grout colouring Archives - South Buckinghamshire Tile Doctor

End of Tenancy Renovation of Porcelain Tile and Grout in Chalfont St Peter

I recently paid a visit to a rental property in Chalfont St Peter which had Porcelain tiled floor which needed an End of Tenancy Clean. Porcelain tiling is a great choice for a rental property as its very to maintain however in this case it was the grout that was letting the floor down.

Porcelain Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Chalfont St Peter

It seems the previous tenant had tried using a white grout pen to colour the grout lines when they first moved in and since then the colourant has started flaking off resulting in a very patchy appearance and the exposed grout becoming darker.

The client wanted me to come in and clean the floor and to make the grout lines unison. The property wasn’t going to be rented out again as the owner was planning to move back in after living abroad for several years.

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Tile and Grout

On the first day I started giving the Porcelain tile and grout a much needed deep clean using a Rocky floor machine fitted with a Silicon Carbide brush and lubricated with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. Carbide brushes are perfect for hard floor cleaning and in this case had the additional advantage of cleaning away the flaky grout pen.

This cleaning process was applied section by section vacuuming up the slurry with a wet vacuum along the way. I then hand scrubbed the grout lines with Grout Colourant Pre-Treat Cleaner which is an effective ready-to-use cleaner designed to lightly etch the surface of the grout to ensure a better adhesion with the colourant. It also removes dirt, soil, soap scum and hard water deposits from grout joints. Once everywhere had been treated I mopped the floor with Neutral Tile Cleaner, rinsed with water, extracted with the wet vacuum again before finally leaving the floor to dry off overnight.

Applying White Grout Colourant to a Porcelain Tiled Floor

On day two I knew my main problem would be making sure that the White grout colourant was able to adhere to those areas of grout that had been coloured with the pen. I didn’t have to worry though as it worked perfectly. The application basically involves using a small brush to push the colourant into the grout lines and gently cleaning up the edge of the tiles to remove the excess colourant before it can dry.

After the first coat dried it brighten the floor massively however in some of areas you could still make out the old from the new so I needed to give the grout lines a second coat using the same technique as before. Once the second coat had been applied, I allowed it to settle and go off before giving the floor a check over to make sure I was happy with the result.

Porcelain Tiled Floor After Cleaning Chalfont St Peter

My customer was over the moon with the difference and was much relieved that the floor had been restored after the condition the previous tenants had left it in.

Professional Grout Restoration Services in Buckinghamshire

Porcelain Floor After Cleaning in Buckingham

Tile Cleaning and Grout Re-Colouring of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen in Buckingham

1 Comment / Milton Keynes Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History / Jack Day

Grout is an incredibly important feature of tiled floors, not just from a structural perspective, but from an aesthetic perspective too. If the grout lines are dirty and stained, it ruins the overall look of the floor. It’s important to try and keep them clean, but with grout being rough in nature it does attract dirt and if left un-checked it can easily get to the point where cleaning becomes very difficult.

A good case in point was this Porcelain tiled kitchen floor at a property in the historic university town of Buckingham. The floor had been installed approximately eight years prior and while during this time the property owner had made the best efforts to keep the tiles clean, the dirt and grime had begun to build up – particularly in the grout lines.

I visited the property to see what could be done, starting with an initial test clean with a strong solution of our high alkaline cleaner, Tile Doctor Pro Clean. The tiles came up beautifully, but due to the extreme porosity of the grout, some of the dirt had been absorbed too deeply into the grout to get it completely clean.

Porcelain Floor Before Cleaning in Buckingham

The customer was worried that this would mean ripping all the grout out and re-grouting, which is a messy and time consuming process. As an alternative, I advised him that recolouring the grout would be the better option, using one of the excellent grout colorants made by Tile Doctor which are available in ten popular colours.

These products not only restore a clean and uniform appearance to the grout, they also provide a waterproof barrier which prevents any dirt and grime from penetrating the grout in the future. The recolouring process is a relatively quick, affordable, and a tidy alternative to re-grouting.

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles and Grout

Impressed by the efficiency of the Pro Clean product and the cleanliness of the test patch, the customer requested that we go ahead and deep clean the tiles and re-colour the grout.

The work took two days. On the first day, we deep cleaned all the tiles and grout using the same strong solution of Pro-Clean. The solution was applied to the floor and left to dwell for approximately ten minutes and from there I used a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad to loosen the soil from the tiles.

Once the floor had been thoroughly scrubbed, I used our wet pick up and rinsing machine to remove all the dirty water, and rinse the floor with clean water.

Porcelain Floor During Cleaning in Buckingham

Next we moved on to cleaning the grout. I started by applying Tile Doctor Pre-Treatment Cleaner and left it for approximately 15 minutes before scrubbing it in by hand using a stiff grout brush.

This process serves two purposes: firstly, it helps to remove as much dirt as possible from the grout lines prior to re-colouring and secondly, the acidity in the product etches the grout slightly, helping to make a better bond with the Grout Colourant.

Once the process was complete, I rinsed and dried the floor one more time and left it to dry off overnight.

Recolouring Grout

The next morning, I returned to colour and seal the grout with an Ivory Grout Colourant as selected by the customer. The process is quite straight forward and involves using a small brush to carefully apply the colorant along each grout line. When I was finished, I made sure to clean any excess product off the tiles before it had time to dry.

Finally, I buffed the floor with a fine white buffing pad, leaving the tiles looking clean and fresh, with the grout uniform. The customer was absolutely delighted with the service and the results.

Porcelain Floor After Cleaning in Buckingham

Restoring the Appearance of Porcelain Tile and Grout in a Buckinghamshire Kitchen

Tile Cleaning and Grout Re-Colouring of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen in Buckingham Read More »