This is a great question. The answer is, it depends on the product you are using to seal the grout. Grout Sealers that have a really heavy mixture of Fluoropolymers will leave a residual like haze on the grout if the Grout is not totally dry. Some cleaning companies will use a solvent product to seal the grout while wet, this is a great way to apply a sealer as the solvents do a great job of penetrating through the moisture barrier.
A grout cleaning and sealing service can clean and seal the same day. Grout can be sealed immediately after the cleaning whether wet or dry if you use the right product.
For A FREE In Home Estimate For Tile and Grout Cleaning and Sealing give us a call at (832)303-3546. Check Out Our Tile and Grout Cleaning Process Here.
Professional Tile and Grout Cleaning vs. doing it yourself, what’s the real difference? This is a great question. I hear all the time about how individuals have tried to clean their tile and grout themselves and it simply took too much time. Not only is time a factor but the actual cleaning an individual can do simply does not compare to what a true professional cleaning can do. So put down the toothbrush and see why you should pick up the phone and hire a professional today.
Professional Training and Years of Experience
Having a professional with experience working on your tile and grout sure beats amateur DIY methods. Experience just goes such a long way in all things in life. I mean you wouldn’t hire a mechanic that’s never worked on a car in their life right? Then why would you hire yourself to do something you’ve never done?
Super Powerful Grout Cleaning Equipment
A professional uses high powered equipment to thoroughly clean your tile and grout. 1200 psi and 220 degrees of steam cleaning is the difference between a professional cleaning and using a baking soda concoction you found on YouTube.
Professional Tile and Grout Cleaning Chemicals
A professional will utilize Alkaline Chemicals and Acidic Chemicals. Why? Because that’s what it takes to guarantee your tile and grout is as clean as it can possibly get. These chemicals aren’t available to the general public and are key to a awesome cleaning.
Why Choose UpFront Home Services To Clean Your Tile and Grout?
We not only clean your Tile and Grout we also include sealing of the Grout at no charge. That’s right FREE! What could be easier than having us out vs doing it yourself.
We get asked all the time, how much does upholstery cleaning cost? Some clients are sticker shocked when we tell them how much a standard sized sofa costs to clean. Why is Upholstery Cleaning on the more expensive side in comparison to other services? It takes a lot of work! But the benefit of keeping your sofa in great shape will protect your investment.
Did You Know?
A standard sized sofa has the same amount of square footage as a standard sized bedroom. When we clean carpet we have the luxury of using a 12” cleaning wand. When we clean upholstery however we are using a tool that has about a 3” opening. Can you see how a sofa can take 4 times longer than cleaning a bedroom of carpet? That’s a lot of bending over, which makes upholstery cleaning a cleaners least favorite item in the house to clean.
Upholstery Cleaning Is All About The Details
Cleaning a sofa is all about the little details. A professional upholstery cleaning service needs to know the types of fabrics they are working on and what products to use when cleaning them. At UpFront Home Services our technicians are professionally trained and have the right equipment and chemicals to handle any job.
Why Use UpFront Home Services?
You should use us because of our promise to you the customer. “If you are not absolutely thrilled with any of our services, we will return at no charge to make you happy. Simple as that. Please notify us of any issues within 24 hours of your cleaning and we will work hard to correct them.”
After having your Tile and Grout Cleaned the first question that is normally asked is “What do I use to clean my floors now?” After most cleanings homeowners toss out the Pinesol, Fabuloso, and Swiffer Wet Jets. But they need something to fill the cleaning void.
Tile and Grout Cleaning Everyday Maintenance Tips
Here is what I recommend to maintain your tile and grout
Steam Mop
I particularly love a good steam mop. My reasoning is that it’s chemical free and produces excellent best for naturally disinfecting your floors. The one thing you must always do is use distilled water when cleaning. The reason why you must use distilled water is it will keep the machine functioning properly and you won’t deposit minerals into your grout. Steam Mopping is what I call Dummy Proof maintenance. If you clean weekly your floors will need a deep cleaning less often.
