Tile and Grout cleaning and sealing ??

[Brody Robert]

I don't do much sealing of grout but I have a big one coming up so just had a couple questions.

I understand the limitations of sealing grout and I explained them to my client but I want to make sure and use the best grout sealer there is so it will stay clean for her.
The grout sealer I've used in the past hasn't seemed to offer much Benefit at all so I stopped offering it But she really wants it sealed.

Questions..
1) Is there a really good grout sealer that would really be worth this lady spending $700?

2) I know color sealer is the best option but won't be offering it this time, but for future, is there any Color Sealant that keeps the grout looking natural or will it always look painted?

Thanks for the input. Like I said I haven't done much Sealing so any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Mikey P]

Color sealer is NOT the best option in most cases.

What sort of tile and living conditions are we talking about?

 

[Brody Robert]

Color sealer is NOT the best option in most cases.

What sort of tile and living conditions are we talking about?

Oh really? I thought I remembered you talking about how good it was. Maybe it was someone else.

They are just moving into the house so I'm not sure how the previous owners lived but it's an upscale house. (As upscale as Bentonville Arkansas gets anyways)
And seems to have been treated well.
It looks to be man made tile, not natural stone.

Grout is a light color but is dark in most traffic areas just like it normally is.

Did that answer your question at all?

 

[Mikey P]

Colorseal is great IF you're the first one to touch the grout or it's a seldom used surface, either of which is rarely the case.

Where did you come up with the $700 price?

Clean it real well, MOST importantly- teach them or their house cleaner about how best to maintain the floor (more important than sealing) and "just" apply Cobbs for -.50 a foot.

 

[Brody Robert]

Colorseal is great IF you're the first one to touch the grout or it's a seldom used surface, either of which is rarely the case.

Where did you come up with the $700 price?

Clean it real well, MOST importantly- teach them or their house cleaner about how best to maintain the floor (more important than sealing) and "just" apply Cobbs for -.50 a foot.

Good stuff!! As far as pricing I may be on the low end compared to the high dollar guys here but it's about 1,000 sq ft of tile.
Cleaning it should be fairly easy and I've been getting great results lately. So I figured .30 a sq ft to clean and .40 to seal it since it's more labor intensive.

Will I need to use an acid so the sealer applies better?

I was hoping to get into grout sealing someday but you are probably right. I have heard of the color flaking months down the road and turning into a nightmare scenario.

I need to find ways to get my ticket average higher. Kinda started off as a low-middle price point for carpet cleaning and having a hard time raising my prices.
So $700 for tile and grout seems pretty sweet to me.
Id like to get more into that if sealing honestly offers a benefit to the client. Not convinced it does though.

 

[Mikey P]

Cleaning should be about twice of what your carpet rates are IMO if all you're doing is moping down solutions, scrubbing and rinsing one time. Add 50% more if you need to do a complete acid step.

Sealing with the Cobbslop method should be between .20 and .50, again ...IMO.

 

[WillS]

Clean and seal for .75 to $1 p/ sq. ft. Leave color sealing to Stanley Steemer because they will keep re applying it every 6 months as it chips off.

If your Mike or Meg, $5 sq. ft. for cleaning and sealing.

 

[todg]

Why do folks always ask here what to charge? I mean seriously, what are you interested making? Color seal in decorative areas, or above three floors if you like friends and not enemies...Sealer does not keep floors any cleaner than they were left unsealed...I offer one service, tile and grout cleaning + sealing...My typical job setup to breakdown is 1.5 hours or less...

You can tell the people who just ain't gonna make it in this industry...No hard feelings, just an observation...

 

[Mikey P]

Jebus Marcus...

I suppose you knew it all from day one...

 

[Brody Robert]

Why do folks always ask here what to charge? I mean seriously, what are you interested making? Color seal in decorative areas, or above three floors if you like friends and not enemies...Sealer does not keep floors any cleaner than they were left unsealed...I offer one service, tile and grout cleaning + sealing...My typical job setup to breakdown is 1.5 hours or less...

