commercial ceramic tile/grout blotchy

[richard]

Did a large tile/grout job. Started with Viper Renew 900 psi 180 deg. rinse followed be Venun - same rinse.
Grout cleaned up real nice in most areas but dark spots seem darker on the grout. Tile is also a little streaked.
Another co. cleaned it about 5 months ago with 'oxidizing bleach', scrubbed, shop vac. them mopped'. According to the facility director.
The customer also said when the floor was installed the installers had to come back and redo some of the grout. Also never sealed.
Parking lot was repaved/resealed in November which may be part of the tile streaking.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Mikey P]

are you judging a totally dry floor or just after cleaning?


sounds like the newer grout had an acrylic additive in it that is not absorbing the water (and soil) as much.


most likely Color Sealing is the cheapest solution.

 

[richard]

The floor is totally dry. Went back a few days later. I mentioned color seal to customer when I went back. I have to convince the custy I didn't cause the problem first. It's about 2600 s/f - that's a lot of color sealing.

 

[sweendogg]

Why did you start with an acid first? Unless you mean you started with Venum then used Renew... Always start with the alkaline first to remove the oils, then double back with your acid side. And when in doubt you still should scrub the grout lines to help break down the crud.

2nd.. Check and double check that the tile was indeed ceramic and porcelain and not a stone. If it was and you cleaned on the acid side... always a possibility of of etching.

3rd.. Like mentioned above, figure out what kind of grout you are dealing with.. sanded, unsanded, epoxy, urethane.. can make a difference.

4th.. Find out if the previous cleaners or in house ever used a "sealer" and if so make sure it wasn't a topical.. Even a topical can fill in the voids in sanded grout and make it near impossible to remove deep staining.

Finally... Do a test to see if its not still dirty.. Take some of your viper venom.. (alkaline side) spray a 50/50 dilution on a blotchy grout line, scrub, and towel down and see what you have.

 

[J Scott W]

There are probably dozens of things that can cause a variation in the consistency of the grout. How much water in each batch; who applied the grout; how wet the sponge was and the list goes on.

Over time the more porous portions of the grout absorb more soil. they will also absorb more water and cleaning agent. So after cleaning the differences get highlighted or more noticed. It is not uncommon for this to happen. So it is good to anticipate this. Maybe educate your client in advance.

With some time, further drying and new soil will help hide this differences.

I agree with the comments by Mike and Sweendogg.

 

[richard]

It is ceramic. It is sanded grout. I already went over a few bad areas with Venum, a brush and a rag. The rag did have some dirt but had no effect on the grout. The customer claims it has never been sealed - even after install. The area in question is an area I didn't get to see until I was let in to do the job. It was added after I did a demo months ago. The grout that was not re-done by the installers now looks like new.
Steaking on the tile. I originally went over these areas 3 or 4 times alkalin - acid. Each time it got better but when it dried still a hint of streaks. Is it possible the tile has a residue from the parking lot being re-paved/sealed.

 

[sweendogg]

Sorry guessed I missed the part about the customer having installers return to fix.


Ok so problem 1.. it was never sealed that is on the business not you. Sanded grout is porous and will stain and should have been sealed from the beginning like recommended by manufacturer. Second if it was re-grouted, very good chance they didn't have the same dye batch so.


So all evidence points towards a bad install.

 

[sweendogg]

It is ceramic. It is sanded grout. I already went over a few bad areas with Venum, a brush and a rag. The rag did have some dirt but had no effect on the grout. The customer claims it has never been sealed - even after install. The area in question is an area I didn't get to see until I was let in to do the job. It was added after I did a demo months ago. The grout that was not re-done by the installers now looks like new.
Steaking on the tile. I originally went over these areas 3 or 4 times alkalin - acid. Each time it got better but when it dried still a hint of streaks. Is it possible the tile has a residue from the parking lot being re-paved/sealed.

The streaking on the grout could be parking lot sealer, mortar residue, or various other residues from other products.

 

[richard]

The streaks are on the tile mainly in high traffic areas. I believe I will be able to get rid of them with one more alkalin scrub/rinse.

 

[Jeremy]

Personally I like Cobbs Powermax for tile and grout... I was never a fan of Viper Venom. It was too hit and miss (i.e. great on one job then bombs on the next). Oxy blaster was/is a good product as well but I think its over priced. Just my opinion...

 

[Gary T]

Regrout areas is most likely from a different batch, nothing you can do short of color seal.

Streaking could be from a number of things including parking lot sealer. Try some floor stripper.

Pour the viper crud in the toilet. Get some Shorebest 2790. Best alk cleaner on the market.

Sent from my Eris using Tapatalk

 

[richard]

I also used Dupont Kleansal and Restore in some of the areas with same results.
I've used Oxyblaster and to me IT was hit or miss.
I am going to work up a quote to color seal. About 2000 s/f of 1 ft tiles. Going to be a back breaker even with my roller knee pads.