Tile & Grout Cleaning - Why Get on a Maintenance Program?

Your tile wants ongoing care. Waiting until it looks like "it really needs it" can save you a few dollars upfront, but it can cost a lot to have a restorative cleaning.* Especially exterior lanai and pool deck tile can be permanently discolored by water stains, and red dirt baking in the sun.

The answer is to put tile surfaces: shower, countertop, interior and exterior floors, on a regular maintenance program that starts with a deep cleaning and sealing. After a six month inspection, a recommendation can be made based on how the surface looking.

Once the surface is put on a maintenance program, it stays fresher and cleaner, makes your daily cleaning a breeze and because of the touch up sealings, extends the amount of time between big services.

*Restorative cleanings happen when a maintenance program has not been applied

RESTORATIVE CLEANING
This is an example of a tile restoration cleaning performed on an older pool deck. The baked on red dirt and hard water required restorative cleaning. One might want to use a pressure washing service, but using too much pressure would destroy the glaze on the tiles. The best answer is to call in a stone and tile specialist, like Eurotech Maui.

Now the pool deck is ready for a light maintenance program which will preserve the results and keep the tile looking great.

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CALL 808.877.0222

for Service

Tile and Grout Floor Cleaning - Kihei, Maui

These were some dramatic results from a tile floor cleaning done in June 2011. It took multiple steps to get the stained grout cleaned, but it was returned to its orginal condition.

Tile floors and grout benefit from a Maintenance Program which includes a service level Deep Clean and Re Seal and periodic light maintenance cleanings.

Stone and tile care professionals utilize an array of cleaners and methods to address deep penetration of oils, grime, deposits and buildup.

CONTACT US

Call 808.877.0222 for service.

Granite & Marble Counters Water Spot Removal and Sealing

Around sink faucets, a white buildup of hard water stains can be difficult to remove without damaging marble or granite countertops.

Eurotech Maui is offering a cost effective Deposit Removal Service. Starting at $75, the deposits will be removed from kitchen or bathroom faucets and a touch up sealing around the highest use area 4" around the sink will be performed.

Around cooktops, oil is natural stone's worst enemy. Add-on total cleaning, preparation and full saturation resealing with a permanent bond penetrating 10 year sealer, or polishing to get your countertops looking beautiful and fully preserved and protected.

Call 877-0222 to make a service appointment.

Stone Care and Tile Cleaning

This is some recent stone care and tile cleaning work in Lahaina and Kihei, Maui. Both floors were well taken care of, but a service level clean and seal definitely brought them up a notch.

Floors, Showers and Counters can all benefit from a Maintenance Program. Regular cleaning and service resealing protects and beautifies stone, tile and grout.

For a consultation, call 808.877.0222

Why Use a Pro?

When it comes to resealing your natural stone surfaces and grout (for tile), getting professional results will go a long way in protecting your investment. The National Home Builders Association says granite and marble floors can last a lifetime, with proper care and maintenance.

Proper care and maintenance includes regular resealing (service level clean and seal) and maintenance cleanings (surface level cleanings) for upkeep. See our article on Maintenance Programs here.

1. Professionals understand the make up of the type of stone you are sealing. Professional stone care experts get extensive training in the different types of natural stone and how to take care of them.

2. The surface is properly prepared. Eurotech thinks this quote is true, even in the area of stone care “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”

3. Choose the right sealer. When it comes to sealers, you get what you pay for. Professionals have access to sealers that are professional grade. It takes training and experience to know which top of the line sealer will work best on which material on which type of surface. Some sealers are rated for 3-5 years and some are rated for more than 10 years.

4. Proper saturation. Wiping or spraying a sealer on a surface may not effectively protect a surface. Professionals will use techniques to ensure full saturation and maximum protection.

5. Excess. One problem caused by 'quickie' resealing jobs is residue that causes a buildup pattern. Professionals are trained to address the problem of excess sealer residue and won't cause them when they do your initial application or a routine resealing.

In summary, your stone care professional has spent numerous hours getting extensive training and expertise in cleaning, polishing, and maintenance of natural stone. At Eurotech, we follow our industry closely to stay on top of the best methods and the best products available. The experience in working with many types of natural stone in many applications cannot be replaced by guesswork.

Protecting the investment that was made in installing your natural stone or tile is certainly worth taking the time to consult with an expert. To reach a Maui stone care expert from Eurotech for a free consultation call 808-877-0222.

What is the recommended Service and Maintenance for Tile and Natural Stone?

See our articles on:

Benefits of Tile & Stone Maintenance
FAQs - What kind of sealer and when?

FLOORS - MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

• Interior and Exterior Flooring Maintenance Program
  SERVICE CLEANING & SEALING - Always start with a Service Level of cleaning. This means a deep cleaning that pulls out deposits and discoloration of stone, tile and grout - properly preparing the surface for sealing. It takes several steps of scrubbing and agitation and pressure extraction and drying to get the floors ready for sealing. This should be performed every 2-5 years. The determining factor for frequency is a bead test. Check your sealer condition on the grout lines or natural stone with a bead test in multiple areas, which shows if your sealer has deteriorated or if it is still protecting the floors. If water does not clearly bead, get a service performed by a professional.
  
