Materials you’ll need:

• Aluminium foil
• Tray of ice cubes
• Sandpaper
• Floor tile adhesive
• Replacement tile
• Weights (e.g. pile of books).
  
  Tools you'll need:

Gas torch or electric iron
Sharp knife
Putty knife
Notched spreader for adhesive.

This tiresome job usually becomes necessary because someone has dropped a sharp object on your tiled floor, damaging one tile. The tile itself may decide to curl up at the edges and require re-gluing. Here are some of the ways to tame that loose tile.

1. If the tile is loose around the edges, try buttering underneath the tile with a little extra tile adhesive and weighting the tile down until the adhesive dries.

2. Another way is to heat the adhesive using a handheld gas torch. This needs care, however, and the torch must not be held too long in one place or it will scorch the tile. Play the flame back and forwards across the tile then press the edges down and put a weight on top. If you don't have a torch, cover the tile with aluminium foil and "iron" it with a hot iron, then weight it down.

3. If the tile is cracked or broken, the best thing to do is replace it entirely. Don't try to gouge up the edges as this is about the best way to damage the surrounding tiles. Instead, cut or break the tile from the centre by using a sharp implement and work towards the edges with a scraper. Inserting the edge of the knife into any cracks or breaks and levering will give you a good grip. You can make this easier by chilling the tile. Put a tray of ice cubes on top until the tile becomes brittle when it will break more easily. Once the main pieces are out, scrape away as much of the old adhesive as you can and get out crumbs with a vacuum cleaner.

4. Test fit the new tile without putting any adhesive on it (or removing the backing of a self-stick tile). Sometimes, it will be too large for the hole. Scrape the edges cleanly and evenly with a sharp knife, or sand the tile until it fits.

5. Apply new adhesive to the gap, keeping it a fraction in from the edges of the hole so the new tile won't squeeze too much adhesive out onto surrounding tiles. Warm the new tile so it is easier to fit into position, then weigh it down for the required drying time. A pile of books makes a very satisfactory set of weights.