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enter image description hereMy shower had two towel bar anchors mounted on the shower wall when I moved in.

Eventually, one of the anchors has broken, and taken the plaster it was mounted to with it. This has left a 2 in. hole in the wall surrounded by tile, and no exposed surface to fix any replacement wall to without tearing out additional tile.

I don't care about replacing the anchor (I hated it), but I need to figure out how to fill the hole permanently before the moisture sets into the wall cavity.

Any suggestions?

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  • They tiled around the old fixture mount, so now there is a tile in the wall with a 2" square hole in it?
    – Mazura
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 2:27
  • Yep, there's a tile with almost the entire top right corner cut out.
    – Residualfail
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 2:37

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You've got three separate problems:

  1. You have a hole in the tile
  2. You have a hole in the sheetrock/backer board behind the tile
  3. Water may have damaged sheetrock behind other tiles.

I'd start by removing the grout around the broken tile with a grout saw, and prying the tile off.

Next, I'd take a look at the rest of the wall behind the tile... if it is in good condition, I'd make a sheetrock patch using cement backer board. Next I'd try to find a tile that looks close enough and replace the broken tile with it. Alternatively, you could cut the broken tile square (so it looks like the US state of Utah), and find a complementary color and cut that to fit the missing piece.

Re-install the missing tiles and re-grout the area.

If the wall has a lot of moisture, I'd stick a dehumidifier in there for a while and see if the wall can be saved. Otherwise this could get quite expensive quite quickly...

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  • Unfortunately, there isn't a surface to silicone. It's just a big hole straight into the wall cavity.
    – Residualfail
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 2:37
  • I don't think silicone caulk or epoxy are going to fill a 2" hole in the wall.
    – rjbergen
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 2:38
  • Not sure if I fully understand, but you can either use plaster-weld and replaster the hole, or use blueboard or cement backer board to patch the hole and then plaster over it an paint it.
    – gbronner
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 3:01
  • Sorry for the zombie update. I ultimately ended up replacing the tub altogether. There was some considerable moisture in the wall. And my living room on the other side started showing signs of taking on moisture. The wall had to go. I got a whirlpool as a bonus though!
    – Residualfail
    Commented Apr 9, 2016 at 1:35
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Remove the whole tile, like gbronner suggests, or cut a tiny one to fit. Back-fill the hole with newspaper, or better yet something not flammable, like fiberglass insulation. Thinset the new tile in place and prop it to the wall with a broom or something so it doesn't fall out. Use tile spacers, or tooth picks, to keep it from slumping down. I'd like to hope there's enough wall left there to make resetting it in the proper place easy.

Now having had a look at the picture, I wouldn't chance removing anything unless I was prepared to redo everything. It appears to be of an older instillation era, the kind where the wall might shatter just as easily as the tile will. You may have some luck removing just one, or you might not...

Back-fill the area and slap a small piece of white tile in there, unless you need an excuse for an entire new bathroom.

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