Grout plays an important role in keeping your tile floors in place. Unfortunately, these grout lines are vulnerable to staining and trapping grime. This can quickly turn your grout black, leading to an unpleasant and unclean appearance in your home or business. The team at Modern Stone Care knows how to reverse grout stains in your home.
The Purpose of Grout
Although it doesn’t adhere the tiles to the floor as some might think, grout does serve several important purposes.
- Strengthen the Tiles: Tiles can expand and contract during heating and cooling cycles. By filling in the space between individual tiles, grout absorbs this pressure, allowing for movement and preventing tile cracks.
- Visual Appeal: Properly applied grout adds a seamless, professional look to your tilework, and by customizing the width and color, can complement and accentuate the patterns in your tiles. Grout also makes it easier to create mosaics and complex tile patterns by securing tiles in place and preventing them from sliding around.
- Keeps the Floor Clean: By creating a seamless surface, grout prevents dirt, bacteria, and spilled food from getting caught between tiles. This also makes it much easier to sweep or mop up when it’s time to clean. This also prevents water from seeping into the subfloor, reducing the chances of moisture damage.
Grout Installation Considerations
Grout joint size: This measurement is the width of the grout between the tiles. Upton explains that “in general, wider grout joints will make it easier to install and line up the tiles during installation. But, it seems that thinner grout joints are more desirable these days.” He adds that a common width is 1/8-3/16-inch, with 1/16th of an inch being the absolute minimum, according to tile industry standards. Learn how to grout the tile.
Grout sealers: Sealers help to make cement-based grout less porous, but, as Upton explains, they’re not miracle products. Sealers won’t completely seal the pores of the grout or make it totally waterproof or stainproof, although they may help keep some contaminants from penetrating it. Upton adds that many high-performance cement grouts claim that they don’t need to be sealed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t benefit from one. Since epoxy and single-component grouts are not cement-based, they won’t benefit from a grout sealer and do not need to be sealed.
Color: Grout can be a visual element of your tile project as well. A good rule of thumb is to choose a darker color if you want to accentuate the pattern of the tile, and a lighter shade if you want to create a unified, natural look. Darker-colored grout is also easier to keep looking clean, and won’t stain as noticeably as lighter grout.
Grout Restoration Services in Houston
Regardless of your grout color, when it comes cleaning stained grout, you can only do so much on your own. Grout lines stain easily because they are below the level of your tiled surfaces, this makes it easy for dirt and grime to get stuck between tiles. Additionally, cleaning solutions and water may become trapped in these grout lines which can promote the growth of mold and mildew.
You can use a scrub brush with stiff bristles and scrub the grout with a white vinegar solution, however, this takes a lot of time and can be back breaking work. When you work with Modern Stone Care you get a professional cleaning that leaves your grout looking like new. We have specialized grout brushes that are able to deeply clean the lines, removing all grime.
Are you looking to restore the appearance of your grout? If so then put down the spray bottle of lemon juice, warm water, and dish soap, or whatever at home remedy you have been told will do the trick, and get actual results, contact Modern Stone Care today.
Natural Stone and Grout Cleaning In Houston TX
At Modern Stone Care, our team of highly knowledgeable technicians specialize in the restoration, cleaning, polishing, and sealing of all-natural stone surfaces. This includes flooring, countertops, outdoor pool coping, and more. We work hard to ensure your natural stone maintains its beautiful and vibrant appearance for as long as possible. When it comes to the care of your delicate natural stone surfaces, leave it to the professionals at Modern Stone Care. We work in Houston and surrounding areas to offer the best stone care in the city.
Don’t let dirty grout rule your home. Instead, let our team restore the original appearance and bring vibrance back to your space.
Modern Stone Care
970 Bunker Hill Rd
Houston, TX 77024
(832) 814–2041
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