Author Archives: mrcleanpolish

Cleaning Marble And Tile Floors

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Before and after picture of cleaning soiled tumbled marble
Cleaning Marble Floors Before and After

Cleaning marble and tile floors can be frustrating. Normal vacuuming, sweeping and mopping obviously works to some degree. But over time, soils can build up in grout lines or in the natural crevices of stone. That’s especially true of stone that has a rough and irregular surface, like tumbled marble floors.

And grout lines tend to look worn and darker over time, but the rough surface doesn’t respond much to normal mopping.

The photo above was a before and after view of a kitchen South of Boston. The way we approached cleaning this tumbled marble floor was to use high alkaline cleaning liquids and a scrubbing machine with counter rotating stiff nylon brushes. Plenty of water, lots of time to soak in before scrubbing. Oh, and we decided to hand scrub every grout line with a stff nylon brush to give it maximum force!

Homeowner was very pleased and the work was finished within her timetable for an upcoming party.

Cleaning Floor Grout Lines

Sometimes the hardest part of cleaning marble and tile floors is not the tile itself – it’s the grout lines! Because they are very porous, it’s very easy for soils to get trapped inside the micro pores of the grout. If you run your hands over a sanded grout line, it feels about as rough as sidewalk cement. No wonder it’s difficult to get it clean!

Tile floor with grout lines looking faded
Cleaning Tile Floor Before
Bedford Sanded Grout After Recoloring
Cleaning Tile Floor After

The floor photos above were from a job in Bedford Massachusetts. The homeowners wanted to get their grout lines back to the original color. The grout lines were somewhat faded and had lost the rich earthy red color that matched the tiles nicely.

In this case, we decided to apply a tinted color sealer to the grout. After cleaning the tile floor, we had to do the sealer application on hands and knees, (This stage of the job has no shortcuts – you have to go over every single grout line carefully). The color sealer brought the floor back to life and since it’s a tough coating, future cleaning will be more effective. Basically, the grout lines are no longer porous after this sealer.

When to Call a Pro

Some types of cleaning chemicals can actually damage stone. If you want to use a new product, do yourself a favor and read all the fine print on the back label. If you see something like ‘Not for natural stone’, then don’t use it! That’s likely code for ‘contains acid which will instantly etch your natural stone’! If you’ve etched a polished marble surface, repolishing it is not a DIY project, even if you’re relatively handy.

For routine maintenance, I found some fairly useful cleaning and maintenance tips at a credible source, The Natural Stone Institute. This page https://www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/consumers/care/ has all the basics you need for routine cleaning. If you have an issue with your stone or tile floors that you’re wondering about, feel free to give us a call at 617-221-4002 We can likely talk you through most cleaning tasks on the phone, for free. Most of our customers send a photo or two and that usually provides enough for us to get you a quote if you need professional cleaning and restoration.

Heavy Duty Floor Stripping

The photos below were from a historic home in Brookline. They had a slate floor in the basement with a clear gloss urethane coating. Unfortunately, a flood damaged the finish and left an ugly, flaking mess. In order to clean it off, we had to use solvent paint remover and follow with high alkaline water based cleaning. Another hands and knees job! (Note: if you decide to use solvent based paint removers, please be very careful since most of them sold on the market today are flammable. You need good ventilation and should not allow any flame in the room, since the vapor is flammable).

Before and after photos of stone floor cleaning
Natural Stone Cleaning Before and After

If you have a project you’d like a quote for, feel free to get in touch. You can fill in the form below or just call or text us at 617-221-4002

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
https://cleanpolishmarblegraniteboston.com
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Regrouting Tub Showers

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Before and After View of Tub Shower Regrouting
Before And After

Regrouting tub showers – How do you know when it’s time to do it? If your tub shower grout is difficult to clean, or is cracked or missing in spots, then it may be time to consider regrouting. Even the best installation can become dingy over time. Exposure to the chemicals in soaps, shampoo and cosmetics can cause discoloration. And since grout is somewhat porous, it can absorb tints or pigments from chemicals. (We once had to regrout a shower because the homeowner was very diligent about using Blue Windex. Every day. On her white grout….until she finally ended up with blue grout!) If you need to get a quote, feel free to fill out the form at the end of this page. Or just call or text us at 617-221-4002

Our general rule of thumb is that if you can clean your grout back to life, you don’t need regrouting. But once you have tried your best and it doesn’t look much better after cleaning, then it may be time to say goodbye to the old grout. That’s when regrouting the tub shower makes more sense, since it’s a more guaranteed great looking result.

