Tile Tools????

[Scott S.]

i run a portable and i am looking at getting tile tools. i am going to buy a "watter otter" and a spinner at the least.

any suggestions on tools, and any advice you can give would help termendiously.

i am currently looking at the SX-12.

 

[Mikey P]

I personally like the Turbo Hybrid better but the SX12 works too.

Things you'll need:
Blue swivel grout brush
A small hand grout brush, real stiff.
Pump up sprayer
Blue masking tape and this stuff.. http://www.pro-tect.com/PRO-TECT-carpet ... -roll.html ( tell them to cut the roll in half. Use it to protect carpet that sits next to tile)
A 175 rotary or OP machine for scrubbing and sealer removal. Could be done by hand but good lord...
A Glided wand for edging and detail work.
Sealer applicator bottles.
Knee pads.
Alkaline stone and grout cleaner.
Acidic Grout and tile cleaner.
Acrylic floor stripper
Solvent and water based sealers.
Lots and lots of towels/rags.

Things you'll want:
Mini Turbo or Cobra hand tool.
CRB machine for pre scrubbing.
Knee roller cart that Grout Perfect sells.
A class in color sealing.
A class in stone identification.
A class in the proper use of enhancer sealers.
A lot of luck.

And you better be real good at talking your way out of nasty, potentially very expensive situations.

 

[ronald pantelas]

What a great post Mike. Another month where my supporting dues are peanuts, to the value of the board. Thanks, Ron

 

[Larry B]

And you better be real good at talking your way out of nasty, potentially very expensive situations.

This is so true in just about anything a person does for a living anymore.

 

[Mikey P]

Yeah but if you over wet or streak a carpet it's a easy fix.

Blast out some grout, etch a Marble, blow the top off a Saltillo or make Olympic rings in a slate and you're fooKed!

 

[Scott S.]

oh yeah feeling confident now!! think i'm going to make sure my insurance covers Fookups. ha ha

 

[Larry B]

oh yeah feeling confident now!! think i'm going to make sure my insurance covers Fookups. ha ha

LMAO

 

[Mikey P]

actually, Ive been doing lots of grout repair lately.


Not too hard and it's almost always needed some wheres in most homes.

 

[Scott S.]

have you been the cause for the repair?

what is the worst floor/stituation you have been in/cleaned?

 

[Mikey P]

Not since I learned a few years back that you dont need 1800 psi to clean grout :shock:

 

[Larry B]

What PSI you run?

 

[Scott S.]

i was told to start at 1000 psi do you agree?

do you ever get floors that u just use plain water to clean? do you always need a chemical cleaner?

 

[Mikey P]

1000 is fine for man made tiles and grout in sound condition.

Most polished stone is fine at 100 but softer, honed and or slates you should stay below 700.


500 for clay tiles.


Use Well Formulated pre sprays and agitation to stay out of trouble.

 

[Scott S.]

what chems do you use?
do tile cleaners foam up?

 

[TimP]

1000 is fine for man made tiles and grout in sound condition.

Most polished stone is fine at 100 but softer, honed and or slates you should stay below 700.


500 for clay tiles.


Use Well Formulated pre sprays and agitation to stay out of trouble.

That's the best way to clean tile. I only run 700 psi and I have yet to damage a single thing. I'd rather run a buffer, brush, good chems and dwell time than fix a floor. The turbo is for rinsing not scrubbing....same thing with a wand.

 

[Blue Monarch]

You WILL blow out some grout. Some installations are just piss poor. Some of them you can't tell before hand. This is when your verbal skills come into play.

Most folks are pretty laid back about losing some grout. They're so happy about the cleaning results that they're willing to deal with fixing the grout. Plus, it's usually only about an inch or so with a problem.

Mikey, how are you going about charging for grout repair? I get asked about it all the time, but man, I hate doing it. Matching color is a bitch too.

 

[TimP]

grout repair should open a window to a color seal opportunity.

 

[John Olson]

Dirk you go down to your local tile store and work out a referral program. They send you the tile cleaning and you send them the repair. Simple

 

[TimP]

John Olson" data-source="" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Dirk you go down to your local tile store and work out a referral program. They send you the tile cleaning and you send them the repair. Simple

Only problem I see doing that is that the store isn't going to make much of anything sending an installer out to do a repair. But that's just the way our store works. I don't know how others run their businesses.