tile sealing
 

We are building a new home in Sanibel closing in February. We were told by the village designer that all the tile grout in the home, foyer, laundry, kitchen, bathrooms and showers, is not sealed by the installers. I was surprised that sealing the grout was not a part of the install, since it is standard practice here in the North, . I thought I would do it myself but just moving in and setting up a new household is busy enough. Does anyone have a recommendation of who to call to come in to do the work?
So much to do.........

Wait a year. Sealing voids the warranty.

Mulligan beat me to it. When the year is up, you can do it yourself. It's not that hard. Just get the sealant at Home Depot or Lowe's and spread it on. If you don't want to do it, E&G does a good job.

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. That's what I like about the TOTV! So now the question is the warranty. Warranty on the tiling or on the grout?

Secondly, I thought by waiting a year that would mean more cleaning of the grout and the potential of spilling something that stains on it. Also in the showers, won't that potentially stain the grout on the tile floor with water and soap if it isn't sealed?
Thanks once again!!

Tile sealing
 

Bonrich, I also am building in Sanibel and sealing the tile throughout was on the top of my list. I agree that dirt may build up before sealing and then we would have a lot of work to clean it. I'm thinking......will anything happen to the tile in that year for us to use the warranty? Other than a crack in the grout, I haven't heard much about problems with tile. May go ahead and seal anyway and if the tile or grout cracks, have someone come in at my expense and fix it. It can't be that expensive to fix. Just a thought. :undecided:

I think I would also roll the dice in that direction.

From my understanding, it voids the warranty on both the grout and the tile. Before you decide, get a golf ball and bounce it on every tile. You're bound to hear one or two dead spots but shouldn't hear too many. Warranty department will not replace the dead ones but you are at risk for them to crack sooner than later. They will replace cracked ones in the first year but not if you've sealed the grout. At least you'll be better able to make an informed decision.

BTW -- Easy way to clean grout -- get a good grout cleaner (Lowe's has one in a blue bottle, can't remember the name of it, sorry) and a Magic Eraser. Spray the cleaner, wipe it off, use the Eraser to finish clean up. Grout looks good as new and I've yet to find a stain it doesn't get out (including a berry stain left on for over 2 weeks by renters).

tile sealing
 

Closed on our home in St. James on 11/18 & we noticed some cracks in the grout. Call warranty dept. & tile man came out to repair. He said we should SEAL THE TILE; there is NO WAY he could tell in a few months that the tile was sealed (to void warranty)!!!! He recommended a product in a spray can (yellow can) to use from Lowe's. Took wifey about 25 min. to do foyer, 2 baths & kitchen.
NEW TILE ALWAYS have grout cracks, so INSPECT them closely when U move in.

How to apply tile sealer?
 

Can you put this sealer on with a sponge mop or do you have to get on your hands and knees. The thought of applying it on my hands and knees....Oh my aching back. Also, would the same sealer work on the shower tiles?

Thanks....

Grout cracks
 

We sealed our grout throughout the house. When we got cracks in the grout all through the laundry room and kitchen they regrouted it with no complaints.

We have tile throughout the house except bedrooms. Before we moved in, we bought a product at Home Depot (not the most expensive and not the cheapest but the one in the middle). It was silicon based. We applied it with a sponge mop over the entire tile and grout and ten a second coat over the grout. Lot's of elbow grease and several hours. In the process, we noted several grout lines that were not quite right. No problem getting them repaired under warranty.

I asked my Builder at closing if my warranty would be voided if I sealed my grout. He said no. I did have grout crack replaced during one year warranty period. The only thing they couldn't do was match the color of the grout so the guy who sealed it for me came back, sealed the new grout and matched the color we had used.

Sir, I don't know,....what is a Magic Eraser?

Sealing Grout
 

We bought a pre-owned home and had the tile cleaned and sealed by Dirty Grout Be Gone. They did a fabulous job. Each grout line was hand sealed. Definitely not something I would have done. They steam cleaned the tile and grout before sealing the grout. Now I only have to use water and a micro fiber mop to keep it clean....
Happy Homeowner

Magic Eraser is a white, spongelike product that cleans almost anything. One of the greatest inventions ever!

At the one-year inspection we had several hairline cracks in the grout between some tiles. The warranty dept sent out Nickel Tile, whose service man applied a sanded caulk in a matching color. So, no real grout replacement for our home.

I am confused. Are we talking about sealing the tile and grout, or just the grout? And who would you recommend as doing a good job.

First thing when we moved down was to have the builder's grade (crappy) carpet torn up and Italian porcelain tile installed by a private individual (not The Villages contractors). Idiot me wanted WHITE grout (on a light colored tile). Obviously, I never had tile floors before. The installer said I didn't need to have it sealed! HA! Within a year, my beautiful white grout had become an ugly dark gray in all the high traffic areas. No matter what I used...and I tried everything HOME MADE and on the market (including the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser), NOTHING would get that grout white again. I was so distraught because our entire house is tile.

Called Dirty Grout Be Gone to get an estimate. It was expensive, but so labor intensive I could understand why. First they did a VERY THOROUGH job cleaning the tile/grout. Then they got down on their hands and knees and painted, by hand, each grout line....I'm talking a little over 1600 sf! Took several days, but it looks AMAZING! They use an epoxy-based paint so it dries to a very hard and impervious to staining finish. It's guaranteed for 10 years. Clean-up, now, is a breeze. It's been almost a year since the work was done and it looks as great and new as it did when they did it! Oh, and BTW, I DID go w/a darker color instead of white. Chose a light background color from the tile...now you can't even see the grout lines...they blend in perfectly. Makes the house look bigger.

we were told at our home design meeting that the tile and grout is already sealed and that we would not have to do it for 5 years. Not correct? We are closing in 2 weeks. Should we prepare to have to seal? thanks

FYI, There are also some sealers that will color your grout. We bought a home (the one we are currently trying to sell) that had an unpleasant pink grout in one of the bathrooms. We used a beige sealer over it and the pink never showed through in the 10 years we have lived here. Also might be nice in the case of awful stains on white grout. Use a white color sealer. I never expected this to work, but it did.

We close in a week and told same by builder...don't need to seal grout for years. New material or new process from several years back. ??

We had our kitchen and bathrooms tiled by East Coast Flooring. They told us it will never need to be sealed. The grout contains the sealer. Time will tell. It's been 8 months and it looks fantastic.

Builder told us the same thing with one caveat; use vinegar water to clean it. He said any soap products will attract an hold the dirt in the grooves and make it look like the grout is dirty.

Tile cleaning and grout sealing
 

If you do decide to wait the year,The house I just purchased was 3 years old,the grout was never sealed and was dirty.I used Professional Carpet and Tile cleaned the tile and grout and applied a sealer.Floors look like brand new and he also gave me proper instructionon the best way to keep them looking new, they also applied a carpet protector tokeep the dirt track away on the heavy traffic areas..Pat More and his wife did a GREAT job and we couldn't be happier with the results.