The before and after effect of regrouting tub showers can be pretty dramatic. The photos above are from a job we did in the suburbs west of Boston. The work was all completed in one day. Part of the work is a very deep cleaning of the tiles and the tub. After all, we’re shooting for that ‘brand new look’!

This next job was in Milton, Massachusetts. It was finished in one day and restored the original look of the tile.

Before and after regouting gray shower tile Milton MA
Before and After Regouting Tub Shower

The first step is to take out enough of the existing grout to form a channel for new grout. That works best for unsanded grout, which is softer than sanded grout. Then we scrape out the old caulking in corners and edges. After deep cleaning, we apply fresh grout and then fresh caulking.

If you’re ready to say hello to a fresher new shower and want it done all in one day, give us a call at 617-221-4002 and we’ll get it done for you!

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
https://cleanpolishmarblegraniteboston.com
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Regrout Shower Tiles an Unlikely DIY Project

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before regrout shower - the grout looks mildewed
BEFORE REGROUT SHOWER
after regrout shower, grout is much cleaner
AFTER REGROUT SHOWER

If you notice cracks, missing grout, or discoloration in your shower grout, the temptation may be to regrout it yourself. How hard can it be, right? After all, if you go to a search engine and enter the phrase ‘regrout shower,’ you’ll see boatloads of entries showing you how to do it yourself, like this one from True Value.

Not to pick on the fine folks at True Value, but…is it really so easy to regrout a shower? Is it REALLY a good do-it-yourself task?

Of course, we have a bias here at Act One. (But you sort of figured that out already, right?)

I’m going to go out on a limb a bit to say that shower regrouting is a task best left to professional contractors. Especially folks that do it all the time. That doesn’t rule out tile installation companies, but it doesn’t automatically rule them in, either. (On the one hand, installers do know how to apply fresh grout to new tile work that has no grout, but they don’t often spend much time taking old grout out…and that’s arguably the most important part and time consuming part of the job.) It does rule out handymen or handywomen who only occasionally deal with tile. And with a few exceptions, it rules out most homeowners, except the most determined and the most lucky.

Quiz – Are You Ready to Regrout Your Shower?

So let’s do a quick quiz to see if you’re one of the fortunate souls who can get away with paying minimal expenses and have the satisfaction of a job well done. The list shows the questions first and the answers are below. No cheating! Answer before you look below!

  • Are you regrouting your shower mainly for fixing a water leak?
  • Do you know whether your shower has sanded or unsanded grout? How can you tell?
  • Do you need to take all the old grout out before applying new grout?
  • What is the one tool you need to remove old grout?
  • If only the bottom half of the shower walls needs regrouting, would you regrout only the bottom half of the wall?
  • Should you use premixed grout?
  • What are the major differences between shower walls and shower floors for regrouting purposes?
  • Where should caulking go?
  • Do you grout before caulking or caulk before grouting?
  • What consistency should grout be for maximum future durability?
  • If grout has cracked in an area and you notice the tiles move slightly at that area, will regrouting fix this?

