Tile and Grout Job Need Help!

[Tornado]

Hi Guys and Gals

I am doing my first tile and grout job and I am throwing in the towel I need some help. The job is at a retirment home and here is what I did. For one let me tell you a little bit about my self I have been in this business for about 9 months I have take IICRC Certification tests in Upholstery and Commercial Carpet Maintinance. Any how I had the opportunity to bid and take a nice big tile and grout job which I got a good job to learn on. Any how the learning curve is killing me now. Here is what I did I put down Jon-Don's Anvil its a natural citrus cleaner 13.5-14ph and I used that in the dinning room of this place and I got a pretty good removal of dirt however there are still some edges and areas near the wall that need to be go over and dirty grout lines that have hardened black food particles in them which can be taken out with really how water and high pressure.

What I did was take the Anvil mixed it with hot water at medium dillution and it worked in the dinning room. However the lobby was a diffrent story the Anvil really did not do any thing in hte lobby I don't know if the water it was mixed with was not hot enough or what but I pre sprayed Anvil down in the lobby and the dirt did come out of the lobby my recovery tank was brown, but the tile showed little visible differance after washing. Do I need to use a lower Ph chemicle like maybe somthing made by prochem just general tile cleaner or what?? If any one in the Cleveland, Ohio area wants to come out and give me a hand or take a look and give me a second opinion email me mike2633@sbcglobal.net or call me 440-539-4147 I would be willing to pay a few $$$ for some help. The work would be done at night I am looking for an experianced technition or owner/opperator who has been around to lend me a hand or take a look. Thank you if you want I can send pictures if you email me.

 

[Hoody]

Do you know what type of tile you're working with ? Is it ceramic ?

You could add agitation to the mix with a rotary machine, and a brush head made for scrubbing tile and grout, or a grout stick.

If the tile hasn't been maintained property, or has some type of residue/topical coating you're going to have issues. My guess would be build up of whatever they're using to mop the tile with. You can't always win them all. Search this forum for Color Sealing. For tile jobs that you work yourself to death on, and the appearance still isn't 100%. Color Sealing is a great answer to that problem.

 

[Mikey P]

Not sure what Anvil is. What you need is a high alkaline degreaser and a stiff brush.


In a pinch I would go to Home depot and get some Oxy Clean and Zep Floor stripper and a grout brush (all in the same isle) and scrub the living daylights out of that floor before rinsing.

If the grout is stained use an acid cleaner like CLR or Efred and that same brush.

http://groutsealerdirect.com/images/Swi ... -Brush.jpg


If you have time, go to a local cleaning supply company and get industry specific cleaners.

 

[RickL]

Mike Andvil is a cleaner /Degreaser some on dirty grout think it's the greatest, personally it's good but not the end all.
There really isn't much information here for us to help you. Are you scrubbing with a grout brush,are you cleaning with a turbo (spinner), what type of tile is it, and as Steve said is there something on the floor that is preventing the removal of the dirt. Pics and more info would help.
To get the edges clean you will have to scrub each line with a small hand held grout brush to get those kind of a pain but effective. Also after the advil you should be doing an Acid clean also.

Here is what I typically do on any t&g job (when I don't detect any foreign substance on the grout)
1. Test the grout for anything such as wax ,mop and glow I do this by cleaning a small areas with alkaline then spraying down acid and looking for a reaction on the grout and use a pocket knife to scrape a little of the grout.
2. Test the tile to make sure it's not acid sensative (I pretty much know this but you should do it as your new)
3. Spray or mop down Alkaline T&G cleaner wait for 10-15mins keeping it wet, scrub with 175 with a T&G brush and 50lbs weight, scrub each grout line with pole and grout brush and do edges and walls with small grout brush.
4. Suck it up with the turbo at 800-1200 psi using lots of defoamer
5. MOP down acid wait 10-15 mins scrub grout lines quickly
6. Rinse with turbo 800-1200 psi

 

[alazo1]

Good advice.

"Hardened black areas"

Use a lot of dwell time and agitation.

You say edges are dirty, use a small hand brush. I always do edges with a small brush because the stand up one doesn't get all the way to edges and I don't like the constant banging of the stand up brush on the walls.

Assuming it's man made tile:
If the cleaner is not cleaning how you like. Double, triple, quadrupal the dilution on a test area. Add a dregreaser. Add something else. Man-made tile can take a lot and unless there's loose grout I would'nt be afraid to use anything on it as long as it's rinsed properly. If it doesn't come out then then it's probably stained and may need color sealing. Sometimes you need wire brushes, screwdrivers..ect to get crap out. Try the cleaner is small test area so you know what dilution works.

Use acid as a last step also.