Our Grout Cleaning Experts in Houston, Texas, Gave This Home's Living Room Floor a Stunning New Appearance

July 17, 2017

This home had an open floor plan for the common areas. The place belonged to a couple with three small children, and they had been having difficulties with the floor's up-keep. Stains seemed to appear out of nowhere and the spaces between the tiles looked quite grimy. Talking to some friends about the state of their floor, they recommended the couple to contact Sir Grout's Houston grout cleaning specialists, and gave them our website's URL. After checking out our services and some of the work we've done in the area, they decided to give us a call to set a date for a free evaluation and quote.



On the day of the evaluation

The living room, dining room, and kitchen were one continuous space and the floor consisted of a rectangular, cream-colored tile with a block herringbone pattern—it had seen better days. The grout lines were very dirty, as were the tiles. The homeowners explained to us that they had been living there for 15 years and had never had the floor professionally cleaned; they never deemed it necessary. However, lately the floor seemed to be dirty all the time, even when they cleaned it several times a day with a mop. Stains and spots were scattered and ever-present. We determined that a grout and tile cleaning followed by a grout color sealing was the best course of action. We offered them an estimated cost that they were happy with, and set up a date to do the job.

On the day of the job

When the day to do the job arrived, we got to our clients' house first thing in the morning to carry out the job. They greeted us with a cup of coffee, which we gladly accepted. While we enjoyed our coffee, we discussed what we had planned to fix the floors.

We started by masking and protecting the surrounding areas. Once that was done, we proceeded to pour our tile and grout cleaner on the area to be treated. Because the grout had so much dirt embedded, we let the cleaner soak the floor for a while before the next step. We then used a gentle scrubber to deeply clean the tile and in between the spaces, as well as a steam cleaner in areas where the dirt was more difficult to remove. We then used the wet vacuum to remove all the excess product and move on to the next stage.



After the floor was cleaned, we examined the grout to check whether any areas needed to be fixed. Fortunately, that was not necessary, as the grout was in good shape. When we finished with the tile and grout cleaning, we proceeded to ColorSeal the grout lines. ColorSeal is what gives floors that like-new look. It can be used to dramatically change the look of a floor, enhancing the color or pattern of the tiling and making the grout lines look even. Additionally, it protects grout from spills and stains. Once we carefully applied Antique Ivory ColorSeal to all the grout lines and the surface had dried, we proceeded to buff on Tile Armor. Tile Armor is our proprietary tile and grout water-based sealant, developed to give a natural look to ceramic and porcelain tiles. We use it to protect tiles and grout against spills and stains. This product is safe for all the members of the family, including pets. When the clients asked us why we used a sealant on tile, we explained that in addition to all the advantages we have already mentioned, it would also make it easier for them to clean the floor from now on.

Care and maintenance tips

The homeowners were concerned that the floor would revert to that state again, so we explained that if they followed our recommendations, they should have a beautiful floor for years to come. We offered them our two cents of wisdom in the form of a short list of do's and don'ts for cleaning their tile floor:

Do's:


• Vacuum your floor frequently to remove loose dirt and dust.
• Apply Sir Grout pH-neutral soap-less floor cleaner liberally to your tile and grout and let soak for 5 minutes... then mop as usual.
• Where soil is more concentrated or has accumulated, use undiluted cleaner.
• Always dry with a towel or terry cloth to remove dirty water/cleaner residue that settles into the concave grout lines. Otherwise, once the liquid residue evaporates, dirt will be left behind.

Don'ts


• We do not recommend using soap-based cleaners on tiles. These type of cleaners leave a film and dull the surface, as well as allowing dirt to settle on it.
• You should not use acid or ammonia-based cleaners because it could affect the color of the grout
  
• Do not use a vinegar and water mixture because vinegar is an acid.
• Do not use steel wool or other abrasives on tile or stone. These can scratch and dull the surface.

After giving them all the recommendations, they told us how happy they were with the results and confessed that they didn't expect the floor to change so dramatically. They also thanked us for all the recommendations we offered about floor maintenance

If you are looking for grout and tile cleaning experts in Houston and the surrounding area, give us a call at (713) 856-9586 or fill out the "Request a Quote" form on this page to set up a date for a free evaluation. If you prefer to receive this information straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter here.

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