My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout. After that, would it be possible for me to seal it? How
difficult is it? Don't want it to get this dirty again. Thanks.

Dottie wrote in :

My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout. After that, would it be possible for me to seal it? How
difficult is it? Don't want it to get this dirty again. Thanks.


A little more info please might help:


color
grout width
room location
wall, floor, counter
rough tile size / area to be done
(doing a 6x8 area if 1x3" tiles is a lot different than 12x12's!

I picked up some pricey sealer/enhancer for some very old tiles that
came out absolutely awesome. $55/pint but goes a very very long way.

http://i46.tinypic.com/eb9dlj.jpg

Worth every dime. Well over a year later it has not faded! I'd have to
find the container to verify but I'm pretty sure it was this. Got it at
a real tile store.

http://tinyurl.com/ybguxcs

As you are asking, cleaning the grout was the chore.

On Dec 7, 7:10*pm, Dottie wrote:
My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. *I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. *I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. *I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout. *After that, would it be possible for me to seal it? *How
difficult is it? *Don't want it to get this dirty again. *Thanks.

He probably did not want to do it too soon as cement products take a
long time to fully cure.

On Dec 7, 9:58*pm, " wrote:
On Dec 7, 7:10*pm, Dottie wrote:

My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. *I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. *I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. *I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout. *After that, would it be possible for me to seal it? *How
difficult is it? *Don't want it to get this dirty again. *Thanks.

He probably did not want to do it too soon as cement products take a
long time to fully cure.


The tile is off white and the so is the grout. The tile itself is
12x12. The room is quite large - it is an eat-in kitchen and laundry
room.
I think I can do it (just seal the grout) if the sealer dries pretty
fast.

Dottie wrote:
My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout.

After that, would it be possible for me to seal it?

Yes

How difficult is it?

Easy...wipe on, wipe off excess from tiles. It has to be redone
periodically. Silicone sealer is good.

Don't want it to get this dirty again.

It will if you used light colored grout.

Thanks.

YW

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Dottie wrote:
My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout. After that, would it be possible for me to seal it? How
difficult is it? Don't want it to get this dirty again. Thanks.

I would be inclined to try strong household cleaner, like 409 or
Fantastic....let it soak, wipe it up, slop on lots of rinse water and
suck it up with the shop vac.

FWIW, we had tile installed by contractor, with 100% satisfactory
result. He gave instructions about wiping tile with vinegar/water the
next day to remove any grout haze, although they did a meticulous job of
rinsing themselves. Then, after 2 or 3 days (I don't recall which it
was), the sealer was to be applied. They didn't specify beyond a
general type of sealer....I applied two coats of sealer. One tricky
little issue with our grout is that coffee with creamer is difficult to
remove, even with hot water and a brush. It's the only thing, so far,
spilled on our grout )

Dottie wrote in news:3478b10a-1155-4279-892a-
:

On Dec 7, 9:58 pm, " wrote:
On Dec 7, 7:10 pm, Dottie wrote:

My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout. After that, would it be possible for me to seal it? How
difficult is it? Don't want it to get this dirty again. Thanks.

He probably did not want to do it too soon as cement products take a
long time to fully cure.


The tile is off white and the so is the grout. The tile itself is
12x12. The room is quite large - it is an eat-in kitchen and laundry
room.
I think I can do it (just seal the grout) if the sealer dries pretty
fast.

Unsealed off-white grout in a kitchen area? Ughhh. Dirty is one thing but
if it's stained with various foods it's soaked down. Tomato sauce and
juices would do a job on it.

Don't want it to get this dirty again.

What's your take on taking out the grout and putting in a darker
contrasting grout that goes with it? IMO, that's the only way to not get
ugly again. Yep, lotsa work but if not getting ugly a groundrule then
that's the only way I know.

If that's out then try your various chemical methods and if it's to your
satisfaction then use a good sealer that penetrates the grout.

