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Broken Floor Tiles Around a Drain Pipe, Replaced in Brooklyn Heights. Before and After

A leaking pipe under the tub dripped into the ceiling of the apartment below. To reach the drain pipe, the plumber broke out the blue ceramic floor tiles around it and some of the white tiles behind and under the small vanity. The drain pipe here is the tall chrome overflow of an old-fashioned tub, standing in a narrow niche between the vanity and the tub. It’s a 1930s apartment building in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Kings County.

Before and after of a narrow bathroom floor niche, broken blue ceramic tiles at a chrome tub overflow pipe, then new blue tiles set and grouted around it — *Before and after. Left, broken blue and white tiles at the drain pipe, with the floor open beside it. Right, the new tiles set around the pipe and grouted.*

No matching tile left

The floor went in around 2000: blue ceramic tiles, 13 x 13 inches, cut narrow to fit the niche. That tile is long out of production. The owner searched for leftovers at home and for a close match in stores, and the blue was gone.

Free samples from a tile store were too narrow. They were 2 1/4 inches wide and the opening was 3 1/4. The spot at the pipe would have been four small pieces around the hole. So she kept looking and found a matte blue tile online, 5 7/8 inches wide. One piece covers the widest opening with room for the cut. She ordered three.

I don’t supply the tiles, the owner finds them. My part was checking each option from her photos, seller links and measurements before she bought anything: the size, the thickness and the finish.

In a spot nobody sees, the color doesn’t have to match exactly. The size matters more.

Five tiles in a narrow niche

The job was five tiles: three blue on the floor and two white at the bottom of the wall. The hard part was the space. The niche between the vanity and the tub is so narrow there’s no room to work behind the pipe, my hands don’t fit there. So the old tiles couldn’t be cut out clean. I cut where I could and chipped off the rest in small pieces, including a loose full-size blue tile by the pipe. The super closed the hole in the floor from his ceiling, so nothing fell through to him.

Broken blue ceramic floor tile and broken white wall tile next to a chrome tub overflow pipe, the floor open beside it — *Before. The broken white tile at the bottom of the wall, the broken blue tile, and the floor open around the drain pipe.*

The new blue tile is the same thickness as the old one but a different size, so each piece was cut to fit the niche. The tile at the drain pipe is one piece, drilled in the middle for the pipe. The white tiles are smaller than the old ones. At the bottom of the wall they fit, one of them cut, with white grout. Then gray grout on the floor, and new white silicone along the tub where the old caulking was torn, the same work as re-caulking a tub.

The work took one day. The emails, photos, measuring and tile hunting before it took more than two months.

New matte blue floor tiles in a niche between a vanity and a bathtub, the chrome overflow pipe standing on the drilled tile — *After. Three new blue tiles in the niche, the overflow pipe on the drilled tile, gray grout, and new caulking along the tub.*

What the new tiles look like up close

The tiles are set and solid. Here is what to expect from a repair like this:

The new blue is close, not the same. It’s a different tile, and it shows if you look for it.
The floor grout is a gray close to the old one, not the exact same.
The hole drilled for a pipe can come out a little bigger than the pipe. Here the pipe cover hides it.
The edge of the old tile next to the cut can come out chunked, and small cracks can run behind the cabinet and the tub, where they stay hidden.
The ceiling below was not part of my work.

A tile doesn’t always have to come out. A gouge in a ceramic floor tile can be filled with colored epoxy, and loose ceramic tiles that are still whole can be taken up and set again. Replacement is for a tile that’s broken through, like here.

Questions people ask about replacing broken tiles

My tile is discontinued. Can you still replace a broken one?
Yes. The new tile comes from you, I don’t supply tiles. Try tile stores for a close color, and eBay, Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, where old discontinued tiles show up. Before you buy, send me a photo or a link and the size of the spot, and I’ll tell you if it works. A close color in a different tile can work, more so in a hidden spot. The size matters more than the exact color.

Can you replace a tile around a pipe?
Yes. The new tile is drilled for the pipe, in one piece when the spot allows it. The hole can come out a little bigger than the pipe, and the pipe cover hides the edge.

I have extra tiles. Should I keep them?
Yes. Have at least one spare on the work day, in case a piece breaks during the cutting or drilling.

If a plumbing repair left broken tiles in your bathroom, send me photos of the spot, the tile size, and whether you have spares. I’m based in Brooklyn and work all over New York City, including Brooklyn. Email info@marblerestoration.us.

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