Anyone willing to share what they use to seal grout lines after cleaning? I know there are numerous amounts of grout sealers out there and different ways to apply them. What do you use on those bigger jobs that's not back breaking? Some of the techniques look very time consuming and tedious.
Tile and Grout sealing
- Thread starter mscales3
- Start date
Bruce Humphrey
Member
I'm using Dynachem Ultraseal Impregnator http://www.cobbcarpet.com/protector.html
hogjowl
Idiot™
Me too.
Mikey P
Administrator
Same here.it's cheap enough that you can spray the whole floor, flat mop it around, repeat where needed and in most cases walk away.
Shane Deubell
Supportive Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
- Messages
- 4,052
sit on one of these and use the bottle with the wheel, for commercial we just spray down and squeegee.
Wandslinger
Member
Same here with Cobbs. By far the easiest is to spray it down with a multi-sprayer. Then take a squeegee on the end of a broom stick and move it around. The sealer will go to the path of least resistance which is of course the grout joint. Let it set for about 10 to 15 minutes and then wipe it up. Apply a fan which will cause the sealer haze to flash/dry away. Easy money.
So you can spray the entire floor and you won't have hazing issues???
hogjowl
Idiot™
I suspect they aren't telling everything ... which is a bulletin board glitch ... always. I suspect they have to come behind and white pad the floor or cotton pad it, or something.
But it would be nice if one of the idiots would answer the question, on this or the other thread.
But it would be nice if one of the idiots would answer the question, on this or the other thread.
Mikey P
Administrator
90% of the time no buffing or whiping is needed with Cobbs sealer.
Honest injun.
Honest injun.
Bruce Humphrey
Member
I have never noticed any hazing using Dynachem Ultra Seal. I've sprayed down showers head to toe and wiped up the excess with micro fiber towels and let it dry.
<----- Proud to be one of the idiots
<----- Proud to be one of the idiots
CrazyRay
Member
Even the regular Ultraseal solvent protector works great on grout. As far as the application is concerned, I have tried all the "fancy" grout sealer application tools. None were dependable at all. I ended up using one of the squeeze bottle, roller types. But crawling around on my knees was not something I wanted to do. Too slow. So, I got a broom handle and duct taped it to the bottle. Works great and cheap too.
We sell these, I just have never used one:
http://www4.cobbcarpet.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=1439
We sell these, I just have never used one:
http://www4.cobbcarpet.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=1439
dealtimeman
Everyday is Saturday.
I am pretty sure just give ray a call and see what they can do.
I have and use this tool when I get into larger jobs and it works well and much easier on the back and knees!
Mardie
Member
I just carry my jug of sealer and every so often dump a bunch on the floor and drag it around with a neopreme squeegee until I run out of sealer to drag around then dump some more on the floor. I follow up with cotton towels on gliders.
Art Kelley
Supportive Member
I'm just going to steal this from the other board from Todd The Cleaner because it's just brilliant:
Over the past year I have had a few people ask me about the grout sealing stick I use. I have made 2 of them that I keep on my truck, a 48 inch one I use for sealing floor grout and a 10 inch one I use for sealing countertop grout. Both are identical except for the length of the pipe.
RDClean said: ↑
Here is my grout sealing stick.
I used 1/2 inch PVC pipe and put a fitting on each end of the pipe that has 1/2 inch male pipe threads on it. I made the pipe 48 inches long, depending on how tall you are you may want it to be a little shorter.
On one end of the stick you will want to put a 1/2 inch threaded cap on it. Drill a small hole in the cap to let air in while you are sealing the grout. Be sure not to cover the hole with your hand while working or it will stop the flow of the sealer.
On the other end I have a 1/2 inch ball valve with 1/2 inch female pipe threads on both sides. I made everything easy to take apart so it is easy to replace the valve or any other part if needed.
On the bottom side of the ball valve there is a brass bushing to reduce the pipe threads from 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch
and then a brass fitting with 1/4 inch male pipe threads to a 1/8 inch barb which I put the toothbrush on. Get a toothbrush made out of the soft flexible plastic, not the hard plastic that you can not bend. The hard plastic toothbrushes break too easy. Cut off the handle of the toothbrush and drill a hole in it so you can put it on the brass barb. When you drill the hole drill on an angle so the toothbrush will sit flat in the grout while you are sealing the grout. I usually hold the stick at about a 60 degree angle so I drill the hole in the toothbrush accordingly.
To use the grout stick you will fill the stick with sealer and then open the valve so that about 1 to 2 drops of sealer per second is dripping through the toothbrush. I usually carry a towel with me that I use to cover the toothbrush when I need to pick up the stick so I don't drip sealer all over. I also use the towel (I hold the stick above it) when setting the flow. The sealer is gravity fed so as the stick starts to empty you may need to adjust the flow a couple times so that you are getting enough sealer out. Once you have the sealer coming out of the stick at an appropriate flow just put the toothbrush in the grout lines and seal the grout. I find it easiest to go the entire length of the grout line from wall to wall going in one direction first (north & south or whatever) and after I have done all the lines going north & south I will turn and do all the east to west lines.