  LIGHT MAINTENANCE CLEANING - May be performed every 6-12 months and may only require traffic area light scrub and a pressure extraction. The sealer should still be intact. This level of service is for floors which have only a surface level of deposits and are on a maintenance program. The light maintenance cleanings will delay the need for service level cleanings.

SHOWERS - MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

• SERVICE LEVEL CLEANING & SEALING - Start with this level of service and then begin a maintenance program. The soap scum and deposits will be removed and surfaces deep cleaned. The grout integrity may be reviewed and skim coated. The grout may be treated for discoloration. The shower may be polished or rehoned (if natural stone). The shower walls and floors will be properly dried and resealed with a breatheable penetrating sealer. This service should be performed approximately every two - four years, depending on daily cleaning practices, maintenance, and shower and sealer condition. We recommend stain-proofing (permanent bonding 10 year sealer) tiled shower floors.



• LIGHT CLEANING - This maintenance level of service may or may not include the walls but always includes the floor. It will involve a cleaning and touch up sealing of the shower floor, and may include deposit removal on the walls. We recommend this step to be performed annually as it will delay the need for costlier service level cleanings.
  

COUNTERS - MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

• Cleaning, polishing and resealing of countertops may be performed every 3-5 years.



• Annual maintenance on kitchen granite may include removal of the buildup around the faucets and a touch up sealer around the sink areas and/or the range.

Professional Tile and Stone Care - An Investment that pays

Why is Professionally Maintaining your Natural Stone and Tile Cost Effective?

1. Preserves and Extends the lifespan of the material

• Proper preparation and sealing will prevent staining

2. Prevents future costly repairs and restorations

• Much like auto maintenance, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Regular cleanings and sealings are like doing your oil changes. Maybe you can get away with skipping it, but that may cost much more in the long run.
• Trained tile and stone professionals will use the correct agents, sealers, and process. For example, marble, ceramic tile, and granite have differing limits for withstanding pressure cleaning. To much pressure can cause damage. Porcelain tile, marble and granite would require different products and methods. The wrong cleaner may not clean or could cause damage. Use a stone and tile professional.
• Using too much pressure on unsanded grout can cause grout erosion.

3. Saves time and labor - makes cleaning easier

• Unsealed surfaces hold deposits differently than properly sealed surfaces. Treated stone and grout makes daily cleaning quicker and easier.

4. Prevents purchasing unnecessary cleaning products


5. Makes your rental property more desirable and may have tax benefits (see below).*

• May Provide Tax Benefits: "A repair keeps your rental property in good condition and is a deductible expense in the year that you pay for it. Repairs include painting, fixing a broken toilet and replacing a faulty light switch. Improvements on the other hand, add value to your property and are not deductible when you pay for them. You must recover the cost of improvements by depreciating the expense over your property's life expectancy. Therefore, from a tax standpoint, you should make repairs as the problems arise instead of waiting until they multiply and require renovations."* See FULL article by George D. Lambert at http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/rentalowner.asp *We do not provide tax advice. Ask your accountant about qualifying repairs and tax benefits.

Floor Cleaning - To Bleach or Not to Bleach

The question of what to clean floors with comes up on almost every floor service we do. Whether or not to use bleach is another FAQ. Here are some basic guidelines to keeping stone and tile floors clean:

Keep doormats inside and outside of doorways if possible to trap dirt.

Daily Cleaning
Sweep and vacuum a lot more often than mopping.

If and when you mop, keep a bucket of clean rinse water and use a clean mop head. Dirty mops and dirty mopwater are the leading culprit of dirty grout and stone.

Use the right floor cleaning products: When you are doing daily cleaning, bleach is NOT recommended. Whether it is natural stone or ceramic tile, you'll want to avoid bleach and bleach based products. The constant exposure to bleach will damage stone and break down grout over time. Bleach also destroys most penetrating sealers that are used on grout and stone. We recommend using a neutral stone and tile cleaner for daily cleaning. We like Rinseless Cleaner because it doesn't leave behind a soapy residue. Residue buildup can make the floors look worse over time than they should.

Deep Cleaning and Stain Removal
NEVER use bleach on natural stone as it could leave a permanent mark that needs professional restoration. When you have a one time stain removal, bleach is okay for ceramic tile. But, be sure the material is really ceramic tile and not a natural stone. If you are going to use bleach on ceramic tile and grout, we strongly recommend triple rinsing the bleach to prevent any damage and to preserve the sealer as much as possible. Bead test the grout after cleaning to see if the sealer is still in tact. If water quickly soaks into the grout, we recommend a professional sealing. On natural stone, you should always contact a professional to address stains. The risk of damaging natural stone with do it yourself stain removal is too high to make it worthwhile.

So, use a non-residue stone and tile cleaning product for daily cleaning. And get professional recommendations when you're dealing with stain removal and setting up a floor maintenance program. We want to help you make your floor lifespan and clean appearance last as long as possible.

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