Repairing Cracked Tile in Shower Enclosure

[steveoelliott]

Hi,

 

Today I noticed one of the tiles in my shower enclosure has a crack in per the pictures below... I'm not sure how long it's been there but we haven't been using the shower for months as I keep meaning to get the seals replaced on the vertical uprights. It was whilst looking at these I noticed the cracked tile. I don't want to go down the road of replacing the tile as owing to it's location the whole shower enclosure frame etc will have to be removed to do it properly.

 

As for cause, the only thing I can think of that happened recently was a tiny piece of skirting the other side of the enclosure frame was replaced and maybe whilst being installed the tile got cracked.

 

In any case, we are now looking at how best to repair this... My thoughts have been the following.

 

1) Apply silicon over the crack.

2) Have heard some kind of epoxy resin might do the trick.

3) Clear nail polish.

 

Now aesthetically it is not a big deal as it is right in the bottom corner. It's more about preventing water ingress.

 

I'd welcome any other thoughts / suggestions. Another way might be to cover this with something so effectively water can't get to it.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by steveoelliott

[steveoelliott]

Another picture zoomed in...

[Nickfromwales]

Do you have / can you get spare tiles?

 

You can cut the tile tight to the chrome, TC blade in a multi tool and no beer the night before, and insert a new tile and reseal the vertical with silicone. Easy enough.
 

The integrity of the plasterboard will decide if it turns into a pig of a job or not, as the tile may wish to take the plasterboard with it. 
 

Mr.Magic iirc specialises in these types of cosmetic repairs, but whatever you do to repair it will need to be robust as water will suck into that crack like fury. 

[Radian]

I wonder if it's been a hairline fracture ever since the shower screen was fitted - i.e. a drill hole and rawlplug is wot dunnit?

Another much less benign cause might be the plasterboard behind blowing out due to water ingress. The PB expands and pushes the brittle tile into failure. You'll know when you get it out.

[steveoelliott]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Do you have / can you get spare tiles?

 

You can cut the tile tight to the chrome, TC blade in a multi tool and no beer the night before, and insert a new tile and reseal the vertical with silicone. Easy enough.
 

The integrity of the plasterboard will decide if it turns into a pig of a job or not, as the tile may wish to take the plasterboard with it. 
 

Mr.Magic iirc specialises in these types of cosmetic repairs, but whatever you do to repair it will need to be robust as water will suck into that crack like fury. 

These are just standard white tiles and I wouldn't be that bothered re match due to where it is... The challenge I will have is finding somebody skilled and willing to cut it out with the profile in situ. I really seem to struggle decent trades and now most only want to do complete refits opposed to these smaller jobs. I had a plumber recently complain about having to refit a Mira shower of mine after some tiling jobs stating that he hates maintenance jobs as they take too much time.

 

My other option is to fashion a repair / seal but figuring out the best way to do it.

Edited May 4, 2022 by steveoelliott

[steveoelliott]

51 minutes ago, Radian said:

I wonder if it's been a hairline fracture ever since the shower screen was fitted - i.e. a drill hole and rawlplug is wot dunnit?

Another much less benign cause might be the plasterboard behind blowing out due to water ingress. The PB expands and pushes the brittle tile into failure. You'll know when you get it out.

Tile seems to be solid when I knock on it and not blown. I do think the skirting being installed the other side of the profile caused this as there was a ridge of tile there.

[Nickfromwales]

If you have a steady hand you could easily cut it out. Multi tool online for £40 odd and upwards. Do you have a handyman? We could talk you through what needs doing no probs and it’s not rocket science. 

[steveoelliott]

8 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

If you have a steady hand you could easily cut it out. Multi tool online for £40 odd and upwards. Do you have a handyman? We could talk you through what needs doing no probs and it’s not rocket science. 

It’s not something that I would take on as frankly I am useless at this sort of thing but I do have somebody I could ask. Appreciate your help.

[Radian]

10 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

If you have a steady hand you could easily cut it out. Multi tool online for £40 odd and upwards. Do you have a handyman? We could talk you through what needs doing no probs and it’s not rocket science. 

 

I've been meaning to tackle a cracked tile almost exactly like one steveoelliott posted above. I also thought I'd have to remove the shower screen because it partially covers the tile but you've suggested cutting the tile which hadn't occurred to me. Do you think this multitool blade would be any good?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-tile-segmented-cutting-blade-89mm/2180v

[steveoelliott]

My dad in fact offered another suggestion which was to grind / cut back the crack wider and fill with some grout... Probably not the ideal solution as it's either rip the screen off or cut back. The cutting back to profile seems preferable to me.

Edited May 5, 2022 by steveoelliott