How to repair fallen tile near kitchen floor?

Question

One of the tiles adjacent to my kitchen floor fell down.

The tile itself is still in good condition but I'm not sure how to properly reattach it. I'm guessing it would be something like:

1. Chisel off old adhesive (grout?).
2. Clean surrounding area and make sure it's dry.
3. Apply new tile adhesive and attach the tile.
4. Let it cure.

Assuming that's appropriate, I have additional questions:

• What type of adhesive should I use?
• How much of it do I put on?
• Is there anything I should use to keep the tile in place while it's curing?

-M

P.S. The tile to the left looks damaged but it's just has a dirt smudge on it.

Answer 1

To be honest, I'd probably be lazy here, and stick it back on with a thin film of a good commercial adhesive, thinly buttered on the back of the tile. Leave the old adhesive as it is. The old tile will fit perfectly. This is NOT something for superglue, but perhaps for something like liquid nails in a tube. Buy it in your local home center or a decent hardware store.

Use some tape (the handyman's secret weapon is duct tape, so says Red Green) to hold it in place, but any decent adhesive will have enough tack to keep a tile there while it dries.

Really the hardest part to do is to re-grout around the replaced tile. I'd not be at all surprised to find that available in a squeeze tube too. So I checked, and indeed it is, here, for example.