Quiz Answers

  • Are you regrouting your shower mainly for fixing a water leak?
  • Answer: I hope not! Grout is not waterproof, so using grout to solve a leaking problem is like using a screen door to stop wind. Regrouting is a cosmetic issue. Most leaks are plumbing problems or poor design issues. If you need a plumber, best to call a plumber. A beautifully regrouted shower may still leak.
  • Do you know whether your shower has sanded or unsanded grout? How can you tell?
  • Answer: If you don’t know the difference, maybe reconsider the task. Unsanded grout is smooth and usually has thin grout lines of 1/8 inch or 1/16 inch. These can be pulled out and replaced. Sanded grout is usually thicker and looks and feels rough to the touch. In most cases, you should not try to pull out sanded grout. That’s because it is so strong that it needs extreme measures to remove it. That increases the risk that you’ll scratch the surface of the tiles. For shower walls with sanded grout, we usually recommend recoloring the grout lines instead of regrouting
  • Do you need to take all the old grout out before applying new grout?
  • Answer: In most cases, you need to take out some unsanded grout, but it’s impossible to get all of it out. It’s also not necessary, since all you need is enough of a channel to hold new unsanded grout.
  • What is the one tool you need to remove old grout?
  • Answer: Trick question. There isn’t only one tool. On any given regrouting job, we may use a utility knife with quick release to change the blades often, a carbon steel triangle shaped tool, a carbon steel cement board scoring knife and a Multimax style power tool with adjustable diamond tipped blade. In contrast with much of the advice online, the one tool we’ve found pretty useless is a grout saw.
  • If only the bottom half of the shower walls needs regrouting, would you regrout only the bottom half of the wall?
  • Answer: If you do, you’ll end up with a two-toned ‘Frankenshower’ look. Better off to do the whole thing so it all looks uniform.
  • Should you use premixed grout?
  • Answer: If you do, you will probably regret it. Mixing grout powder with water is by no means the hard part of the job. But premixed grout is incredibly difficult to clean off the tiles, and almost no one gets it clean enough. That creates a permanently smeary look that is unfixable. That’s why pros never use that product.
  • What are the major differences between shower walls and shower floors for regrouting purposes?
  • Answer: Shower walls are usually fairly dry behind the tiles and often have unsanded grout. Shower floors are much wetter beneath the tiles, which can slow down drying time. Additionally, floor tiles are often mosaics, so there are many more grout lines. On top of that, they are most often sanded grout, so they are harder to remove the grout and colorsealer usually won’t work.
  • Where should caulking go?
  • Answer: Caulking is designed to go in 90 degree angle changes of plane, not between the tiles on the flat parts of the walls.
  • Do you grout before caulking or caulk before grouting?
  • Answer: Grout before caulking.
  • What consistency should grout be for maximum future durability?
  • Answer: Like thick peanut butter. If you mix it up soupy, the grout won’t be durable.
  • If grout has cracked in an area and you notice it moves slightly, will regrouting fix this?
  • Answer: Maybe not. That’s more likely a structural issue. You might need a new shower. So regrouting it might be like painting the deck of the Titanic.

How did you do on the quiz? If you aced it and feel like tackling a shower grout job and have a spare day or two of time and energy, have at it! But if you felt like you were a bit out of your league, don’t feel bad. The very first regrout I did took me parts of three days! I truly felt sorry for the very patient and longsuffering client! These days it’s usually a one day job.

If you’d like to get a quote on the work, feel free to call or text us at 617-221-4002 or fill out the form below. We usually ask if you can send us a photo or two showing the overall size and layout of the shower.

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
https://cleanpolishmarblegraniteboston.com
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Marble Floor Restoration in Weston

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Before marble floor restoration weston - floor is dull
Marble Floor Restoration Weston Before
Marble floor restoration Weston after polishing, much brighter
Marble Floor Restoration Weston After

Marble floor restoration is the process of bringing your floor back to life, making it look the way you want. In most cases, that means cleaning and polishing the stone. But not everyone wants a polished glossy finish. So sometimes we create a matte finish, a low sheen look. Other times, the grout is one of the major issues, so we end up regrouting the tiles.

In this case, a homeowner in Weston Massachusetts contacted us while finishing up a renovation in her master bath. Most of the construction was done, but the floor needed some attention. She wanted to know all about the process we use for marble floor restoration.

Marble floors are durable, but over time, foot traffic and normal wear and tear can dull the finish. In addition, small ‘micro scratches’ can become visible, which has the effect of blurring the finish. This particular floor was a gloss polished finish originally. So that was the end goal – restore it back to its original glory!

The Floor Restoration Plan

The homeowner initially sent us photos to get an idea of the job. We don’t always need to come on site for an estimate, but in this case we did. After reviewing her goals and the current state of the floor, we decided that her marble floor restoration plan would be the following:

  • First, mask off any adjacent areas with plastic to protect other surfaces
  • Second, use several different diamond abrasive pads on a floor scrubbing machine to progressively hone away a thin layer of marble (we only need to take off about the thickness of a piece of paper and it’s done wet so we don’t have airborne dust)
  • Third, follow up with a paste polishing compound (this is even finer than jeweler’s rouge)
  • Fourth, clean the whole floor and scrub the grout lines
  • Finally, apply clear penetrating sealer to seal and protect the stone and grout lines

As you can see, the ‘before and after’ effect is very noticeable. Marble floor restored, client happy!

If you have a marble floor and you’d like to consider restoration, feel free to get in touch with us. You can call or text us at 617-221-4002 or fill out the form below.

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
https://cleanpolishmarblegraniteboston.com
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Boston Marble Restoration

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Marble floor before polishing
Boston Marble Restoration Before
After polishing, marble floor looks much better
Boston Marble Restoration After

Boston area marble restoration jobs vary from house to house and from commercial building to commercial building. This particular job was a sunroom for a fine home just South of Boston on Route 128. They had several rooms of polished Crema Marfil, fairly large 13 inch tiles.

