece of wax paper over the tile then some books for weight. You can use some filler to cover the crack or chipped areas. Let the filler dry, sand it slightly, then with a cloth rub in a clear sealer. I would use something that does not have a high gloss since the floor is not new.

You can also just call Mr. Handyman and have one of our technicians come and repair the problem for you. If you have an extra wood tile and wish to replace the bad one, our techs have tons of skill with a truckload of tools to complete this task to your satisfaction.

Mr. Handyman's technicians hold years of experience dealing with problems like this. If you feel unsure about being a do-it-yourself person, just give us a call and say “Help,” and help will be there just when you need it, “ON TIME.” You can also take comfort knowing that the work will be, “DONE RIGHT,” with 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed.

If you decide to have Mr. Handyman visit you, our experienced techs would be able to help you with this and any other jobs you wish to have done. No job is too small; we want to make you satisfied by living up to our motto, “On Time Done Right.”
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