Repair or replace a cracked tile
Updated: 16.10.2026
A crack across one kitchen floor tile looks, at first, like the chip you filled on the bath last year. Repair or replace a cracked tile splits three ways: filler hides a chip in a tile that is still stuck, a matching spare replaces a tile that has cracked through, and a tiler is who you call when several tiles are hollow, lifting, or cracking over a heated floor. Prices for the kits are on our [tile repair kits](/hub/flooring/tiles-repair-kit) comparison. The Products Compared editorial team read the listings and the UK sources below on 15 October 2026. We did not run a lab test.
A crack across one kitchen floor tile looks, at first, like the chip you filled on the bath last year.
A crack across one kitchen floor tile looks, at first, like the chip you filled on the bath last year. Repair or replace a cracked tile splits three ways: filler hides a chip in a tile that is still stuck, a matching spare replaces a tile that has cracked through, and a tiler is who you call when several tiles are hollow, lifting, or cracking over a heated floor. Prices for the kits are on our tile repair kits comparison. The Products Compared editorial team read the listings and the UK sources below on 15 October 2026. We did not run a lab test.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Damage it suits | Stated cure | Printed limit | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Bondtech Bondtech white tile repair kit | White or light chip | 24 hours or more | Not a structural crack | 6.9 | about £9.99 | View offer |
 Tufinein Tufinein 160 g stone and tile repair kit | Chip or shallow crack | 24 hours | Second layer if the fill sinks | 8.4 | about £16.99 | View offer | |
| Preis-Tipp |  MendMight MendMight 160 g bath and tile kit | Small chip, scratch or pit | 24 h, then 24 h dry | Refuses structural cracks | 7.6 | about £13.59 | View offer |
On this page
Chip, crack, or loose
A glaze chip with firm edges, on a tile that does not move, can take a paste kit. A crack through the body opens again if you only fill it. A tile that rocks, or several tiles that sound hollow, needs the bed underneath put right.
Topps Tiles tells you to replace a cracked floor tile. Checkatrade is more willing to fill many cracks with epoxy. Where those two conflict, follow the stricter rule once the crack goes through the tile or a wide area sounds hollow. MendMight’s bullet already refuses a structural crack, at about £13.59.
Replacing one tile
Topps’ method is to rake out the grout, break the damaged tile out, bed a new tile, and grout it. HSE guidance says tiles release respirable crystalline silica when you cut or grind them, so that break-out is the dust a kit would have avoided when the tile could stay.
The spare should come from the same batch. A 600 mm porcelain tile from a later delivery can sit a tone warmer in daylight. With no spare, paste on that cracked-through tile can open again. The sequence for a chip that really is only a chip is on our how to use a tile repair kit page.
What the quotes actually say
Published UK prices disagree, so there is no single figure to budget. MyBuilder’s floor-tile repair band is about £60–£120. A 2026 quote guide puts a spot repair of one to four tiles at about £140–£320. Ask locally.
The twelve kits cost about £7.47 to £23.99, which buys a fill for a sound chip and leaves the labour to you. Which listing prints a cure time is on our tile repair kit buying guide.
Hollow tiles and heated floors
A hollow note when you tap is a void under the tile. Cotswold Maintenance Group treats that sound as a void, not proof the tile is loose. One firm tile with a glaze chip can still take a surface fill. Several hollow tiles, or a tile that deflects under your hand, need re-bedding.
Heated floors add movement. The Tile and Stone Journal, citing BS 5385-3:2024, describes bays not greater than 40 square metres, with no edge greater than 8 metres. Bromley Tilers notes that grout in a movement joint is the wrong material, and paste across the joint lets the crack return. One wall-tile chip, away from the heat, can still be a kit job.
Fill, replace, or call
If the glaze is chipped and the tile does not move, a paste kit can hide that mark. If the crack runs through the body and you have a spare from the same batch, replace the tile. If several tiles sound hollow, lift, or crack in a line over a heated floor, the next call is a tiler. A kit price between about £7.47 and £23.99 does not change that split.
Common questions
What if I have no spare tile from the same batch?
A later batch of the same name can differ in shade, so the wrong box shows beside the original floor. Topps tells you to keep a spare from the original batch for that reason. With no match, a tiler may still source a close tile, or you live with one contrasting tile. Paste on a cracked-through tile leaves the break under the fill.
The tile sounds hollow. Will filler fix it?
A hollow tap is a void under the tile. Cotswold Maintenance Group treats that sound as a void, rather than proof the tile is loose. Surface filler stays on the face and leaves the void where it is. One firm tile with a glaze chip can still be filled on the surface. Several hollow tiles, or a tile that moves under your hand, need re-bedding.
Why did the crack come back?
The crack came back because the tile or the floor is still moving, or because the break already ran through the body. Paste hides the line until the movement opens it. A heated floor without a working movement joint, or ordinary grout in a joint that should flex, does the same. The next step is the cause under the tile, on a tiler’s visit.
Do cracked tiles over underfloor heating need a different decision?
They do when the cracks form a line over a heated bay. The Tile and Stone Journal, citing BS 5385-3:2024, describes bays not greater than 40 square metres and no edge greater than 8 metres, with movement joints. Filler across those joints locks the movement. A single glaze chip on a firm tile, clear of the joints, can still take a kit. A row of cracks over the heat needs a tiler.
Is a grout crack the same as a cracked tile?
A crack that stays in the grout, with both tiles firm, is a grout repair. A crack that runs into the tile is a cracked tile. Where that line is a movement joint, ordinary grout is the wrong material, which is the point Bromley Tilers makes with reference to BS 5385. Hard filler in a joint that must flex sends the next crack into the tile beside it.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest. amazon.co.uk prices and stars were captured on 15 October 2026.
- HSE: epoxy resins and hazardous substances in woodworking (retrieved 15.10.2026)
- HSE INDG233: epoxy resins and allergic contact dermatitis (retrieved 15.10.2026)
- HSE: silica dust when cutting or grinding tile and stone (retrieved 15.10.2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 15.10.2026)
- GOV.UK: private renting repairs in England (retrieved 15.10.2026)
- Topps Tiles: replacing a damaged tile (retrieved 15.10.2026)
- Walls and Floors: chips, scratches and cracks in floor tiles (retrieved 15.10.2026)
- Cramer UK repair kit: not for hairline or movement cracks (retrieved 15.10.2026)