Smashed kitchsn floor tile, can't find a replacement. Any genius ideas?

[GhirardelliSquare]

We're having renovation works done and one of the builders dropped a bit of wood smashing a porcelain floor tile in the kitchen. It was laid before we moved in and there are no spares anywhere in the house or garage. It is about 10 years old and Italian porcelain (Leonardo Ceramico) so we cannot find a replacement online and we've been round every tile shop but nowhere has a close match.

Any bright ideas? It is right at the door into the kitchen so no way to cover it or move furniture or anything. Literally the first tile as you step into the kitchen. It's been completely removed as it broke into a million pieces so there's just a hole left where it was.

Rest of the floor on the same level is wood so considering some sort of wooden threshold but it will look pretty crap I think. Also considered a one-off tile. Like a feature wall but for tiles

This whole building project has been a complete disaster, it's only half finished and I'm giving birth in 3 weeks... Sigh

Feature tile? Or several?

Or can you inset a welcome mat or inset a frieze if tiles?

Have you called the tile company themselves? They might still have some leftovers somewhere.

Inset doormat?

Inset mat could work or scatter a few feature tiles around - but you will always know why they are there and they'll always bug you.

I know you said you couldn't cover it but I can imagine having a flat, thin woven rug over it, doormat style. Might need some clever adhesive or undermat.

Also it's a long shot but check in your loft for spare tiles if you haven't already.

Thanks for the replies. Have contacted the previous owners of the house and also the tile company so we'll see if either reply.

Feature tile strip could work. I've seen this sort of thing online, maybe it could look amazing....?

Are you tiled wall to wall under your units? If so, it may be possible to remove one from under a unit/fridge/cooker and replace it with a non matching item (or just not bother!).
You might have to be prepared to remove a couple just to get an intact one out though . . .

Flat mat will work short term to at least stop the toddler trodding in the hole - thank you!

We moved some units last night to take a look and there are tiles under there. DH wasn't convinced he could get any out intact but it is worth a try. I suppose as they're not walked on they don't become a little loose like some of the others.

Loose is good! They may not have used a cement based floor tile adhesive which means they will be easier to get up.
Use something like a Dremel to take all the grout out round the tile and then see if you can work something thin and flexible (filling knife) under the tile. You may have to sacrifice one to get enough space to work.

Would the building company cover the cost of a replacement floor if you can’t source a replacement tile?

Can you move a tile from a less conspicuous area?

We had the same problem but only had the name of the manufacturer to go by - no name of tile. We emailed them with a picture and they were fantastic, telling us the name of the tile and their Uk stockist (they are based in Malaysia) 10 Years ago. So we emailed the uk stockist but unfortunately they didn’t have any left. But after a lot of googling we found another stockist who sent us 1 tile for free!

Best of luck

eBay?