What a nightmare

[daniel@procarpet]

I had to clean and color seal 250 sqft and a small bath with just clear seal. This job took FOREVER. I stripped the floor and steam cleaned it two days ago and went back this afternoon to seal and clean some carpet. I thought I will have this knocked out in 1.5 hours but no longer than two hours. The seal part took 4 hours. :shock:

The sealer kept wiping off the tile. It adhered ok if I waited 5-10 minutes before wiping, but the sealer was dry by then and I had to scrape it off literally. I wanted to apply and wipe it off while it was still damp, but the grout joints were real deep and when I wiped the sealer a lot of it remained on the tile and the sealer would come off. Then I would have to reapply. I thought I was making decent money at 425 but I will take 300 to clean and clear seal any day of the week before going through this again. Most color seal jobs are not as bad as this one. My back is shot and my wrist is killing me. The customer walks in and says wow it looks great and I was thinking this looks horrible and splotchy. I left some extra sealer and showed them how to apply if they need to touch up any spots.

Any tips would be appreciated on how to avoid these problems.

Before Cleaning

After Cleaning

With color seal

 

[Bob Foster]

The pictures make the job look good.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

The pictures look make the job look good.

Maybe but if you got close to the tile you would see it is sparse in a lot of areas.

 

[Brian R]

Daniel Wrote

The sealer kept wiping off the tile

Did you actually color seal the tile? I didn't know you could do that.
Am I missing something?

 

[tmdry]

If you have the GP CS CD, I'd recommend watching it before and after several times. The first few times will take a while, but you will only get better at it. It requires practice. There's a certain way to do the wipe. All this is in the video, after you do a few jobs, you'll get the hang of it.

Those tiles in the bathroom are easy, I was expecting 2x2 inch tiles with high grout lines before seeing your pictures. Watch the GP video, if you don't have it, go buy it.

We only offer GP CS, best results, best support, and our clients are happy.

Brian -

He didn't color seal the tile, when you apply the sealer onto the grout it will smear onto the tile itself. Than you just wipe it off the tile w/out removing it from the grout line. There's a technique, that requires practice. In the very end, spray water in 50 ft sections and use a cotton bonnet/pad on a floor machine to remove all the CS haze that is on the floor.

 

[Brian R]

I didn't figure...but the way he worded that first part sounded ....nevermind.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Yes you have to push your finger in the grout joint just enough to wipe the excess off without removing the sealer on the grout. The problem with this job was when I did that I could not get all the sealer off the sides of the tile. I would do a double wipe and there would still be sealer on the tile. So then I just had to scrub if off and then go back over the grout with just the brush to smooth it out. I guess I need more practice. The video makes it look so easy. It is not. Plus in order to apply and scrub you really need a person to follow up and wipe because if the bottle of sealer sit the tips clog up and makes the sealer hard to squeeze out.

 

[damion68]

Seriously Daniel, that looks like a cake job. What Color seal did you use? If you used Grout Perfect......why wait the 2 days for drying? With GP, I clean and color seal the same day. Just make sure theres no pooling water in the grout joints.

The sealer should not stick to the tiles......it's the grout you are coloring.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Seriously Daniel, that looks like a cake job. What Color seal did you use? If you used Grout Perfect......why wait the 2 days for drying? With GP, I clean and color seal the same day. Just make sure theres no pooling water in the grout joints.

The sealer should not stick to the tiles......it's the grout you are coloring.

I have grout perfect also.

I couldn't seal the same day because I just didn't have the time. Originally we decided to clear seal and let the floor dry overnight, but after drying the customer wanted color seal. I use gp also. I bought the starter pack for a grand and have tripled that, and I have only used 1.5 bottles.

 

[Bob Foster]

I know that most anyone who has dared to dig into this area of business has had experiences just like yours. It seems like a right of passage on the way to differentiating from competitiors.

 

[boazcan]

Practice. Don't put your finger in the grout line. Make your hand flat, using a slight circular motion. Let it set for about 1 min, then wipe. Works for us.