Flat Head Microfiber Mop and Nuetral Floor Cleaner
A flat head microfiber mop and neutral floor cleaner will go a long way. It’s not especially convienent if you don’t get the Flat Head Mop with the tank on it. But you will find that this won’t leave the sticky residue behind that dirt loves to stick to.
Kitchen Tile and Grout Maintenance
Every couple months or so I recommend cleaning the kitchen area with an alkaline product to help breakdown the grease. After you mop with the alkaline make sure to mop again with just clear water. Realistically I only recommend doing this if you start to see some dirt take hold in the kitchen. Keep an eye on it and clean with an alkaline product as needed.
Shower Tile and Grout Maintenance
I highly recommend using an everyday shower cleaner. I am particularly fond of Method Daily Shower Cleaner because you can spray it after each shower and just walk away. I use method in conjunction with Australian Tea Tree Oil mixed with Peroxide in my Shower once a week. By having regular maintenance you will be able to keep the mold and mildew away.
Additional Cleaning Tools
I recommend picking up grout brushes for scrubbing when something spills on the floor and for shower cleaning maintenance. You should also have a couple spray bottles so that you can have some cleaning product mixed and ready for when you need to clean up stains quickly. I also like having a shop vac handy for this crazy off the wall spills like a bottle of barbecue sauce breaking on the floor (don’t ask me how I know)…
Whenever you’re ready to have you Tile and Grout Professionally Cleaned Give Us A Call or Send Us A Text To (832)303-3546.
At UpFront Home Services we are Houston, Richmond, Cypress, and Katy’s most inclusive Tile and Grout Cleaning experience. Our Grout Cleaning Service is thorough and will leave your floor looking its absolute best.
There are so many things to do when even thinking about putting your home on the market. De-cluttering is huge! But cleaning is a much bigger deal than so many of the other projects out there.
Here are 5 Things To Do Before You Put Your Home On The Market
Carpet Cleaning
I always recommend having the carpet cleaned prior to putting your home on the market. A clean and fresh smelling carpet will help your home sell faster and potential prevent the need to give a carpet allowance. At a minimum having the carpet cleaned beforehand will help present your home in a better light.
Tile and Grout Cleaning
Removing the dirt and build up from your tile and grout with a thorough cleaning helps to brighten your home. A lot of sellers miss this crucial detail when they begin to consider selling their home. Presenting your home with the absolute cleanest tile and grout will go a long way with potential buyers. The kitchen and master bathroom are the areas that buyers pay the most attention to, be sure to spruce up these areas as much as possible prior to selling.
Shower Cleaning and Caulking
I’ve seen many buyers turned off by a dirty shower. Let’s face it, soap scum, Mildew, and dirty grout happen. Having your Shower Tile and Grout Professionally Steam Cleaned and the Shower Re-Caulked is shockingly important to potential buyers. Don’t let your shower kill the sale of your home.
Carpet Stretching and Repair
Overtime wrinkles and rips in your carpet can happen. Having these wrinkles and rips fixed prior to putting your home on the market can save a potential carpet replacement or allowance to a buyer. Most buyers want to have a move in ready home vs a fixer upper. Having the little details in your home taken care of Before you put your home on the market will go a long way in selling your home quickly.
Pressure Washing
A dirty driveway, entrance, patio, or even mold and mildew on and around your home can substantially affect anyone even wanting to go view your home. Be sure to have these areas professionally pressure washed so that the curb appeal of your home is the absolute best it can possibly be.
At UpFront Home Services we offer Carpet Cleaning, Tile and Grout Cleaning, Shower Cleaning and Caulking, Carpet Stretching and Repair, and Pressure Washing. We are the make it ready experts!
To schedule a free in-home estimate, call or text (832)303-3546.
Why do we love Katy? It’s all of the entertainment and great restaurants. It’s easy to drive places and you have Katy Mills Mall to enjoy a little shopping and get great prices. With it being so close to Texas A&M we also get to service a lot of our fellow Aggies. We service the entire Houston area. Want to learn more about the City of Katy Click Here
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked this question, “How Can I Get Bleach Out Of My Carpet?”. The answer is it depends on your carpet. Most carpets manufactured today are polyester or some kind of plastic. If you have a wool carpet or nylon carpet then the bleach stain on the carpet can be dyed to match the rest of the carpet. If it’s anything but nylon or wool, Carpet Repair through patching is then necessary.