You can tell the people who just ain't gonna make it in this industry...No hard feelings, just an observation...

That's actually pretty jacked up man. You don't know anything about me And please go back and read what I wrote. I didn't ask anything about how to charge. Just a few tips on tile and grout cleaning.
I thought we could ask questions here.

I don't usually get upset about Internet tough guys but to be honest you kind of annoy me. No offense. Just an observation.

 

[Larry Cobb]

The best sealers are solvent fluorochemical-based.

They do protect the grout and flooring from most stains.

They need to be maintained with a neutral detergent for best performance.

AND, the mop water needs to be vaccumed up to keep the grout clean . . .

 

[Jimmy L]

That was truly shocking to me

 

[todg]

That's actually pretty jacked up man. You don't know anything about me And please go back and read what I wrote. I didn't ask anything about how to charge. Just a few tips on tile and grout cleaning.
I thought we could ask questions here.

I don't usually get upset about Internet tough guys but to be honest, you kind of annoy me. No offense. Just an observation.

I read your article well enough...I have a sixth grade and above education level...On another note, read what I wrote...BTW if you don't know what your doing, what are you offering it for? Best of luck!

Want some advice?

Go work with someone who has experience with tile and grout cleaning and sealing...

Asking here for the best of anything is just opening up a can of worms...You'll get answers from anywhere...Go educate your customer and ask her if she wants to spend thousands or peanuts...Sealer is a fluorochemical...It makes products and more repels and bead to the top of the surface...IT DOESN"T keep floors cleaner...Here's another tip for ya: Don't offer anything topical like high gloss, or epoxy BS, or anything you read and hear about to make tile and grout stay cleaner or shinier longer...

What really works: Annual Service in Homes, and possible monthly service in commercial settings...

What else can I help you with?

Sorry for being an asshole...

 

[Brody Robert]

I read your article well enough...I have a sixth grade and above education level...On another note, read what I wrote...BTW if you don't know what your doing, what are you offering it for? Best of luck!

Want some advice?

Go work with someone who has experience with tile and grout cleaning and sealing...

Asking here for the best of anything is just opening up a can of worms...You'll get answers from anywhere...Go educate your customer and ask her if she wants to spend thousands or peanuts...Sealer is a fluorochemical...It makes products and more repels and bead to the top of the surface...IT DOESN"T keep floors cleaner...Here's another tip for ya: Don't offer anything topical like high gloss, or epoxy BS, or anything you read and hear about to make tile and grout stay cleaner or shinier longer...

What really works: Annual Service in Homes, and possible monthly service in commercial settings...

What else can I help you with?

Sorry for being an asshole...

I'm not sure where you are missing my point. I had a question about grout sealing because I was looking for a better product. Why do we have places like mikeysboard if I can't come on here and ask about finding a superior product.
I've cleaned thousands of sq ft of tile and have great success with cleaning. I just needed to know about grout sealing products. Instead of getting ideas so I can become better in my industry I have to sit here and argue with a jackass. The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me. Unless you are just trying to "look cool" in front of your carpet cleaning buddies.

I'm really not sure what Was wrong with my question. I'm charging her decent money and I want to make sure she gets good results for her money. I am trying to be the opposite of an uneducated hack.

Anyway, I hope you accomplished your goal of looking cool here on the Internet. Maybe next time save your attacks for people who are trying to rip people off. Not trying to become better.

Larry and Mikey, thank you for your input I'll be placing an order for some sealer from Larry.

 

[Mikey P]

Sorry about that.

Totally uncalled for.

 

[todg]

I'm not sure where you are missing my point. I had a question about grout sealing because I was looking for a better product. Why do we have places like mikeysboard if I can't come on here and ask about finding a superior product.
I've cleaned thousands of sq ft of tile and have great success with cleaning. I just needed to know about grout sealing products. Instead of getting ideas so I can become better in my industry I have to sit here and argue with a jackass. The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me. Unless you are just trying to "look cool" in front of your carpet cleaning buddies.