According to MSI, “Crema Marfil Marble from Spain is a classic cream marble with tan undertones. This collection is ideally suited for indoor bathroom and kitchen applications, such as backsplashes, flooring, countertops, and wall coverings”. It looks stunning in this setting, creating almost a monochrome color for the room.

The Marble Restoration Process – How It Works

This marble restoration job was a honing and polishing job in Canton, just south of Boston. That involves running diamond abrasive pads over the floor to remove a very thin layer of stone. Essentially, the process exposes the fresh stone underneath.

First, we needed to move some of the furniture out of the way. When polishing a floor, we want to do the whole floor, from wall to wall. Then the honing process takes several stages, so it’s not a one pass procedure. It’s more like the way wood floor refinishers sand and refinish floors. Wood floor companies sand the floor several times, starting with rough sandpaper grits and gradually proceeding to finer, smoother grits to leave the floor very smooth for the final finish.

That’s how marble restoration works as well, whether in Boston or anywhere else. At first we start with a low grit, rougher diamond. For example, a typical starting grit might be 60 grit or 100 grit. (The grit system for our diamonds is exactly the same as the grit system for sandpaper, but the abrasive’s form is different than sandpaper used by wood floor companies).

One important difference, though, is that we always do our diamond honing wet. That keeps the dust from becoming airborne. It makes some mud on the surface of the floor, but that’s easy to vacuum up and wash. So there’s no vast dust cloud all over your house!

End results? The floor came out awesome and the client was very happy!

If you have a marble floor that is showing its age and you’d like it restored, feel free to get in touch if you’re in the metro Boston area. You can call or text us at 617-221-4002 or just fill out the form below.

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
https://cleanpolishmarblegraniteboston.com
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Shower Wall Tile Regrouting

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Let’s face it – showers face a lot of wear and tear, including exposure to hot water, soaps and shampoos as well as sometimes harsh cleaning chemicals. After a while, mineral deposits can build up as well, making the shower look tired and needing some help. In this situation, shower wall tile regrouting can make a world of difference, usually in only one day.

This project was from a homeowner in Newton. The family had a shower where the wall grout had become cracked in some areas and was discolored in places. Of course, they always had the option of tearing out the shower, remodeling the entire room. Then they would have a shower that was brand new. Except that option has some drawbacks…… Like dust all over, weeks without a shower, tradesmen traipsing through their house for what seems like eternity and thousands and thousands of dollars!

Shower wall tile regrouting, on the other hand, is a one day project, costs much less, and leaves your house clean and neat. And the results? Check the before and after photos below to see for yourself.

It’s important to note that this is not just a ‘cleaning’ of the grout. It’s an actual physical replacement, taking out the old grout and applying fresh grout.

For unsanded, smooth grout, we use different hand tools to remove the grout, including razor blades, carbon steel scoring knives and sometimes power tools with diamond tipped blades for tough areas. Removing enough of the old grout is important for creating a channel for new grout.

We always do a deep cleaning of the tiles when regrouting. That way, the new grout next to clean tiles looks like a brand new installation, minus all the dust and aggravation of a remodeling project!

Tub shower walls before regrout
Tub Shower Before Regrout
Tub shower after regrout
Tub Shower After Regrout

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
https://cleanpolishmarblegraniteboston.com
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Polishing Marble Tiles

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Polishing Marble Tiles Before
Polishing Marble Tiles After

There are many DIY projects that homeowners can tackle with a bit of energy and some youtubing how to videos. Polishing marble tiles is not one of those jobs, though. In other words, it takes a professional with experience and the right tools to achieve a gorgeous, uniform shine.

The videos below were from a typical job north of Boston. Vinegar had spilled on the marble tiles, and the acid in the vinegar etched the stone, killing the shine. First we start by diamond honing the marble, buffing it and sealing it with a clear penetrating sealer. As you can see from the brief before and after videos below, polishing marble tiles can make a huge difference! (Apologies on video quality, Hollywood we ain’t!)

If you’re also in the metro Boston area and you have an older marble floor with a cracked marble tile you’d like to have replaced, give us a call! First, we usually do the repair/replacement. After that, we do a diamond honing and polishing on the entire floor. Why bother with the whole floor? Well, the reason is that the new tile will be a high polish compared to the rest of the floor. As a result, that can make the repair stick out like a ‘sore thumb’, definitely not the look you’re going for! If you want to see an example of how that looks, before and after, take a look at this repairing and polishing marble tiles job in Cambridge.