How Do I Get Bleach Out Of My Carpet?
Bleach Spot Repair
Extra carpet is necessary to complete carpet repair of a bleach spot. We will cut the spot out, put in our special seam tape, put the new carpet in, and then use our special seam iron to make the repair. It sounds a lot easier than it is but that’s because we use the best available tools to complete carpet repair work.
Why Use UpFront Home Services For Carpet Repair?
At UpFront Home Services we provide Professional Carpet Repair and Stretching Services Houston and all of its surrounding cities! Check out our Carpet Repair Service Here.
Need An Honest UpFront Quote? Give us a call at (832)303-3546 for a FREE Estimate and to check availability
Why do love Houston? Because of The Galleria! You can’t beat going to the Galleria and finding all the best brands and enjoying great food while you shop. We service the entire Houston area. Want to learn more about the City of Houston? Click Here
So you bought a new house, just moved into an older home, or you have a home with dirty grout and you regret never sealing it. The question remains, does grout need to be sealed?
Most of the time I find home owners blaming the builder for not dealing the grout and how it’s dirty now. Truthfully the grout isn’t dirty because it wasn’t sealed. Your grout gets dirty because you may be using the wrong tools and method to clean your floors.
Should Grout Be Sealed?
Yes, I highly recommend sealing your grout. It’s not because it’s going to keep your grout from getting dirty, because that’s not what Sealant does. The purpose of the Sealant is to make it easier to clean your grout and lower the likelihood of permanent stains. I see a lot of home owners making a big deal about whether the Sealant being applied is going to cause beading. The truth is that beading only takes place if the Sealant being used is hydrophobic and even if it does initially bead that affect dissipates.
Should I Seal The Grout Myself?
There nothing wrong with Sealing the grout yourself. But beware that it is labor intensive and requires hands and knees work to do the job properly. Some sealants that are sold in the big box stores will actually cause a haze like effect on your tile. It’s very important that you find a sealer that is easy to apply and will provide excellent protection. At UpFront Home Services our sealers are specifically made for professional use and are not available for resale, if they were available for your use I’d recommend one to you 🙂
Should You Hire A Professional To Seal Your Grout?
I highly recommend hiring a professional to Seal your grout. The reason why is sealing grout is labor intensive and requires the right knowledge of not only how to do it but what Sealant to actually use to do it. Unfortunately the sealers available to homeowners aren’t exactly the best quality sealers and can leave Haze on the tile. When having your grout sealed you are taking all of the guess work and labor out of it.
If this is a new construction home, now is the perfect time to seal. If this is an older home or previously live in home, I recommend having the tile and grout professionally cleaned before sealing.
At UpFront Home Services we provide Professional Tile and Grout Cleaning and Sealing Services In Katy and the entire Houston area! Check out our Tile and Grout Cleaning Service Here
Need An Honest UpFront Quote? Give us a call at (832)303-3546 for a FREE Estimate and to check availability
Why do love Katy? Because of El Jarritos! We LOVE The Beef Fajitas and Enchiladas! They have the absolute best Mexican Food in Katy and Houston. We service the entire Houston area. Want to learn more about the City of Katy Click Here
Want To Learn More About Grout Sealing? Click Here To Read An Article We Wrote On Whether You Should Seal Your Grout After Cleaning.
You have probably heard from a friend or in your research of Carpet Cleaning companies, that you should hire a Truck Mount Carpet Cleaner. The word Truck Mount is actually exceptionally vague as to what exactly it is.
What Is A Truck Mount Carpet Cleaning Machine?
A Truck Mount is anything that can be mounted in a Cargo Van and hoses ran from the van inside your home. I have seen some cleaners mount their portable machines in the van and call it a Truck Mount. In this sense it’s very important to know exactly what kind of unit the carpet cleaner has and what it is capable of doing.