I'm really not sure what Was wrong with my question. I'm charging her decent money and I want to make sure she gets good results for her money. I am trying to be the opposite of an uneducated hack.

Anyway, I hope you accomplished your goal of looking cool here on the Internet. Maybe next time save your attacks for people who are trying to rip people off. Not trying to become better.

Larry and Mikey, thank you for your input I'll be placing an order for some sealer from Larry.

I'm not sure where you are missing my point. I had a question about grout sealing because I was looking for a better product. Why do we have places like mikeysboard if I can't come on here and ask about finding a superior product.
I've cleaned thousands of sq ft of tile and have great success with cleaning. I just needed to know about grout sealing products. Instead of getting ideas so I can become better in my industry I have to sit here and argue with a jackass. The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me. Unless you are just trying to "look cool" in front of your carpet cleaning buddies.

I'm really not sure what Was wrong with my question. I'm charging her decent money and I want to make sure she gets good results for her money. I am trying to be the opposite of an uneducated hack.

Anyway, I hope you accomplished your goal of looking cool here on the Internet. Maybe next time save your attacks for people who are trying to rip people off. Not trying to become better.

Larry and Mikey, thank you for your input I'll be placing an order for some sealer from Larry.

Funny thing I ain't the dumb ass asking stupid questions...Let alone the thousands of square feet of tile and grout you cleaned...How far you live from Hillary Clinton anyway?

Is it fair for a "hack" to call a "hack"...I am sorry your racket is better than mine...

 

[Old Coastie]

I have refused to seal grout because I never thought it would help much.

Might try Ultraseal soon, too.

 

[todg]

I have refused to seal grout because I never thought it would help much.

Might try Ultraseal soon, too.

Cleaning and sealing is a great idea...Better Money! You cleaned the grout lines back to new, the next best thing would be to protect them. I particularly like water based sealers for the purpose of keeping the floors looking natural with no haze or smear...Did someone mention cheap Sealers here? WTF is that? OK

 

[Mikey P]

Funny thing I ain't the dumb ass asking stupid questions...Let alone the thousands of square feet of tile and grout you cleaned...How far you live from Hillary Clinton anyway?

Is it fair for a "hack" to call a "hack"...I am sorry your racket is better than mine...

Tuck it in Mr Know It All, your

is showing.

 

[Brody Robert]

Tuck it in Mr Know It All, your View attachment 71241 is showing.

Hahaha. Maybe that explains it because nothing he is saying is making much sense to me. Lol. Tmf.. haha. Bunch of tools.

Mikey, I saw a video where you used cobbs ultraseal stuff. You sprayed it on with an electric sprayer and then mopped it.
You mentions something about making the grout lines more uniform or something. Does cobbs sealer darken light grout lines? Or do they look the same when it dries?

 

[Brody Robert]

Apparently I can't mention the other site. Sorry. But there are a bunch of tools over there.

 

[J Scott W]

I also prefer the water-based fluoroprotectors. But whatever sealer you use., #1 The floor should be fairly dry when the sealer is applied adn #2 The maintenace should be done with a neutral cleaner, not solvents or strong alkalines. Proper maintenance wille xtend the useful life of the sealer.

 

[greencc]

marcus don't be sorry for being an asshole. it probably comes REALLY natural to you. what a dick, and how often do you clean the rock that you crawl out of???

Sealer doesn't help the next time you clean??? really? and a good carpet protector doesn't help either??? you are so full of shit, marcus. a good sealer like cobbs does help, it's not perfect and doesn't make dirt fly off into the back yard as you open the sliding glass door, but get a clue.

Brody ask away, that is what this board is all about. i happen to think that questions about "how much to charge" are great because you get an idea what is going on in other parts of the country. and learning about how to do business better is what a great business person should always do.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Apparently I can't mention the other site. Sorry. But there are a bunch of tools over there.

Can you mention this one over there?

 

[Mikey P]

No