Posts Tagged "damaged tiles"

Why does my Bathroom look Dirty Even After I Clean it?

Posted on Apr 5, 2024 in Blog

Have you ever spent hours deep cleaning your bathroom only to step back and notice it still looks somewhat dingy or dirty? It’s a common frustration that many homeowners face. But why does this happen even after a thorough clean? In this blog, we’ll explore the reasons behind this perplexing issue and offer solutions you can do yourself to ensure your bathroom maintains its sparkle. The Culprits Behind the Scenes Hard Water Stains One of the primary reasons your bathroom might not look its cleanest is due to hard water stains. Hard water contains high levels of minerals like calcium and magnesium, which can leave behind a residue that looks like soap scum or spots on faucets, tiles, and shower doors. Solution: Installing a water softener system can significantly reduce mineral buildup. For immediate results, consider using a specially formulated cleaners like GroutPro Glass Restore to tackle hard water stains without damaging your shower glass. Keep in mind that glass is porous and the wrong chemicals or cleaners can etch the glass, if you’re unsure about restoring your shower glass yourself contact your local GroutPro specialist who can help you. Inadequate Lighting Sometimes, the problem isn’t with the cleanliness of the bathroom but with how it’s lit. Poor or inadequate lighting can cast shadows or create an illusion of grime. Solution: Maximize natural light where possible and consider upgrading to brighter, more energy-efficient lighting fixtures. LED lights can provide a cleaner, more natural light, making your bathroom appear fresher and could even save you money on your energy bill. Mould and Mildew Bathrooms and any other wet areas of the house are prone to mould and mildew due to the high humidity levels. These fungi can grow on grout, tiles, and silicone, giving your bathroom a dirty appearance even after cleaning. Solution: Ensure proper ventilation in your bathroom to reduce humidity levels. Regularly clean areas prone to mould with an effective Mould killer like GroutPro’s Mould Control or Mould-Pro Plus. If your Mould issues persist it may be time to replace the infected grout and silicone to try and remove the Mould spores to attempt to avoid future Mould growth. Residual Cleaning Products Ironically, the very products you use to clean your bathroom can sometimes leave behind a film or residue, especially if not rinsed away properly. Solution: Always follow the instructions on your cleaning products and ensure you rinse surfaces thoroughly. Consider switching to natural cleaners that leave less residue, however keep in mind they may be less effective. Stained Grout Grout can easily become stained with mould, mildew, or just general grime, making it a significant contributor to the appearance of a dirty bathroom even after cleaning. Grout is very time consuming and sometimes impossible to clean without the right tools and chemicals, you could spend hours scrubbing the grout with a toothbrush just to have it get stained the next day because there is no sealer on it. Solution: Use a grout cleaner or a mixture of baking soda and vinegar to scrub the grout lines, please be aware this will take a lot of elbow grease and hours. Sealing your grout can also prevent future staining and is something we strongly recommend. If there is grout missing, the stains in your grout are not budging no matter how much you scrub or you would like a professional to do the job right the first time and save you hours on your hands and knees – GroutPro have tile and grout restoration specialists Australia wide and ready to help. Stained and Damaged Silicone Silicone sealants around...

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Tile Repair – Are Your Tiles Hollow, Cracked or Loose?

Posted on Jun 24, 2014 in Blog, Damaged Tiles, Dirty Grout, Tile Cleaning, Tile Repair, Tile Replacement

Need Loose, Cracked Tile Repair? GroutPro can help…. Have you ever walked across a tiled floor to hear them sounding ‘hollow’? Hollow meaning that certain areas of the tiles sound and feel loose underfoot. These are areas in which the bottom of the tile is not in contact with the underlying substrate. Unfortunately this is a regular occurrence in older properties where the tiles may have been laid with the original slab and the substrate or adhesive has deteriorated over time. The hollow sound may be a result of ‘spot-bonding’ during the installation. ‘Spot bonding’ is when the installer applies a spot of bonding (adhesive) to just the corners and centre of the floor tile and presses it into place. This leaves voids under the tile and ultimately the entire area of flooring. When this method is used you will hear the hollow sound where there is no adhesive i.e. the void. Over time this causes cracking of the tiles and grouting which runs between these tiles. Once the grout has cracked it falls through to leave holes between the tiles. This is the type of situation recently faced by our Goonellabah team. A large area of the floor was hollow and cracks had started to appear. The homeowner needed our help to repair 123 loose tiles. About the same time last year the Goonellabah GroutPro team had repaired 4 similar apartments within the complex and the owner had retained many tiles which were used on these jobs. Area of tiles to repairRemoving the hollow tiles We were not as lucky with this latest job and were only able to find four spare tiles which another apartment owner kindly donated to us. Each tile had to be carefully removed to ensure the tile did not crack. The team managed to lift all 122 tiles without a scratch with just one tile cracking as it was removed. Each tile was then cleaned to remove the old adhesive and re-laid into place. The homeowner had also decided to change the colour of the entire floor grouting so the repair of hollow tiles was just part of the full job. After 36 hours of painstaking work with 50m2 of grout replacement and colour sealing the outcome was fantastic. The floor area was now level, the colour matched well to the home decor and the overall look was like new again. The Homeowner was very excited by the outcome and couldn’t wait to take some pictures to share with family. Finished tile repair in kitchen and dining roomFloor tiles replace and grout recoloured If you’re having similar tiling issues in your home, don’t wait any longer get your local GroutPro team in to give you an assessment of the job and an obligation free...

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