In my mind a Truck Mount should be able to produce 220 degrees of heat to properly clean the carpet. It should also have a powerful vacuum and large gas powered engine. Some cleaners will pass of lesser equipment as being “good enough” or the “best in the world” but they never truly made the investment in really good Carpet Cleaning Equipment.
What Does UpFront Home Services Use?
Our Truck Mounts are true Truck Mounts in that we have invested in equipment that will clean at 220 degrees, properly extract the dirty water, and have extremely powerful engines.
In fact our CDS -Xdrive is the only one of its kind in Texas! Why is that? Because we made a significant investment in the future of our company and the quality of the cleaning our customers receive. Our other units are made by Sapphire Scientific and they are top quality 220 degree steam cleaning monsters. You can rest assured that the quality of our equipment is the absolute best for cleaning your homes textiles.
At UpFront Home Services we provide Professional Truck Mount Carpet Cleaning Services In Katy and the entire Houston area! Check out our Carpet Cleaning Service Here
Need An Honest UpFront Quote? Give us a call at (832)303-3546 for a FREE Estimate and to check availability
Why do we love Katy? Because of quality education. The Katy Independent School District is one of the best school districts in the entire state of Texas. We don’t only service Katy but we also service the entire Houston area. Want to learn more about the City of Katy Click Here
It happens, the caulk in your shower starts to look like a Rorschach test and you’re sick and tired of watching as it slowly spreads it’s way throughout the shower. So what do you do? You look up what to do, which got you here to this blog.
Here’s What You Need To Remove and Replace Caulking In A Shower
Razor Blade and Painters Knife
Mineral Spirits
Caulk Finishing Set
Blue Painters Tape
Paper Towels
Caulking Gun
Shop vac or a broom and dustpan
Patience because if it’s your first time it’s going to take a while
First Things First
Make sure the shower is clean and dry. I recommend steam cleaning the shower well and disinfecting it before recaulking, especially if hard water or soap buildup is hanging on to the tile. If you don’t have a vapor steamer or opt to not hire a pro for the tile and grout cleaning in the shower, then do a deep cleaning with bleach to prep.
Cut The Caulk
What I like to do is take the flat razor and start from the top of the caulk and work my way from left to right going up then down the entire line. Then I work from the bottom of the caulk by pushing the blade in and then out and working my way down the line. Clean up the area as best you can by removing as much of the remaining debris as possible with both the flat razor and the painters knife.
Vacuum The Area
Make sure to vacuum the area really well to get the chunks of caulk that are remaining. You don’t want to start caulking in an area that has debris remaining.
Make Sure Its Dry
Making sure that the area you’re caulking is dry is absolutely crucial. Sometimes water will continue to seep out of the walls for days after removing the caulk. It’s important for the area to be dry so that you can apply the fresh caulk or else the caulk simply won’t stick. Believe me it’s a mess when you mix water and caulk, don’t do it.
Treat The Area With Mineral Spirits
Once the caulk has been removed and the area vacuumed I like to treat the area with mineral spirits and a rag. The reason is it cleans the dust and debris and preps the surface for adhesion. If you’re having your shower cleaned as well we will treat the entire shower with an Australian Tea Tree Oil to naturally disinfect the shower before caulking the next day.
Tape Off The Area To Be Caulked
Apply your painters tape to the bottom and top of the seam line where you want your caulking to go. You don’t want them to be too close or too far apart, try to match the size of the bead that was previously in your shower. This is the most important part to make your shower look it’s very best. Some of the most experienced caulking professionals still tape off showers because it makes their job that much easier.
Cut The Tip and Apply The Caulk
Cutting the tip on the caulking tube is very important. You have to cut the tip at an angle and at an appropriate size. There are little hash marks on the head of the caulk tube, cut the smallest size and go larger if you feel the need to. From here you will put the caulk in the caulk gun and slowly apply to one area at a time.
Spread The Caulk
Take your caulk finishing set and slowly spread the caulk. I like to work by applying and spreading one line at a time so that the caulk doesn’t harden on me. After each swipe wipe your tool with a towel as to not spread unwanted caulk in the wrong areas.
