Adding Color Sealing as another service

[CtcClean]

My business is cleaning carpet, tile, and upholstery and I'm thinking of adding color sealing. Those that offer color sealing, what are the set up costs? Are you getting $2 a sq ft? Any negatives? Any helpful insight would be appreciated, thank you

 

[The Great Oz]

There are probably a lot of people doing it and making killer money.

We've decided not to, just because we've seen so many failures that customers are asking us to fix. Maybe it's a fluke that every single color seal job we've seen was done by clown or is failing after a few years. At any rate, the opinion was formed that this is the 'house flipper' version of the Gypsy used car dealer putting Motor Honey in a noisy engine.

So one negative vote here, which will probably drive a lot of pro votes from others. You might want to take a peek at some forums for professional tile and stone guys, you'll see plenty of observations and opinions about color sealing.

 

[Mikey P]

My enthusiasm peeled away after a few years of a heavy push for this service


And some of the fails that followed.

Best case scenario is newish grout, never sealed prior with anything


And the same color.


With that in mind...Good luck.

 

[Old Coastie]

When cleaning grout, I hate seeing color seal. It always comes off patchy and the grout is eaten away unevenly. I have to qualify their expectations with "que sera, sera" and rarely feel happy afterwards.

 

[Brian H]

One of our first experiences with color seal was when we were newly into the tile cleaning business. We cleaned an automobile showroom without testing the grout for color seal. They had a pinkish color grout that was dyed black and we took about half of it off in cleaning. It took 4 of us about 8 hours over 2 evenings to recolor seal the entire place.

Afterwards we found out that the color seal had already been coming off in spots prior to our cleaning. They were going to go back after the original company and then we came along....

 

[Lee Stockwell]

This board saves me money again.

 

[todg]

Couple Blogs I wrote about Color Sealing

"Color Sealing Gone Bad"
"10 Facts about Color Sealing"

Yes, I have seen better color sealing jobs than others...

 

[clean image]

Michael, disagree 100% with color seal makes no difference in maintenance, when done correctly.

I'm not saying it's the end all proposition..


We did demo for lawyer in his kitchen, 3 years latter he decides to have it done, the only clean grout was what we color sealed.

Before replacing my CPT with Trav, it made a definite difference, especially with pets being broken in.

It's all about standing behind your what you sell.

 

[todg]

Michael, disagree 100% with color seal makes no difference in maintenance, when done correctly.

I'm not saying it's the end all proposition..


We did demo for lawyer in his kitchen, 3 years latter he decides to have it done, the only clean grout was what we color sealed.

Before replacing my CPT with Trav, it made a definite difference, especially with pets being broken in.

It's all about standing behind your what you sell.

We all have an opinion...I clean tile and grout every day...I see the work out their...You give people in my best judgment a bad remedy to a problem that don't need to be fixed! One of the major problems in Las Vegas, NV is when moving into a "new home" as homeowners aren't even aware of color sealing...Then who get's the call? BTW the guy that did the color sealing mysteriously gone, out of business...

Not sure if you know, color sealer is topical...It will get dirty again, maintenance program???? I'd like to see one of your maintenance programs in one of your jobs say, a year later in a family household...

Color sealing is more of a tempory solution to an ongoing problem - Dirty Grout?

 

[CtcClean]

Thanks to everyone for all of the great information! It sounds like color sealing isn't the magic bullet for grout. I'm sticking with the Acid/Alkaline wash/scrub/spinner then sealing it with Stone Tech, repeat every 3 years. I was hoping for something that would last longer - but I guess we're not there yet.

The last thing I need is to be known as the guy that gave a customer a peeling floor -

 

[Nomad74]

I know some may not agree, but I walk away from all tile cleaning jobs that have been color sealed. I just don't need the headache in my life.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

I don't think I've ever run across grout that has been color sealed.

 

[CtcClean]

Has anyone used a brush or spinner tool and the color seal came off? That would be a nightmare....

 

[Nomad74]

Has anyone used a brush or spinner tool and the color seal came off? That would be a nightmare....

Yes. And it was a nightmare. That is why I now walk. It's happened twice to me. The color seal job was so good I couldn't tell it was color sealed when I did my pre-inspection.

If I had a customer insist I clean it, I would do it at low pressure, and light scrubbing. I would let the chemical dwell longer and do the work.

 

[Spurlington]

Dont be afraid of it .. do it .. give em a 10 year warranty .. as long as they hire you to clean it every 12 months .. touch up if you need to .. and if they wait too long - warranty expires and then charge to repair all areas needing touch ups !!

 

[Nomad74]

I walked from a tile job yesterday. It was all color sealed and it was a sloppy job. I refused to touch it. Call me a chicken.

 

[Mikey P]

That's where our wand will shine at 300 psi

 

[Cleanworks]

I walked from a tile job yesterday. It was all color sealed and it was a sloppy job. I refused to touch it. Call me a chicken.

Chicken.

 

[FB7777]

I've been having great success with my color sealing closing approach

I follow tile and grout cleaners around and just after they are done, I point out the flaws and show them how my method will looked much better

I've only received 2 death threats in the past six months

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Boylovic

 

[PrimaDonna]

our wand

Your name and the MB logo going to be on all the ones sold?

 

[Mikey P]

maybe a vacuum tramp stamp

 

[FB7777]

maybe a vacuum tramp stamp

The mark of the beast

Sanitaire rearranged -- I ire Satan

Coincidence?

 

[Mikey P]

no

 

[PrimaDonna]

@Mark Saiger had some recent "experience" with color sealer. I know he has an opinion on it. Just wish I got that on video!

As others have said....stay away. We've also ran in to nothing but issues when we come across it in our customers homes.

 

[Mikey P]

CS works great when applied to near virgin grout.
If the grout has been soaked with oils, urine, good penetrative or any form of topicals, we now pass.

 

[Mikey P]

@Mark Saiger had some recent "experience" with color sealer. I know he has an opinion on it. Just wish I got that on video!

As others have said....stay away. We've also ran in to nothing but issues when we come across it in our customers homes.

yeah, due to the negativity of that event I've been hesitant to talk about is so soon after a very positive fest.

 

[PrimaDonna]

yeah, due to the negativity of that event I've been hesitant to talk about is so soon after a very positive fest.

I didn't mention where or how he had recent experience....but I guess you kind of just did.