How Long Does Professional Tile and Grout Cleaning Take and When Can You Walk on Your Floors Again?
Tile floors can become dingy over time. You may be thinking about hiring someone to come and give your tile and grout a good cleaning. But how long does tile and grout cleaning take?
Nobody wants strangers to trap through their house all day. You’ve got errands to run and dinner to make! How will you get anything done if you don’t even know how long the cleaning technicians will be at your home?
Well, we’re happy to save the day again! With over two decades of experience providing Albuquerque area homeowners with their tile cleaning needs, we feel we are well-equipped to provide you with an answer to this question.
In fact, today we’re not content to just tell you we CAN clean your tiles. We’re going to take you through from start to finish with an all-access pass to a day in the life of a tile and grout cleaning technician. Becoming an informed customer is the best way to be a happy customer! Having an idea of what to expect and when can really help.
So put your thinking cap one and let’s dive into the nitty gritty of how long each stage of tile and grout cleaning takes.
Why You Should Care About Tile Cleaning Timing
Well, for one, you’re just plain curious. But beyond that, knowing how long your tile and grout cleaning will take helps you decide what you should be doing that day (and that week) while we’re working around your schedule. Do you need to make other arrangements for your pets? Is it okay if the kids hang out at the kitchen table and do homework later that evening?
Knowing what to expect and when helps you set expectations for yourself and your family. It’s always better to be overprepared than caught off guard by the unexpected!
Step-By-Step Breakdown: How Long Tile and Grout Cleaning Takes
Now it’s time to get specific. Cleaning your tiles is not a walk in the park (although we’re happy to do that for you too!). There are several steps that need to occur to deeply and truly clean your tile and grout. These steps include:
Phase One- Walk Through & Initial Inspection (30 minutes – 2 hours)
What Occurs: One (sometimes two) of our cleaning technicians will walk through the rooms and areas where tile cleaning will occur. We look at the type of tile we are working with (ceramic? porcelain? natural stone? ), the condition of the grout, any noticeable stains or problem areas, and take square footage. Lastly, we will discuss any concerns you may have before beginning the work.
Variables That Affect Time: A quick, small bathroom may take our technician as little as 30 minutes to walk through and inspect. Large homes with multiple tile areas or different varieties of tile may take up to 1-2 hours.
Phase 2 – Removal of Furniture/Obstacles (0 – 3 hours MAX)
What Occurs: Pretty self-explanatory! We need to move furniture (i.e. sofas, tables, chairs), and anything else in the way of us cleaning your floors. We will sometimes move appliances if that is within the agreed upon service area for kitchen tile floors.
Variables that Affect Time: If the room is already cleared or you prefer to move furniture before we arrive, this step can take zero time. Since this can include edging furniture (protecting the edges of furniture) and moving it all out of the way, it can take some time depending on the size of the area to clear.
Phase 3 – Applying Pre-Treatment Solution (2 Hours – 8 hours MAX)
What Occurs: We apply a professional grade, hot-sale type pre-treatment solution to your tile floors and grout. This is not simply soapy water! Our solutions are specially designed to penetrate the grout lines and tile pores to help break up the dirt, grease, oils, and other yuck that has built up over time.
Variables That Affect Timing: There are a few different things that can affect how long this step will take.
Degree of Soiling: If your grout is only lightly soiled, it may only need a few hours for the pre-treatment solution to work its magic. If your grout is seriously soiled and has been neglected for some time, you may need to allow the full 8 hours (or close to it) for the solution to penetrate through the grime and loosen it up.
Type of Stains: Certain types of stains will respond better to certain kinds of cleaning solutions. (Food grease vs soap scum vs regular dirt and debris may all need to be attacked differently.)
Porosity of Grout: Some grouts are more porous than others. This refers to how quickly the grout absorbs the cleaning solution, releases dirty particles, and holds onto stains.
Phase 4 – Agitation Phase (2 hours – 6 hours)
What Occurs: During this phase, we agitate the grout lines and tile. Agitation essentially means we use a specialized floor machine with scrubbing pads to further loosen the dirt particles we want to remove.
Variables That Affect Timing: This depends heavily on how much square footage you are cleaning us and how much scrubbing we need to do. Lots of space and seriously discolored grout lines? We may need to spend extra time in this phase.
Phase 5 – Hot Water Extraction (1 hour – 5 hours)
What Occurs: Hot water extraction is where we use our powerful truck-mount hot water extraction system to rinse your tile and grout with clean hot water while simultaneously vacuuming up the dirty water, grime particles, and cleaning solution.
Variables That Affect Timing: Well, how much area we need to extract and how dirty it is! We want to make sure we completely rinse the floor and vacuum up all the unwanted particles.
Phase 6 – Dry Time (2 hours – 4 hours)
What Occurs: Once we have completed the hot water extraction process, your tile will be wet. Since grout is very porous, it will take longer to fully dry than your tile surfaces. We usually allow about 2-4 hours of drying time for you to be able to lightly walk on your floors again.
Variables That Affect Timing: Depending on humidity levels in your home in El Dorado, room airflow, and even what type of tile and grout you have, drying time could vary from our estimate. We use powerful air movers (very strong fans) to dry the floor as quickly as possible.
Keep in mind that just because it’s dry enough to walk on after a few hours doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let it dry fully overnight. You can walk on it with caution (and socks!) but it’s best to avoid high traffic and moving heavy objects over freshly cleaned grout for a little while.
Phase 7 – Grout Coloring Process (2 hours – 2 days)
What is it: Grout coloring is a process that allows you to restore or change the color of your grout.
Variables that Affect Timing: This mainly comes down to how big an area you are looking to color. Applying grout to a small bathroom can take as little as 2 hours. Larger areas will take longer, and small tiles mean lots of grout lines to cover. Don’t let your tiles get re-colored twice. Make sure you allow full time up to 2 days if necessary.
Complete Timeline: Summary of Tile and Grout Cleaning
Alright, now that we have gone through every step of cleaning your tile and grout, what tile cleaning timing should you expect?
Typically, the actual labor will take most of your day. 4-8+ hours depending on the size of your space. This doesn’t include maximum pre-treatment wait times or optional grout coloring service.
You’ll want to allow a few more hours for the floor to dry before getting back to normal routines.
We always aim to provide our customers with realistic time frames in which we expect to finish your job. Our tile cleaning technicians at ThoroClean will keep you updated every step of the way. Just remember, good things take time!
Contact ThoroClean Today to Get Your Floors Looking Great Again!
Okay, now you know! You have the inside scoop on how long professional tile and grout cleaning will take. From the initial walk-through that can take as little as 30 minutes to pre-treating your floors for 2 hours, all the way through extracting the dirty water (1-5 hours) and drying time (2-4 hours), even optional grout coloring (up to 2 days).
Armed with this knowledge, you can easily schedule your tile and grout cleaning service around your schedule. Here at ThoroClean we strive to provide you with deep and thorough tile cleaning while making every attempt to be efficient and communicative with you at every step.
It doesn’t happen overnight, but we can help you clean your tiles. Call ThoroClean today at 505-883-0437 to schedule your free assessment and quote.