It’s always very important to purchase more tile than you need for your project. This ensures that you’ll have enough to compensate for any broken tiles or any cutting that needs to be done. However once everything is installed, what to do with extra tile is a question many find themselves asking.
Keep Extra Tile For Future Repairs
While you may be tempted to get rid of those stacks of tile altogether to free up space, saving some can save you a lot of time and frustration. In fact, you may want to keep enough extra tile so that you can re-tile a large section of a floor or wall in case of damage.
This can be a huge help if in the future you need to replace individual or larger amounts of tile due to damage since it saves you from having to deal with finding, shipping, and matching new tiles that work with your current installation. This is particularly true with natural stone tiles since tiles cut from the same slab or quarry will generally have a similar general appearance, color tones, and markings. It can also be important when you’ve installed tiles that are unusual colors or designs.
Get Creative
There are many creative ways you can re-purpose extra tile. And they often don’t require any skills or time. For example, you can use smaller tiles as coasters for drinks while larger ones often make excellent trivets for placing hot dishes, pots, or kettles. Individual tiles can also be used as wall hangings.
Or you may want to use your extra tile for creating attractive pictures or mirror frames. Installing tiles on tabletops is another popular idea as well. Broken tiles can even be re-purposed as well to make mosaic designs on a range of surfaces.
Practice Cutting
For those who like to do their own DIY tile projects, you’ll eventually need to invest in some tile cutting tools. Some of these are very simple to use such as a snap tile cutter or tile nippers. However, you’ll still want to practice with them before making those important final cuts on the actual tile you will be using for your project. Using your extra tile for practice can help to give you the experience you need.
Donate Your Extra Tile
Helping others always feels good. Therefore you may want to donate extra tile to a local school so that students can use them in their art projects. A local art studio may be grateful for some free tile as well. And there are also various organizations that build houses for those in need. They may be more than happy to accept free building materials for whatever project they are currently working on.
Return It
Depending on where you purchased it from and how much extra tile you have, it may be worth trying to return it. While this isn’t always possible, if it is, it will usually need to be done within a specific time frame. And keep in mind that suppliers may only accept full and unopened boxes which they can re-sell. Sometimes a re-stocking fee is charged as well, although getting a portion of your money back can be better than none.
Sell Your Extra Tile
You may want to consider selling your extra tile. By taking out an ad in a local paper or placing one on the internet you might be able to find someone who is looking for what you’ve got or to save some cash. This can end up being a win-win for both of you.
Now that you know what to do with extra tile you’ll finally be able to free up some space. However, just be sure to save a portion of it for any future repairs.
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