What 2024 Could Mean for Your Home (Tile & Grout)

PORTLAND, OR – It’s 2024! Are you a new years resolution kind of person? As much as I like to “bah humbug” the concept of sticking to goals better simply because the earth went all the way around the sun again, I find myself victim to the same mindset as most. The start it Monday, start at 12pm exactly (or wait for 1pm to come if I miss it), start next month, start on January 1st mindset. What is it about the “beginning” of a week, time, or month that causes us to be tempted to reinvent ourselves?  

So here we are. January of a new year. According to forbes.com, four of the top five resolutions usually center around health (improve fitness, improve mental health, lose weight, improve diet). Your resolution, whether you wanted to make one or not, may revolve around your health, too. But maybe you are hoping to improve on your overall home maintenance this year, as well. Maybe you want to dust off that house project list you put in a drawer somewhere three years ago. Maybe you’re hoping to give your home the fresh start that everyone else seems to get on January 1st.

We are a local, family business in Portland, OR that services homes by doing carpet cleaning, air duct cleaning, upholstery cleaning, area rug cleaning, tile & grout cleaning, and carpet restretch and repair. In this particular article, the goal will be to share more about tile and grout cleaning, as this seems to be the service that most surprises our clients.

How We Clean Tile & Grout

As a professional tile cleaner, our tile cleaning process goes far beyond what you’re able to accomplish with  at home products and tools. We use special cleaning agents and professional-grade equipment, including a truck mounted machine.

To start, we use our cleaning product to pre-treat all the tile. Any grease, oil, dirt, and other kinds of soiling is suspended (brought up to the surface of the pores). From there, we use a tool to agitate the grout lines. Then we use a cleaning disk that produces hot pressurized water; this top-of-the-line equipment is able to extract the soil, grease and dirt as well as the water, leaving the tile drier.  If you opt in, we will then seal your stone tile or grout, further preserving its quality clean.

What to Know Before Calling

We don’t mind if you call for a quote and don’t have all the information for us! However, if you like to be prepared, we’ll likely ask you some of the following questions in order to provide you with our best estimate:

What areas do you want cleaned, and what kind of tile is in each area?

This is where you’d specify if you are wanting us to clean a kitchen floor, a shower, a countertop… or all of the above! We also need to know if the tile is ceramic, porcelain, natural stone, marble, etc.

Do you know the approximate size of the areas?

Our tile cleaning and grout sealing is priced by the square foot. If you have the square footage already prepared, that’s great! If not, we’ll likely ask you some follow up questions to get our best guess, and advise you to measure later on so we can provide you with more of a precise estimate prior to the technician’s arrival. As a family business, we prioritize transparency with your pricing.

Would you like us to seal your tile & grout?

Sealing the tile and grout is usually priced as 50% of the cleaning cost and varies depending on the size of your tiles. If you are asking us to clean granite or marble countertops, we’ll also ask if you would like to polish the counters.

Do you know if your tile has a top coat applied to it? Is the grout painted? Is there a colored grout applied?

If you have a top coat or painted/colored grout, we usually recommend you speak with the technician prior to the service.

Can you send us photos of the areas we are going to be cleaning for you?

Having a photo of the tile we are cleaning is incredibly helpful for our technicians to assess prior to your appointed tile cleaning day. The technician can notify you ahead of time if there is anything he sees of concern, or provide you with an updated estimate based on the visuals if needed. Our goal is for there to be no surprises on your scheduled day.

How to Prepare For Tile & Grout Cleaning

Once we’ve gathered your information and added you into our calendar, it’s official! You are on the schedule! The email you receive will have details about your day and arrival window, and then will ask a couple things in preparation. Please move anything off of the tile/grout that we will be cleaning. For example, if we are doing a countertop, please move any items on the counter somewhere else temporarily. We also ask that you have a parking space fifty feet from the entrance of your home ready as well as a working water spigot fifty feet from where the technician will be directed to park. This ensures our hoses will be able to reach. Notify the scheduler when you call if they are needing to go up or down any stairs with their hoses, or if your home is over 5,000 square feet and may need an additional hose.

Why have your tile cleaned? Why have your grout cleaned?

For some of us, we live in homes where none of the previous owners have done any kind of professional cleaning in the ducts, on the tile, carpets… anything. Yet it all seems to be okay, right? So why start now?

Tile, just like any other surface in your home, can become the resting place for invisible particles and allergens. You’d be amazed at the vibrant color that can return after a professional tile cleaning. After years of seeing a faded and worn looking tile, you may have forgotten about how sparkling and vivid it once was.

All that being said, if you have any other questions or want to talk it through, we are available via phone call & text (503-314-7453) as well as email (info@aplusqualitycleaning.net). As a family business, we’d love for 2024 to be the year your home is fresher, cleaner, and brighter than ever.

A+ Carpet Cleaning – Portland
2885 NW 111th Ct, Portland, OR 97229
(503) 314-7453
https://www.carpetcleanerportland.com/