improvised tile substitute?

[John Savage]

A couple of terracotta tiles on our front steps were years ago broken in half lengthwise and the halves nearest the step's edge are missing.

Last week I bought a tiny bag of sand-and-cement and neatly filled the gaps, but already a chip has broken off the new concrete. So I need a better filler material than packet-mix sand and cement! Would there be anything to be gained by adding extra cement powder to the mix?

I've seen Bondcrete (a latex-like PVA liquid) mentioned in Aussie DIY tv shows to add strength and impact resistance. I could paint the gap with Bondcrete before filling it, as well as add some into the water used in mixing the sand and cement. Would this be the best I could do for an improvised semi-permanent fix? Any better material?

Is there a difference between Bondcrete and Acrylic Bondcrete?

I'm not up to removing the remaining portion of tile and finding a replacement tile. That's too ambitious right now.

-- John Savage (Sydney, Australia) (my news address is not valid for email)

[TMC]

As you are not in UK I do not know if the same materials are available to you as we have here

sand and cement in the uk may make up mortar (depending on the type of sand) which is used for joining bricks or blocks and is not particularly hard or wear resistant

Floor screed mix is a fine grain concrete and will set much harder

However there are problems of thin layers of such material breaking up under use, also if the edge is a sharp square edge there is always the likelihood of it chipping away

replacing the tiles is really the only proper solution

Tony

[A.Lee]

Yes. A better solution would be to use a mix of fine silver sand, and cement. A 1-1 mix would give a decent strength. Add water until it just slides off a trowel, and lay it down. If that chips, then you'll need to either use a different material, or add some PVA or other synthetic strengthener. Alan.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Terracotta Milliput.

[meow2222]

3:1 is stronger. Stiffer mixes microcrack, losing strength.

Epoxy cement is recommended for concrete floor repairs, I'd have a look at that. It doesnt suffer the thin layers break up problem of cement.

NT

[John Savage]

A brilliant suggestion! My nearest stockist had just one terracotta pack left. I made one repair as an initial test, and it's a perfect match for the colour of the tiles.

Fingers crossed that it has the strength to withstand abuse from removalist's trolleys, etc. Time will tell.

Thanks to all who responded to my post.

Does Milliput have the market to itself, or are there other similar coloured expoxy puttys?

[The Natural Philosopher]

You can, if you know where, buy pigments for all epoxies. Milliput just make a bomb out of doing it for you.

If the tiles were clean and fairly dry, the repair should hold well.

[meow2222]

local sheds sell pigments for concrete, I've not tried these in epoxies but I guess they'd be fine.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

Theres a few pigments that react badly with epoxies..but try powder paints at the local art store as well.