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Cleaning Tile & Grout with the Challenger...

how often is T&G covered with a sealant or finish? reason i ask is, i would hate to unknowingly remove a finish when i am called on to simply clean a T&G floor with my Challenger and the T&G brush attachment.

i do NOT want to get into stripping & waxing or applying sealants/finishes to T&G. i just want to stick to straight forward cleaning : prespray, scrub, extract slurry, rinse, get paid and move on.

is this the norm in 50% of the T&G calls yall receive? what percentage fits your situation?

thanx --- Derek

Re: Cleaning Tile & Grout with the Challenger...

You can usually tell when a tile has an acrylic or similar finish on it, because by the time the owner has called someone like you to "fix" it, it probably looks partially worn away and pretty sad. When a stone and/or grout has been sealed with an impregnating sealant (soaks INTO the stone & grout), there is no evidence of this sealant on the surface
(nothing to wear away).

Re: Cleaning Tile & Grout with the Challenger...

Derek,Mark is correct.You can test for yourself if there is any grout sealant left by performing a "repellancy" test...a few drops of water and mineral oil,just like on carpet quotes.You shouldn't really let sealer-application dollars slip through your hands.Excellant money!!Dynachem's Ultraseal impregnator is awesome as well as a few others.
Patrick

Re: Cleaning Tile & Grout with the Challenger...

Also you will need to test each and every T/G quote to insure your sucess.All you need is 3 bottles- 4 or 8 oz.,a grout brush,a bottle of water and a few towels and one 3 gallon bucket.In the 3 botlles you will put in your alkaline,acid and stripper solutions.I always wait until I arrive in the clients homes before mixing with water as most products require warm water.Before I start measuring,I apply my alkaline cleaner to a small but soiled area and let dwell per label,typically 10-15 minutes.While dwelling,I measure out the areas to cleaned.Agitate your test area rinse with the bottled water,wipe with towel.If needed,apply acid product and repeat.Even if you don't want to get into stripping off an existing finish it is a good idea to know if something is down.In some cases you will not know if there is an old finish on if you don't test first and it is not fun to try and "clean" away layers of acrylic.
Most of my calls are for neglected tile,just mopped,nothing special done to them and they can come out great or not so great.Your "hand" test will show you and your perspective client what results to anticipate.The test is an approximation of what you will/can do=under sell/over deliver!

Re: Cleaning Tile & Grout with the Challenger...

Great info, Patrick. Thanks much.