How a White Tiled Floor Came to Life Thanks to a Grout Cleaning in Newton Center, Massachusetts

June 19, 2017

When selling a house, details such as new switch plates, repainting, and clean grout will significantly increase a property's monetary value and capture more potential buyers. Throughout the year, we receive several requests to restore stone countertops, showers, and floors in houses that are soon to be for sale. This homeowner reached out to us to hire our grout cleaning services in Newton Center, Massachusetts, to get his home ready for the buyer's market. He was a lawyer who had been living in another property in Newton and he had finally decided to put his old home up for sale to invest in a new real estate opportunity.


Before selling, a home inspector had advised the homeowner a series of small repairs, such as a grout cleaning service for the white tiled floor that covered the house's common areas. Following the advice, the Newton resident called the hard surface restoration company he had worked with before: Sir Grout of Greater Boston. A couple of months back, the lawyer hired us to restore the marble shower in his new house. We were glad to hear from him again when he called us to present us with this new situation. Our team gladly agreed to come by the house that week to check out the floor.

On the day of the consultation, we visited the Newton Center home and examined the tiles, which had been methodically laid down to create a uniform, lovely pattern in different common areas of the residence (the corridors, the store rooms, and the washroom). However, the black grout eclipsed the beauty of the tiles.

The client then told us the story of the house. It used to belong to his sister who had left it up to him to maintain it when she moved abroad to work—a request he fulfilled until a couple of years ago when he needed to find a bigger place for his family to live. The house had been empty ever since, and neither of them remembered the last time the floor had been sealed.

The lack of regular cleaning was probably one of the main reasons the grout was getting so dark. As our experts told the homeowner, the filth in the grout was probably due to years of foot-traffic, improper cleaning methods, and use of wrong cleaning products like soap-based cleaners that break down grout. Besides, if grout hasn't been sealed in a while, it becomes vulnerable to discoloration, staining, and cracking.

To restore the grout, our team offered the homeowner a quick yet effective solution: a grout cleaning and recoloring service to clean the tiles and to give the grout a uniform color similar to the tiles' shade. He already knew how diligently and professionally our team worked thanks to the previous project we did for him, so he decided to go through with the service and asked us to start as soon as we could.

The procedure began a few days later. Our team went back to the Newton residence early in the morning to start the cleaning. First, we applied Sir Grout's proprietary, non-toxic tile and grout cleaner to loosen the embedded soil. Then, we used a high-speed yet gentle floor scrubber to remove the grime. Usually, dish soaps or soap-based cleaners are sticky and as a consequence, they are hard to rinse away completely on surfaces like grout. Over time, the sticky, cloudy residue left behind builds up and dirties the surface.

Once the floor was entirely clean and dry, we applied our acrylic sealer ColorSeal, a water-based product that protects the grout from water damage, stains, mold, and mildew. ColorSeal is a Sir Grout's proprietary product that closes off the pores of the surface and, since it has color in it, changes the grout's shade to a color chosen by the client. For this Newton Center resident, we used our pure white ColorSeal.

The results were exactly what the homeowner expected. The new grout color matched perfectly with the tiles, making the floor more consistent and appealing. Our client had never seen the floor that white! He was eager to take pictures and show them to his sister. After seeing how much the rooms' appearance changed thanks to the grout cleaning, he let us know he will be contacting us soon to do the same procedures in his new home.

Even though the Newton resident was planning to sell the house, we still gave him a few general recommendations to take care of tiled surfaces and to prevent the grout from staining or discoloration. First, we advised him to discard the cleaners used at home if they were soap-based or acid-based; these kinds of products don't clean grout well, not to mention they eventually deteriorate grout. We recommended him to use non-toxic, soap-less and pH-neutral cleaners instead. Bleach is another product to avoid. While it may remove the dirt easily, this chemical can eat away grout, causing serious damage in the future. To maintain a surface dirt-free and looking like new, regular professional cleaning is key; we often advise to have a surface professionally cleaned and sealed at least once a year. The client thanked us for all the recommendations he would start putting into practice at his house. A few days later, we received a review from the client:


Do you need to boost your property's appearance before selling? Are the floors or any other hard surfaces in your home looking too grimy or dulled? At Sir Grout of Greater Boston, we have the perfect solutions to restore them! We provide sealing and cleaning services for tile and grout, as well as honing and polishing for any kind of natural stone surface. Call us at (781) 899-0388 or fill out the "Request a Quote" form on this page to schedule an appointment with us today!

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