Also, don't give the customer the color sealer. Keep it. Offer lifetime warranty if cleaned within 12 mths at 70 - 80% of original clean price. We just did two of these last week. Easy money, sealer held up great. Also time to upsell!

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Practice. Don't put your finger in the grout line. Make your hand flat, using a slight circular motion. Let it set for about 1 min, then wipe. Works for us.

Also, don't give the customer the color sealer. Keep it. Offer lifetime warranty if cleaned within 12 mths at 70 - 80% of original clean twice. We just did two of these last week. Easy money, sealer help up great. Also time to upsell!

Thanks for the tip. How long do you wait before wiping with a circular motion? I was using the sham wows.

 

[tmdry]

Practice. Don't put your finger in the grout line. Make your hand flat, using a slight circular motion. Let it set for about 1 min, then wipe. Works for us.

Also, don't give the customer the color sealer. Keep it. Offer lifetime warranty if cleaned within 12 mths at 70 - 80% of original clean twice. We just did two of these last week. Easy money, sealer help up great. Also time to upsell!

That's how we do it as well. Except we give a 1 year warranty if they decline the lifetime warranty to have us back once every 12 months.

 

[boazcan]

Practice. Don't put your finger in the grout line. Make your hand flat, using a slight circular motion. Let it set for about 1 min, then wipe. Works for us.

Also, don't give the customer the color sealer. Keep it. Offer lifetime warranty if cleaned within 12 mths at 70 - 80% of original clean twice. We just did two of these last week. Easy money, sealer help up great. Also time to upsell!

Thanks for the tip. How long do you wait before wiping with a circular motion? I was using the sham wows.

about 45 secs of sealing, go back to where you started and start wiping. The sealer will have 60-90 secs to set. Also, too much sealer being applied could be causing the problem. Try applying less, brush it in. should have very little excess if doing it correctly. Less is better!

 

[Mikey P]

When you have dried GP on a tile, spray a little neutral cleaner on it and buff it off by hand or with you 175

 

[Scott Rogers]

So you did not follow the Alkaline (stripper) cleaning with a acid wash? I have found a acid wash then a final rinse makes sealing go much smoother and gives a better bond for the sealer. Just my 2 cents.

 

[West]

I agree, using the acidic product last to open up the pours of the grout. Makes a world of difference on the color seal adhering to the grout and not wiping out.

 

[rwcarpet]

I agree, using the acidic product last to open up the pours of the grout. Makes a world of difference on the color seal adhering to the grout and not wiping out.

Acid cleaning instructions say to rinse the tile after acid cleaning with a neutral product??........I believe, but I don't have the bottle handy.

 

[sweendogg]

Yes you should alkaline clean for the dirt, acid clean to etch the top layer of stain/ crap off of the grout, and you should neutralize before you seal in a perfect world. (and some teach that to sell more chems as well. ) However, with grout, they basically want you to neutralize the product to stop any further chemical reaction which would slowly weaken the grout. Some acid side cleaners can be neutralized with water, others need a neutralizing agent.

 

[sweendogg]

Daniel when you said you stripped the floor, you don't mean they used a wax/ finish on it at one point did they? If that was the case that could have been part of your problem with the color seal not taking very well.

 

[mikepo]

Sweendogg is right on again. Can't tell you how many broken tiles I've seen as a result of failed / weaken grout.

I've thought about GP coloring but decided against it and focused on finding a better, longer lasting sealer. I worked with a local chemistry company and now make, use, and sell my own nano chemistry T&G treatment - NSWR 500. It has the added benefit of working on all natural stone and I pick up exterior / pool jobs all the time (UV hardened & warranted for 3 years). Sure I'm hawking my wares most of the time but this time it's about being proud that I built and sell a product that works as advertised. In the meantime, enjoy some pics.

Mike

My new company car

 

[Jeremy N]

Mike, you should hook me up with some of that juice. I live here in NB and would like to find a good sealer.

GP looks like too much work. A simple sealer would work for me.

 

[tmdry]

Sure I'm hawking my wares most of the time but this time it's about being proud that I built and sell a product that works as advertised.

Are you saying GP does not work as advertised?