That sealer I mentioed previously does penetrate. Before I used it I had
some pieces of tile that came loose but multiple pieces still in tact
with grout. The guy at the tile store put some on the grout and told me
to look at it the next day. The next day you could easily see where the
sealer soaked the entire depth of the grout. I was sold even at $55 a
pint. Warning though, I would suspect if the grout has embedded stains
the sealer/enhancer would enhance the stain. It's sealer/enhancer, not
cleaner.

For stubborn SURFACE crud you can use a hand grout saw to mechanically
remove stuff.

http://tinyurl.com/yladmwv

I've never used one of these blades that goes in a reciprocating saw.
Cons I can forsee are that saw is gonna get heavy and when you get to a
wall the blade tip is going to be hitting the baseboard. Also, if you put
too much weight on the blade it will start cutting down.

http://tinyurl.com/yl68osa

If you do decide to remove the grout, with that much, you will need to
get a power tool and blade to do it. Not a Dremel grout bit either. A
rotary or decent oscillation tool. Look into rental maybe even.

On Mon, 7 Dec 2009 16:10:30 -0800 (PST), Dottie
wrote:

My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout. After that, would it be possible for me to seal it? How
difficult is it? Don't want it to get this dirty again. Thanks.
I used groutshields.com, put the new grout (actually a sealer) right
over the old. Came out great in 3 room floors.

In article ,
Red Green wrote:
....

That sealer I mentioed previously does penetrate. Before I used it I had
some pieces of tile that came loose but multiple pieces still in tact
with grout. The guy at the tile store put some on the grout and told me
to look at it the next day. The next day you could easily see where the
sealer soaked the entire depth of the grout. I was sold even at $55 a
pint. Warning though, I would suspect if the grout has embedded stains
the sealer/enhancer would enhance the stain. It's sealer/enhancer, not
cleaner.
...

That sealer you mentioned previously.

Unfortunately that post had already expired when I saw
this one.

Got a copy you can repost or email?

If not that, do you recall the name?

Thanks!


David

(David Combs) wrote in
:

In article ,
Red Green wrote:
...

That sealer I mentioed previously does penetrate. Before I used it I
had some pieces of tile that came loose but multiple pieces still in
tact with grout. The guy at the tile store put some on the grout and
told me to look at it the next day. The next day you could easily see
where the sealer soaked the entire depth of the grout. I was sold even
at $55 a pint. Warning though, I would suspect if the grout has
embedded stains the sealer/enhancer would enhance the stain. It's
sealer/enhancer, not cleaner.
...

That sealer you mentioned previously.

Unfortunately that post had already expired when I saw
this one.

Got a copy you can repost or email?

If not that, do you recall the name?

Thanks!


David





Here's the post David. The links are still valid.

===========

Subject: Sealing Tile Grout
From: Red Green
Newsgroups: alt.home.repair

Dottie wrote in
:

My ceramic tile looks o.k. but the grout is very dirty. I remember
when it was laid, the man said he wasn't sealing the grout for some
reason. I didn't questions it - now I wish I had. I am thinking
about getting Stanley Steamer to come out and clean the tile and
grout. After that, would it be possible for me to seal it? How
difficult is it? Don't want it to get this dirty again. Thanks.


A little more info please might help:


color
grout width
room location
wall, floor, counter
rough tile size / area to be done
(doing a 6x8 area if 1x3" tiles is a lot different than 12x12's!

I picked up some pricey sealer/enhancer for some very old tiles that
came out absolutely awesome. $55/pint but goes a very very long way.

http://i46.tinypic.com/eb9dlj.jpg

Worth every dime. Well over a year later it has not faded! I'd have to
find the container to verify but I'm pretty sure it was this. Got it at
a real tile store.

http://tinyurl.com/ybguxcs

As you are asking, cleaning the grout was the chore.

In article ,
Red Green wrote:

Thanks!

David