No Showering
No Showering for at least 24 hours. Depending on the caulk you used it can take up to 72 hours to fully cure. It’s very important not to get the caulk wet while it cures or you could have a giant mess on your hands.
Bonus Tips
I’m personally a fan of Dap Quick Seal Ultra for white or other colors other than clear(it’s what I used in my own shower) it applies like an acrylic / latex based caulk but it is siliconized and has an anti-microbial built in. It’s very easy to work with and clean up if messes happen.
GE also makes a very good Clear and White 100% Silicone. 100% silicone I recommend only for professional use. The reason why I recommend silicone for professional use is because it is more difficult to work with and less forgiving than Dap Quick Seal Ultra. That said, if you are replacing clear caulk in the shower then GE Clear silicone is the best of the best. GEs white silicons is fantastic but I don’t recommend it for DIY use.
Sanded Caulk is also a great option in showers but this can be a DIY nightmare unless you tape off the shower before you caulk. The reason sanded caulk is used in some showers is it’s more aesthetically pleasing than just plain white or clear caulk. It’s not my favorite caulk because I don’t feel it protects from mildewing as well because there are more rough patches to stick to. But if you keep up with regular weekly shower cleanings and after shower treatments, this caulk will last a long time.
https://youtu.be/BBsjsw4sWTM
Why Use UpFront Home Services To Clean and Caulk Your Shower?
At UpFront Home Services we use a special blend of Australian Tea Tree Oil, Peroxide and Green Cleaning products to naturally disinfect your homes Shower Tile and Grout before our Caulking Service is started. This is important to eliminate the Mildew so that you’re not replacing your caulk every couple of months. Caulking should last years without replacement if you keep up with your showers maintenance. Other cleaners and handymen skimp on quality products because they simply don’t want or can’t afford to spend more money for specialty products. We don’t skimp and will provide you with the highest quality cleaning and caulking your homes Shower deserves.
At UpFront Home Services we provide Professional Shower Tile and Grout Cleaning and Caulking Services In Katy and the entire Houston area! Check out our Shower Caulking Service Here.
Do you want to have your shower tile and grout professionally prior to caulking yourself? We can do that too! Check out our Tile and Grout Cleaning Service to see our cleaning process.
Need An Honest UpFront Quote? Give us a call at (832)303-3546 for a FREE Estimate and to check availability
Why do love Katy? Because of Taco A Go Go! We LOVE The smoked brisket tacos and sugar cane sodas they serve! They have the absolute best Tacos in Katy and Houston (according to the Katy Fort Bend / Foodie Facebook Group)… We service the entire Houston area. Want to learn more about the City of Katy Click Here
Meet Shirley. Shirley is a feisty and loving little Shitzu. My toddler loves Shirley. My wife loves Shirley. I love Shirley.
What I don’t love is that she has the blaster the size of a peanut. I have to constantly let her out and go on walks with her to try to prevent the inevitable “accident” at least that’s what Shirley calls it… I call it her being jealous that we have bathrooms and she doesn’t have one. No she’s sent into the elements to use her “bathroom”… I can’t say I blame her with how wet and cold it’s been lately.
Perhaps winter is simply the time of year that “accidents” happen. Either way we clean the carpet at our house every 3 months to keep it smelling and looking it’s freshest. Yes, I even use the same enzymes and pet treatments in my home that we use in yours. In fact, there isn’t a product on our trucks that hasn’t been tested and Shirley approved.
Why is that? I believe that it’s my responsibility to know how effective a product truly is and to never use our customers as a guinea pig.
We offer a FREE Pet Enzyme Treatment as an option for Pet Odors and Stains. We also have our Kill Odor Plus Treatment for a more aggressive Pet Odor Treatment.
Have your Carpet Cleaned this week and I’ll give you a discount of $20 off our 3 Room Special if you mention Shirley when you schedule!
Call Or Text Janet At (832)303-3546
She’s our super friendly and always polite customer service provider.
