Help needed with Tile and Grout job.

[ACE]

This kitchen tile did not clean up as well as I hoped. Part of it looks great and part of it looks really bad. I cleaned with Procyon and Chemtex’s Supreme (PH 12) using 12” Spinner at 700-900 PSI. I’m thinking of giving it another go using a strong acid in some areas and citris solvent to take up the grease in other areas. The thing I’m really worried about is area where the grout is a gray color and a bit higher. Is this a problem with the original installation? It looks like there is some cement between the tile and the installer just put a very thin layer of grout over it or someone did allot of repair work with readymix. I seen this before on other jobs, but never this bad.

 

[Ron Lippold]

i would use a strong acid and a couple of oz of a citrus booster

 

[damion68]

Ever try ColorSeal? Looks a perfect candidate.....just a thought.


Mark

 

[boazcan]

what ron said!!

also could try on some of those spots is bare bones mixed strong with at least 20 mins dwell. If that doesn't get it, then color seal.

Agree with your analysis on the grout condition. Have the customer feel it with their hand to better explain to them.

 

[ACE]

I want to be able to give a good explanation to the customer why there are gray areas in grout . I did some research and found that this kind of grout discoloration can be caused by not mixing the grout right or by moisture wicking through the grout or stone. I will run the gambit on it, but don’t know what I can do about the gray grout. I have never tried colorseal. Do they make colorseal for dummies and who sells it?

 

[safeclean]

It looks like someone skim coated that (grout on top off grout) to hide the staining a DIY job for sure, the grout looks in perfect condition under it though but it will be hard to color seal if there is over 30% high grout lines as it makes it hard to apply/wipe on and will wear off with foot traffic.

This is what I would offer the customer is for us to take off the high grey grout areas only using a fein multimaster tool blunt diamond blade than clean and color seal, this way you can be sure of a perfect job, it is a cleaner and cheaper way for the customer than to remove exsiting grout and replace use someone who does this service in color sealing and learn from them on how it is done and still make good money there are plenty of guys in your area i am sure ask at dirtygrout.com

Craig

ps if you color seal it your customer will love you but it will cost them 3 to 4 x more than cleaning

 

[Guest]

I also agree with Ron.

 

[SJA]

I agree with all the above. If you plan on cleaning this area again - I would make sure that there is no wax or sealer on the floor and then clean with a good acid cleaner. Allow dwell time and aggitate. If this does not work - the only solution is to ColorSeal the floor. The only concern with colorsealing a floor that has been skim coated - is what percentage of the floor has grout lines that are even with or above the tile.

 

[steve frasier]

I would think oxyblaster and a stiff grout brush would have solved your problem, if you didn't use the stiff brush in the beginning then that probably would have done what you needed

 

[Tile Nerd]

Actually looks like efflorescence to me. I would acid wash (make sure the acid reacts) and color seal.

 

[ACE]

I needed to reach a stopping point with this. I cleaned again with H1O and Citrus, used some Stripper on a few bad areas then sealed grout. Got it 99% clean. Think I made a big improvement. The grout was black when I started. I may try color seal at a later date. Just though I would knock this job out of the park. I guess it’s not really my fault the grout is two different colors.

 

[TimP]

Yeah it looks like it was waxed for sure. Did it look glossy when you put your cleaner down.

If it wasn't then you definitely needed to use an acid and scrub those lines really well. Tough to say what it really needed based on the pictures. Probably the only thing that would of made it look perfect would of been to color seal. But this is one of those things that a picture doesn't do justice.

 

[Tile Nerd]

I think those lines are supposed to be black/dark gray and the white is efflorescence.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

Is that the after pic?

Did they pay you?

 

[ACE]

Here is the before pic: No I diden't get paid. This was a job for my church. No one asked me to do it, just thought I could make it look beter.

 

[safeclean]

The only option is to color seal here or re grout your customer will have to pay a lot more though you need to give the wow factor I would suggest you do a couple of demo lines to show what it looks like and so they can choose the color they like also drop some acid on the grout see if it turns white or fizzes you need this reaction to color seal.

There will be more jobs like this sometimes no matter what we do the stains are to deep to remove. What is your customer saying at this stage are they happy by the looks of it now do a demo than give price to color seal they will jump at it for sure the demo will also tell you if it will stick if not re grout is the only option. Goodluck

Craig

 

[Fon Johnson]

If you ever want to experiment a little more, order some Grime be gone from Duane Oxley. Mix the grime be gone 1:4 with HOT water. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then scrub the snot out of it with a deck brush or a good brush on a rotary. Then hit it with the turbo. In a kitchen you have to have a good alkaline cleaner. You must remove the organic material first so the acid can get to the grout to etch it. I have done several jobs where nothing was working well, then I used the grime be gone and BAM.

 

[Gary T]

Hey Mike, Do you know or does the church know if anyone else has ever done anything to that grout? The reason I ask is that it looks like an old SaniGlaze job. I don't think there is any eff there. I just looked at a similar floor that was SaniGlazed many years ago, and it looks exactly the same.