RDClean said: ↑
Todd will you take a picture or link a pic of your grout sealer stick and share.
I have not started cleaning tile but have a lot of people ask me for tile cleaning and sealing. Maybe I can fab up something like what your talking about.
I have not started cleaning tile but have a lot of people ask me for tile cleaning and sealing. Maybe I can fab up something like what your talking about.
Here is my grout sealing stick.
I used 1/2 inch PVC pipe and put a fitting on each end of the pipe that has 1/2 inch male pipe threads on it. I made the pipe 48 inches long, depending on how tall you are you may want it to be a little shorter.
On one end of the stick you will want to put a 1/2 inch threaded cap on it. Drill a small hole in the cap to let air in while you are sealing the grout. Be sure not to cover the hole with your hand while working or it will stop the flow of the sealer.
On the other end I have a 1/2 inch ball valve with 1/2 inch female pipe threads on both sides. I made everything easy to take apart so it is easy to replace the valve or any other part if needed.
On the bottom side of the ball valve there is a brass bushing to reduce the pipe threads from 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch
and then a brass fitting with 1/4 inch male pipe threads to a 1/8 inch barb which I put the toothbrush on. Get a toothbrush made out of the soft flexible plastic, not the hard plastic that you can not bend. The hard plastic toothbrushes break too easy. Cut off the handle of the toothbrush and drill a hole in it so you can put it on the brass barb. When you drill the hole drill on an angle so the toothbrush will sit flat in the grout while you are sealing the grout. I usually hold the stick at about a 60 degree angle so I drill the hole in the toothbrush accordingly.
To use the grout stick you will fill the stick with sealer and then open the valve so that about 1 to 2 drops of sealer per second is dripping through the toothbrush. I usually carry a towel with me that I use to cover the toothbrush when I need to pick up the stick so I don't drip sealer all over. I also use the towel (I hold the stick above it) when setting the flow. The sealer is gravity fed so as the stick starts to empty you may need to adjust the flow a couple times so that you are getting enough sealer out. Once you have the sealer coming out of the stick at an appropriate flow just put the toothbrush in the grout lines and seal the grout. I find it easiest to go the entire length of the grout line from wall to wall going in one direction first (north & south or whatever) and after I have done all the lines going north & south I will turn and do all the east to west lines.
hogjowl
Idiot™
Reminds me of the Nick-a-claw from a few years back.
Jason del Norte
Member
What does that Cobb stuff smell like?
Mikey P
Administrator
Cotton Candy.
that Grout Sealing stick has been commercially available for years.
Don't know what good the valve does on the working end?
that Grout Sealing stick has been commercially available for years.
Don't know what good the valve does on the working end?
dealtimeman
Everyday is Saturday.
We just use the blue ones like ray posted just buy multiple application wheels. The tube PVC type applicators are not the best in my opinion, we have multiple and they are expensive and don't work consistently at least for us.
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boazcan
Member
Gallon jug of a quality solvent based sealer
Squeegee
32 oz spray bottle for corners, edges, toilets
I do assist the drying with a fan and cotton bonnets (on the bottom of a flatmop)
It is that easy.
Sent from my GT-P5113
Squeegee
32 oz spray bottle for corners, edges, toilets
I do assist the drying with a fan and cotton bonnets (on the bottom of a flatmop)
It is that easy.
Sent from my GT-P5113
I buy Aqua Mix GSC at Home Depot for $99 a gallon, my Speedwheel is 8 oz. We can seal up to 500 sq ft of grout with the Speedwheel at 8 oz, you guys are wasting your money or screwing your customers and wasting time, buffing haze when you can simply wipe it off with a terry towel if you arent too lazy too get down on your hands and knees, maybe I'm wrong but getting down on your knees to seal grout is the proper way, that's how I learned.
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boazcan
Member
yeah sure...here is something for everyone to see, especially people starting out in tile/grout http://www.tilecleaning.org/sealing-grout.htm the Speedwheel has a softer foam wheel than the one in the pics
Mikey P
Administrator
Never tried mixing it with agua, not sure why you would want to.
No.
No.
Mikey P
Administrator
Good point.
Larry?
Larry?
I use cobbs for carpet, uph, and tile. Best I've used. It does a great job on carpet jobs as well.
After color sealing for 4 years, I hardly ever color seal anymore, just clean and clearseal, the way everyone explained above, I was a bit skeptical as well, but it won't leave a haze and no getting on my knees/rollers and having a sore knee/back the next day.
After color sealing for 4 years, I hardly ever color seal anymore, just clean and clearseal, the way everyone explained above, I was a bit skeptical as well, but it won't leave a haze and no getting on my knees/rollers and having a sore knee/back the next day.
