Tile and Grout Help/Advice

[jstucky]

I am not set up for tile and grout but have some knowledge on it.

I have ACS truckmount with Dual heat exchanger. Evolution Wand. 17 Inch buffer with mal grit brush.

I have a large hotel 100 rooms. I've done all the carpet. They want a bid and what they can do with all the bathrooms. No pics yet. It's a basic white ceramic I believe with grey or white grout. All medium soiled.

This would be done in half days. 8-10 a day??? Cleaned and sealed??


What would I need to start? Spinner?? Gekko Wand?? Corner tool??

Do you stick to the $1-$1.50 a ft or more being small pain in the A bathrooms???


Thanks in advance amigos!!

 

[Mikey P]

Dont charge by the square foot for bath rooms. Too small.

Charge by the hour.


You'll need a spinner most likely and a hand tool like PMF's to get around the toilet.

You'll need acid cleaner too for urin stains, and some metal brushes for corners and tight spots

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Allway-Tools-Stainless-Steel-Mini-Wire-Brush-3-Pack-SMB3/206006254


Blow (air path or Pod)dry each room and mop down some sealer with a rubber maid mop.



If every room is the same color you may want to be a hero and have some color seal on hide set stains.




Be prepared for real bad caulking jobs too around the tub floor joint. Fix or ignore but be sure to point out failures BEFORE you start.

 

[jstucky]

So what? Maybe a half hour per bathroom for scrub and rinse and detail work??

And have I seen u argue lol with someone about glossy vs satin/matte finishes? I was always under the impression you can't do glossy on a ceramic using sealers

 

[jstucky]

What If I wanted EVERYTHING or close to for tile and grout?? I would need the Gekko??? Other squeege tool?? Corner tool??

 

[Mikey P]

No coatings what so ever...

Oh boy, you are a tile newb.



Give me a call later...


831 588 9063

 

[Captain America]

Those hotel bathrooms may be too small for a spinner...Cant get corners and edges around toilets...
I would stick to the gecko and change out the jets to be wider jets.11002 or 11004 So you get a wider cleaning path......

Also how large is the bathrooms?
And what did they pay for the carpet?

I use heavy flex powder citrus and grout brush letting it sit about 5-10 min...
You may need a helper to scrub......
Don't know what to charge but it may take 45 min per room wo a helper depending on the size..
Some use a cylindrical scrubber but that costs and may be too crowded in the bathroom...hafta stick with a grout brush....

 

[jstucky]

They low balled me at $15 a room. Minimum of 10 every time and I upped it depending on spots i.e grease, red and gum etc. And extra for funky smells/extra deodorizer.

 

[jstucky]

And stupid ?....Aren't hotels all concrete floors?? Did they install on top of backer board or straight to concrete??? Owner is on a spending spree and might want to replace it all.

 

[jstucky]

Bathrooms are fairly standard. Some might be bigger than others in the suites. Ummm maybe 6x5 or 7x5?

 

[Captain America]

15$ is good...we never get over 5-10$ here in central texaas

Tile is very hard to estimate even after you have done it a number of years.....
I would still think it will take 45 minutes per bathroom....it would take me 30 minutes...
And I have been cleaning tile 8-10 years
You might try to clean 1 first and see what the owner thinks and how long it will take you

Might try 50$ per room but he might not pay over 30$

 

[dealtimeman]

If you do 30 a bathroom you ain't making any money.

Each bathroom will take 30-45 total minutes to complete. Maybe longer if they are bad.

So at 30 a room total bill for the day would be 300.

It will take you 5-7 hours to not even make 300 dollars profit as you have to pay time, materials( Chems and sealer) and gas.

So let's say you have a helper and do it in 4 hours

40 dollars for the helper
40 in Chems
20 in gas

100 brute job cost

300 dollar job minus 100 for cost.

200 profit for 4 hours.

We don't work for 50 an hour but most carpet cleaners do, so it might not be so bad, it really depends on what you want to earn per hour.

 

[Scott S.]

Dont charge by the square foot for bath rooms. Too small.
Charge by the hour.
You'll need a spinner most likely and a hand tool like PMF's to get around the toilet.
You'll need acid cleaner too for urin stains, and some metal brushes for corners and tight spots
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Allway-Tools-Stainless-Steel-Mini-Wire-Brush-3-Pack-SMB3/206006254
Blow (air path or Pod)dry each room and mop down some sealer with a rubber maid mop.
If every room is the same color you may want to be a hero and have some color seal on hide set stains.
Be prepared for real bad caulking jobs too around the tub floor joint. Fix or ignore but be sure to point out failures BEFORE you start.

take pictures of every problem you see, document everything.

 

[SamIam]

Are you just cleaning and sealing ceramic tile floors in a bathroom? Or doing a total restore? Is it's just a cleaning to make grout lines pop. Grout brush gekko type tool. I got a westpac tile tool swivel head more like a aw29 build. No rubber ring around the head. I like the rubber ring. Usually great for edges and cleaning.

Oxyblaster or any high Ph citrus oxygen based cleaner, mop, scrub grout lines and rinse.

Explain grouts porous and stains, you can use an acid to etch some staining but if that doesn't work, like Mike said color seal.

The acid cleaner will eat carpet plastic container in and out be careful.

I find I usually never use 175 with malgrit brush. Grout brush on a stick! I'll clean between 600-1000 psi.

 

[Captain America]

This is what I make
80-100$ carpet cleaning per hour
60-80$. Tile cleaning

Driving up to driving away.

Carpet is smaller jobs so you have to do 2 carpet jobs for 1 tile job all things considering.
Tile jobs take longer pay less per hour , but don't have to run around to
2-3 jobs...it works out to about the same pay.

I like tile just for a change of pace, but it does have a learning curve.
Cap