Restaurant tile

Bob Foster

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2006
Messages
8,870
I did a job today that was really tough to clean.

EugenesTilePre.jpg

EugenesCRB2.jpg

EugenesKickPower2.jpg


It was a tile with tan grout. The grout was so built up with grease and soil it was black and fuzzy. It almost had the consistency of gum.

So I hit it with a cocktail of truck wash, butyl, Judson Juice, Hot Sauce and soaked it all with a pump up and then went at it with my Whittaker 20 inch with blue brushes. It hardly moved it.

So then I attack each line with a grout brush and that moved some of it but not all of it.

So then I used a flat brush and scrubbed the grout again. That got most of it.

Then I used my small lance pressure want with a 20 degree 01 tip at 1200 psi to do the kicks and misc stuff.
Then I did a 1200 psi turbo hybrid with 200 degree heat. That got most of it but not all of it.

I then got a doodle pad out and prayed over it a little more on some traffic lanes. Got most of it but not all of it.

Then I went at the grout again with my keys.

That finally did it and it looked great.

Just a tip when you are on your hands and knees and using car keeps to dig crap out of grout lines it kinda fries keys. I ruined two keys and now I have to find other ones to copy with.

Way too much work and it took way more time than I had estimated.

What would you guys have done different?
 

boazcan

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
1,522
Location
Tampa Bay/Central Florida
Name
Bryan C
I would have tried 2 different combos:

1st: Bare Bones stripper or Betco extreme spiked with citrus chisel. Let sit for min 20-30 mins, added more then scrubbed. Let sit again, based on your pics and description for another 20 mins and scrubbed or turbo'd. Without your explanation of the trouble you had I would have not recommended the second dwell time.

2nd: Prochem acid cleaner mixed strong with 4oz of scotts citrus boost per gal. Good dwell time, 30 mins.

We used this combo to clean two 8 y/o bathrooms in a large office building. We first used option 1 with minimal results. Came back to a second set of bathrooms with option 2 and worked like a charm.

You may have benefited from the brush Fon was showing us from 3M in a previous thread.
 

TimP

Member
Joined
May 19, 2007
Messages
4,055
I've gotta say that you did your job cleaning it with alkaline getting of the top grease layer off. You should have done acid to etch the grout and release that last layer of filth. That's my only recommendation. Of course after the acid do another layer of alkaline.....light just to neuralise or heavy to get the rest if possible. I wouldn't of done the key thing for sure. In residential I actually do acid first then an alkaline rinse....sometimes I'll scrub the alkaline cleaner with a white pad if the grout brush makes a good difference with a couple passes on the actual tile.

Anyways acid makes a difference on grout......and if that don't get it color seal it. I've ordered some I expect it early next week. I should have time by Thursday to give it a go.
 

GroutManiac

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
8
Mr. Foster;

Could you tell me the name and manufacturer of the machine in the picture. Is it a cylindrical scrubber?
 

GroutManiac

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
8
Hello, from Long Island NY.

My name is Michael C. Malizia, I am glad to be a new sponsored member and hope to learn from people in the tile and grout restoration industry.

Mr. Foster, Thanks for the information on the Cylindrical scrubber. I haven't seen one of those. In a long time.

I am sure that many of you know the importance of testing tile and grout before giving an estimate and wasting a lot of money, time and chemicals on guess work. Their are many factors as to why tile and grout get dirty and soiled.

And their are different ways to approach each cleaning. I always recommend that when you go on an estimate for a job like the one shown by Mr. Foster that you need to qualify and test the tile and grout and expose it's contaminants before proceeding with a cleaning outline and cost structure.

Most restaurants contain multiple contaminants in the grout and on the tile, including but not limited to: Oil, grease, proteins, fatty acids, blood, dirt.

And in many cases none of these are not the villains.

The true villains are actually the in house maintenance crew and their closet full of useless cleaners.

Who for months or years befor you got their used such cleaners that contain heavy surfactants, oils, waxes, acids and solvents.

This mixture of contaminants and the wrong cleaners causes a nasty hardened coating that kind of polymerizes together forming an almost un removable coating.

As a matter of fact if you repeatedly clean grease and oils with acidic based cleaners you are actually compounding them and making them harder, since most acidic cleaners don't break down proteins.

When approaching to clean tile and grout in either a commercial kitchen, residential home or a service station. It is important to carry along a test kit, this kit is your key to evaluating what might be on the floor. And will lead you to the proper cleaning solution.

While all the advice given hear is all good, most of it speaks about what to do when your on the job, my reasoning is to let people understand what they must do before a job. Remember their isn't just one cleaner that can do every thing.

I think taking the approach that a high pressured, steam modified, jet heat system will remove anything idea has many faults. Also I think cleaning procedures need to be separated a little since their are many diversified cleaning companies with different restoration techniques.

Some rely on big TMT machines, some on Steam wands, Portables, and some even like myself still clean floors the old fashioned way Elbow & Knee Grease well for anything under a 1,000 sq ft.

I will at a later date talk about the testing kit that I use but I am sure you guys have them.
 

Bob Foster

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2006
Messages
8,870
Thanks Michael and everyone else. The pre-qualification and testing process is something I sure would like to hear about.

The gunk being hard between the tiles is now explained. I am gong to be looking at the different tile stuff a lot closer at Connections.
 

ScottM

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2007
Messages
95
Location
Sarasota, FL
Name
Scott Moody
Bob,

If you don't have the dark grey brushes for the CRB, get them, they are much stiffer than the blue brushes.
 

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