OK calling all home improvement experts! Grout question.

[funhouse8]

Hi, We went to the homeshow over the weekend and i think i found the answer to all my problems. OK, not all my problems but a big one. My kitchen floor is only three years old and I love it except I picked a grout that is too light. With four kids and a dog it is always dirty. There was a company at the homeshow that will Clean & seal my grout and it will never satin again. I know this sounds too good to be true. It has a lifetime warranty(I'm guessing only if this company is around that long) Has anyone done this. the way it was explained to us is they clean your grout and put on a sealer the same color as your grout so it doesn't change ever. I'm worried that they will ruin my grout when they paint on this sealer. Has anyone done this or Does anyone have answer for me. Thanks for looking.

 

[rt2dz]

I always pick the darkest grout possibly that will look good with my tile, but I also always seal it. If your grout is stained, you can acid wash it, which should clean it up. I had to do that once, as my builder did not seal my grout. I then resealed it (~ 5-6 years ago) and haven't had a problem. I'm not sure what this company is using, but off hand, I don't think there should be a problem.

 

[QT Pooh]

Hi,

I'm not an expert, but I have had this problem with a prior home - a beautiful blue/gray ceramic tile floor with bright white grout in the kitchen - heavy traffic area.

Grout cleaner and sealer can be found almost anywhere that tiles are sold. I bought some at a Home Depot and it worked wonderfully. Any acid-based cleaner should work. It was also very easy to use - I used an old toothbrush to get in the grout lines, then sealed it the next day. I don't think that the sealing product was guaranteed for a lifetime and I 'think' that it needed to be re-applied annually. (This was a little over 5 years ago - sealer technology could have advanced since then??) The sealer blocks the pores so that dirt can't penetrate into the grout...you'll still get surface dirt that can be cleaned with regular mopping.

I don't know how expensive this company was that you were looking at, but for me (cheapskate), I hate to pay someone for something I can do myself. It didn't take long and I think it cost less than $50 for the sealer and the cleaner. I still had more of both left over after the kitchen was finished. It would probably be worth going to a home improvement store or flooring store and asking questions about the products and/or reading the directions. If it sounds like too much work or that you'll have to re-apply it too often, then maybe this company is a good alternative.

Good luck...and if you ever have to re-do your floor...think DARK GRAY!

 

[Mishetta]

We had someone come to the house offering to paint the grout (just about the same color we had) & seal it & guaranteed it for life but boy was it ever expensive!

We ended up calling a cleaning company that used a type of power washer (only it sucked the water back in) on our grout & it came out so beautiful, I had forgotten how light & pretty our grout was. Anyway, the didn't even recommend sealing it because it would not come out as good the next time we should have it cleaned...so we passed on the sealing of it. What I wanted to mention is that I have 2 very active boys & we lived here for 10 years before having it done. I had spilled soy sauce on it (which barely came out when I tried to clean it myself) & lots of times I spilled sauce, etc...all that stuff that stains! Anyway, again, my floor came out beautiful. The whole cleaning charge came to about $90 & he did a very large kitchen/foyer/laundry room area, as well as 3 bathrooms.