Tile Cleaning and Grout Colour Sealing
[separator top=”-55″ bottom=”10″ style=””]
by Jason Neale
Grout recolouring and sealing is the most effective way to keep your grout lines cleaner for longer. Grout is a porous material, so every day dirt and bacteria can easily soak into it and leave it discoloured. A good way to remedy this is to have a tile cleaning company come in and do a clean and colour seal.
Clean First, Seal After
The tiles must be thoroughly cleaned first before any colour sealing can be done. The cleaning is best to be done with a powerful steam cleaning machine. The tiles are first covered with a tile cleaning solution designed to break through the dirt that has built up over the surface. This is then left for between 10-20 minutes to dwell. This time will allow the cleaning product to start to dissolve the dirt. Then using a steam cleaning machine, the solution is cleaned off using 1200 psi to blast away the grime.
Once the tiles have been cleaned and dried, it is time for the sealing process. Grout sealing can be done by applying a clear coat sealer that dries and is impervious to water or spills. This is especially helpful in areas such as kitchens where there are fats and possible food spills, and also in bathrooms where there can be build ups of soap grime and mildew.
Repairing Cracks
If the grout has cracks in they will have to be repaired prior to applying the sealer. But finding a colour match for the grout is difficult, so this is where colour sealing comes in. With this process, all areas of the grout that may need to be repaired can have any colour grout because the recolouring will cover the new and old grout in the same colour. This is also very good for old grout that is discoloured or permanently marked.
A professional tile cleaner would use specially designed knee pads that are on wheels to freely move around the room that is being sealed. Using a brush, the new grout colour is applied. It’s only applied to small areas at a time; this will give the technician time to remove the excess from the surface of the tile. All the grout lines are done in one direction first, then the ones running the other way are done this will give less chance of missing any areas.
Recolouring
The grout sealer takes a few hours to dry. After fully cured, the new grout lines are a new colour and resistant to stains and the possible build-up of bacteria. Recolouring grout can give a home a whole new look and even add value. So this process is great for people thinking of buying new tiles or maybe selling a home.
When renovating a home, the mess that is caused can go on for weeks and months. When it comes to pulling up the old tiles, the dust that it causes is unbelievable. Don’t forget after the tiles have been pulled up, the floor has to be prepared for the new tiles to be laid. This means grinding the old glue off the floor that held the tiles down and also removing the grout. This can be a time consuming dusty job. If a tiler is being hired to do the work, the cost can run into thousands.
