Finished product- clean tile and grout!
Floor tile with dirty grout-ugh. Here is Arizona so many homes have tile- and we see this problem a lot. When your tile and grout is light colored- the problem becomes a real eyesore. And if you are thinking of selling your house, this is definitely something potential buyers will notice. There are companies that will come and clean it for you, but this can be pricey- at around 50 cents a square foot for the cleaning and hovering near 30¢ for sealing, a 1000 square foot job can be close to $800- and that is if there are no unforeseen special issues. If there are other things you would rather spend your money on to get your house ready to sell (fixes with high ROI- check this post for more on that) you can actually do this yourself with some elbow grease and $40 worth of supplies (about $55 if you opt to seal it as well). Additional upside to doing it with these products is there is NO chemical smell, no appointments to be set, and no delay in getting started. This is the exact method used recently in a listing of ours, and the results are amazing!
First off, visit your local store (I went to Wal-Mart as it had everything and was convenient)and get the following items, one scrub brush, a large bag of baking soda, several bottles of hydrogen peroxide (tailor these to the size of your area and how dirty the grout is- I was able to do it with one bag and 4 bottles of peroxide- one of the bottles was in a spray bottle which I refilled as needed), an inexpensive battery operated toothbrush (I used the Arm & Hammer Spinbrush– it was cheap and came with a battery inside that lasted the whole job) and a pair of rubber gloves, if desired.
FOREWARNING! PEROXIDE IS A BLEACH SO BE CAREFUL AROUND CARPET AND OTHER RABRICS. DON’T USE THIS METHOD ON COLORED GROUT AND MAKE CERTAIN THAT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SHOES DON’T HAVE ANY SOLUTION ON THEM BEFORE STEPPING ON CARPETS.
I spayed some hydrogen peroxide on the grout and tile and let it sit for a minute. I had read that you can heat up the peroxide to increase it’s effectiveness, and since it was a hot Arizona day, Mother Nature assisted me in doing so while the peroxide was in my trunk on the ride over. I then poured (or sort of spread) some baking soda on top of the peroxide and squirted the baking soda with more peroxide. It started to bubble a bit so I laid into it with the Spinbrush, just one pass up and one pass down on each grout line. I was working in sections of about 6 -10 square feet, and after the grout had been addressed I gave it and the tile a few good scrubs with the regular scrub brush. Rinsing was not too difficult with clean old big rags and water. I really could not believe how clean it got- it looked practically new! If you want to seal the grout so it won’t become funky again, try a sealer and apply it with a large sponge or sponge mop. below are two before pics and one after shot.
Before photo of tile and grout. The pits in the tile were pretty bad, too.
Another before shot. You can see the grout a bit better in this one.
No, we do not generally clean tile in listings, so please don’t think this comes with our real estate service! However, in this case we really needed it done immediately, and cleaners could not arrive for a few days so we did what we could to help. We hope this blogpost helps you get your grout and tile back in pristine condition! If you are thinking of buying or selling property, please feel free to contact us anytime for a no obligation meeting. We sell real estate in Oro Valley, Marana, Catalina and Tucson, and can’t wait to sell your Arizona home for you!
The Property Aces Team of Long Realty are thrilled to be your go-to real estate agents in Oro Valley, AZ. We also proudly serve the surrounding areas of Marana, Catalina and Tucson. Want to sell a home in Oro Valley, Tucson, Marana or Catalina? Interested in learning more about buying and selling real estate in Tucson and the surrounding areas? Want to know how much your Tucson, Marana, Catalina or Oro Valley home is worth? We are here for you- seven days a week!
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