If your marble tiles need polishing, just call or text us at 617-221-4002 and we’ll get you a quote asap. Sending photos of the area is usually the fastest way to get the ball rolling. You can also fill out the form at the bottom of the page.

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Text or Call

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Cleaning Marble Stairs in Downtown Boston

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If you have a condominium or apartment building with marble stairs, you know what happens over time. The marble can get harder and harder to clean. After a while, foot traffic and de-icing chemicals take their toll and the stone looks soiled all the time.

Can anything be done about it? Yes!

The pictures below were a set of marble stairs that we worked on in a downtown Boston condominium building. The curved marble staircase was showing signs of wear and tear, looking tired. This does not add to condo value, to say the least!

We first protect nearby surfaces with plastic and then use diamond abrasive marble cleaning pads to remove a thin layer of stone and expose fresh stone below. Diamond honing is not just cleaning – it’s actually refinishing the stone. Add some hand scrubbing for vertical risers, a coat of penetrating sealer and the old stairs take on a much cleaner look!

If you have a marble cleaning project you’d like to get done in the Boston and Eastern Massachusetts area, feel free to call or text us at 617-221-4002 for a free estimate or fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page.

Dirty marble stairs in Boston
Before Diamond Honing
Cleaner Boston Marble Stairs After Diamond Honing
After Diamond Honing

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Call or Text

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Regrouting Amesbury Shower Walls and Floor

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Amesbury Shower Before Regrouting
Before Regrouting
Amesbury Shower After Regrouting
After Regrouting

Even a well built shower may eventually need some attention to grout and caulking. This job in Amesbury Massachusetts included regrouting wall tile and also regrouting the shower floor. Shower floors can be problematic to regrout, since they often have much harder sanded grout. That’s difficult to remove and the smaller size tiles mean lots of grout lines. There can be problems with slow drying grout due to moisture beneath the floor tiles.

Regrouting wall tile is much more common, since shower walls usually have much softer unsanded grout. That’s the type we can typically remove and completely replace. Still, we can often regrout shower floors, even if we have to use extra efforts and some power tools to grind out the old grout.

In this case, the homeowner decided that regrouting wall tile was not enough, so we replaced the grout on both floor and walls.

Most jobs where we are regrouting wall tile only can be done in one day. Sometimes including the floor can mean we need to come back a second day. That’s what was needed for this job – we just ran out of hours on day one.

We carefully scraped out enough old grout to form a solid channel for new grout. Then we scraped out old caulking in the corners and edges, followed by a thorough cleaning of floor and walls. Then we add fresh grout and caulking. In many cases, it looks like a brand new shower!

If you’d like similar results, feel free to call or text us at 617-221-4002 or fill out the form below and we’ll get you a firm quote asap.

If you’d like to see more regrouting pages, check these links:

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Call or Text

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts

Marble Tile Repair and Polishing in Cambridge

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Cambridge Massachusetts is home to many fine stone floors, built back in the day when stone installers took a lot of pride in their workmanship. But over the years, ‘life happens’ and the floor can get dull from foot traffic and wear and tear. This example was about marble tile repair, regrouting and polishing.

We were called to help solve a problem with a kitchen floor. In fact, several tiles right near the refrigerator had cracked and the grout had become worn and was hard to get clean.

Unfortunately some times a repair is not feasible. If the subfloor is too weak, or if it’s not stable, it may not work. For example, there may be no matching tiles available.

Fortunately, the homeowner had saved extra tiles from the original installation, so we knew the marble tile repair would blend in naturally. The plan was to replace the cracked tiles, polish the whole floor and then regrout the whole floor so all the grout would look the same. No one would ever know there had been a problem – an ‘invisible repair’!

If you need a marble tile repair, feel free to get in touch with us. Initially, we usually ask folks to start by sending us a photo or two of the area. And also tell us whether or not you have the original matching tile and we’ll get you a quote in writing asap.

CAMBRIDGE CRACKED MARBLE TILES
CAMBRIDGE CRACKED MARBLE TILES
CAMBRIDGE CRACKED MARBLE TILES REMOVED
CAMBRIDGE CRACKED MARBLE TILES REMOVED
CAMBRIDGE MARBLE TILES REPLACED POLISHED AND REGROUTED
CAMBRIDGE MARBLE TILE REPAIR DONE, POLISHED, REGROUTED

Our contact information:

Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Call or Text

Service Area Map of Eastern Massachusetts
We Service All of Eastern Massachusetts