Tried my hand at grout cleaning today

CCC

CCC

New member
Here's some photos. Tell me what you think.
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That looks great. What did you use?
 
Good job. Grout jobs always make a huge difference. Did you seal them as well?
 
scottwash said:
That looks great. What did you use?
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I used 2:1 Simple Green with a cup of caustic thrown in for turbocharger effect. I brushed it on, and steamed it off with my dry vapor machine.
 
ckingclean said:
Good job. Grout jobs always make a huge difference. Did you seal them as well?
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I didn't. These were sealed a year ago when they were installed. I was doing it for free as a demo (friend's house for free practice) and he didn't feel the sealer was worth it given the current condition of the grout.
 
Great job on the Grout Cleaning. Big difference. Is that a lot of on your knees type job or did you use a long handle brush of some sort? I thought about possibly doing something like that myself.
 
No, I was on my feet the whole time. I only used the brush (a soft bristle Karcher pressure washing brush) as a more controlled mop to apply only where I wanted it, and foam it a bit while doing so. The steam/vapor cleaner did the rest.

It did take me a while. About 1000 sq. ft. of tile and it took me five hours. Much of that time was experimenting on technique since I'd never done it. I could probably use my current equipment and do it in three hours after a little more experience. Of course, one of those recovery steamers with rotating brushes would make it faster:)
 
Chris,
How do you do your grout jobs? How would I price something like this? Per lineal ft. of grout?

Thanks.
 
pb4ugo said:
Chris,
How do you do your grout jobs? How would I price something like this? Per lineal ft. of grout?

Thanks.
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We do indoor grout with a high pressure extractor unit like this:
http://usproducts.com/products/hardsurface/

We usually clean with either a acid or degreaser, or both. Spray the cleaner on, let it work, then run over it with the machine.

We almost always us acid. The grout needs to be sealed after using acids because they open up the pores in the grout. The grout can get stained much worse than before without sealing. Actually, I never clean grout without sealing it. Commercial maybe not because it's being done more often. Homeowners want the easy maintenance.

Price it per square foot. Charge more for small tiles because there's more grout. We are also cleaning the tile surface as well as the grout.
 
Thanks Chris,

I guess I'm wondering more what kind of rates you charge, if you don't mind sharing. Also, unsealed tiles/stones, do you ever get discoloration, etc. from the chems?
 
I did a kitchen that was 60X80 last week. the place had closed down 2 mo. prior to the cleaning.(without electricity) that was the dirtiest job I've ever done to date. my guys were pukein left and right. got it all cleaned up and used a surface cleaner with the heat turnned way up,then just steamed my way through, the lady even wanted us to do the walls. I had to rent a big vac.for the water suction. wish i had a SC for reclaim would have gone way quicker. but i got 2 more kitchens to clean this month from the same lady, but the price is going way up. I underestimated this job. I will start to offer this service people really need this down here. Nice job on the tile btw
 
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