I’ve been remodeling part of my house for a few months now. While I’m eager to move into the new area of the house (and a couple floors down), I want to make sure I leave the old space in good condition.
I started on the bathroom by re-caulking the shower, nearby walls and toilet. To my surprise, I was not horrible at caulking. I thought I was going to make a total mess of it. But after spending hours crawling around on the floor, I became acutely aware of how dingy the grout was. To be fair, I don’t think the grout ever looked nice in this room, so don’t judge me. It still looked awful even after having scrubbed it with grout cleaner.
And yes, that chipped baseboard needs repair, but I’m just going to paint it for now.
I took to the internet to look up better ways to clean grout. After watching endless videos comparing different methods, the consensus seems to be using baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. But then I came across a color sealant product from Coat of Armor Grout Solutions.
I used their contact form on their site and asked for a color chart. Two days later I received a chart from them in the mail and I ordered the ivory, which was a light tan. The photos I took make it look pretty white, but it definitely tan in person.
The kit comes with everything you’ll need: cleaner concentrate, brush, shammies, the color sealant, an application nozzle and instructions. The only thing I wish it came with, that I ransacked my craft room for, was a spray bottle.
I diluted the cleaning solution and put it in my spray bottle and cleaned the grout (again). Then it was time to actually put down the sealant. It does take a little bit of time to get used to. The first half of the bathroom was painfully slow but the second half went quite quickly. I found the best method to get good results with minimal cleanup was 1) put down the thinnest line of product onto the grout and 2) drag your brush over it very slowly to avoid getting it all over the tile. I had started off with putting down a moderate amount of product and scrubbing at it like I saw in a video online, but there was so much cleanup involved after that.
When you’ve applied the product to the grout you’ll need to clean up the edges of the tile with a damp cloth (the shammie provided). This was the most painful part but once you get the process down you will have less to clean up.
The floor will need to be left undisturbed for 3 hours (keep this in mind if you have kids or pets). The final result came out really nice, although it does look like I painted it. I don’t think anyone else would examine the floor as closely as someone who’s been scrubbing it for hours. The sealant covers some of the texture of grout, so it appears smoother and a little different. Even then, it looks 1000% better.
After the remodel is complete, I’ll be doing the same to the kitchen floor. I have a feeling it will need to be done in sections since the kitchen is so much larger.