A Fresh Start: A Grout Cleaning Service Renewed This White Bathroom for a Chicago Newcomer

February 06, 2017

We all know how hard settling into a new city can be – it implies saying goodbye to your friends, your neighborhood, and your favorite places. But, sometimes, life choices lead you to make the big decision of leaving everything you know in pursuit of new goals, as this Chicago newcomer did. He moved all the way from his hometown, New York, to work at an architecture firm that he always wanted to be a part of.


When the newcomer went online to look for a place in Chicago, he found a small, affordable, and conveniently placed apartment for rent that was just perfect. Nevertheless, upon his arrival in the windy city, the newcomer noticed that the pictures he saw before leaving New York didn't completely show how damaged the apartment's bathroom was, especially the bathtub's tiles and grout. Undoubtedly, he needed professional help, so he went online again to search for a Chicago grout cleaning service.

The new resident was surprised when Sir Grout Chicago's website appeared among the first search results. He had hired us before back in New York for a tile cleaning job, but he didn't know that we also provided services outside his hometown. The tenant recommended us to the building's landlord, who also thought the bathroom could use a touch-up; so he called us immediately to set up a free, in-home consultation that we scheduled for the following day.


As part of the consultation, our team of restorers visited the residence to evaluate the bathroom and determine what restoration services it needed. Through an exhaustive inspection, they noticed that the room's poor ventilation and wrong cleaning methods caused the shower-tub's walls to become moldy. The bathroom had a window, but by the looks of it, the former tenant didn't open it frequently. Moreover, the joints between the tiles and the window, not to mention the bathtub surround's caulk, were full of mold and dirt.

The landlord told us that the current state of the bathroom made the apartment difficult to rent, so he wanted to restore it once and for all. To solve the problem, our team offered the lessor a grout and tile cleaning and sealing service to restore the walls and make them look as good as new. They carefully explained the steps of the procedures to which he agreed right after.

The cleaning process started the following day. Firstly, our team applied a non-toxic, soapless cleaner to loosen the embedded dirt on the grout and tiles – since some of it was difficult to remove, they turned to steam cleaning. Once this was completed, the hard surface restorers proceeded to replace any missing or cracked grout, and then they applied Sir Grout Chicago's proprietary ColorSeal to all the grout lines, recoloring them and making them mold-, stain-, water- and mildew-resistant.

Finally, they removed all the caulk along the bathtub surround and replaced it with Stainmaster Epoxy Grout. As protection for the tiles after the color sealing process, our team buffed on Sir Grout Chicago's proprietary Tile Armor sealant over the entire shower. The procedure was completed that same day.

The new tenant and the landlord were astonished by the grout cleaning results. The grout was white and clean instead of grayish and bad-looking. Besides, the excessive mold and mildew had disappeared – the tenant said it looked nothing like the bathroom he had seen that morning. As maintenance advice, our team recommended the new resident to always use a pH-neutral, soapless cleaning product for the bathroom – soap-based products leave a sticky residue that traps dirt, so it is always best to avoid using them.

If you are looking for a team of professionals to solve grout problems in your building, Sir Grout Chicago is at your service. Call us at (773) 923-2084 or fill out the "Request a Quote" form on this page.

If you found this article helpful then let us know in the comments section below. Likewise, feel free to share it using the share options below. Want us to cover another topic of your interest pertaining to Hard Surface Restoration? If so, then like us and follow us on social media, and post to any of our social media profiles the topic you'd like us to discuss: Facebook Sir Grout Chicago, Instagram @sirgroutchicago, and Twitter @SirGrout.