No more color sealing for me!

[Jose Holguin]

Yes it works. But like Jeff said. ALWAYS ACID ETCH FIRST!!!!! The etch acts as a primer and allows a stronger bond by the color seal. A $35 quart bottle of color seal can easly make you $1500 or more. The last color seal I did I sealed about 700 SF took about 5 or 6 hours used about 1/4 of the bottle and paid $1100.

It slow and its tedious. But done right it looks great. I have color sealed and cleaned color sealed jobs that you dont even realize are color sealed. One customer hired me to clean and clear seal her tile. About a 100 sf into the job it dawns on me that this floor has been color sealed. Asked her And she said yes it had been about 5 years before. Got done cleaning it looked perfect.

Cleaning properly color sealed grout is the easiest fastest job ever.

Cleaning a poorly color sealed floor is a nightmare.

I learned just about every service I offer on the fly but if I was to offer color sealing I wouldn't be comfortable until I do a ride along with one of you guys, maybe one day...

 

[Art Kelley]

So in other words, it's like painting a car (literally); make sure you prep the surface and you will have good luck. I once had a van painted by Maaco and the top peeled up all over. They didn't get up there and sand the paint, just sprayed it. Looked like crap after one year.

 

[Six Figure Solo Cleaner]

Six,

Don't let posts like these deter you from offering this service. I know you have started doing showers and such, I was the guy who turned caulkmaster on to the steamer you bought.

I added on tile and grout restoration in 2007 and it is the driving force for extreme revenue generation in my business today. I have done thousands (no exaggeration) of color sealing jobs since 07 including floors and showers in both commercial and residential settings. In the last year, I have added on using Ecosmart, which is a silane/siloxane based non-strip topcoat that we will put on shower floors after being colored, commercial bathrooms, slate showers, and any other unique projects that would benefit from having a semi-permanent proof sealer as a barrier to color being removed. It has solved many of the problems that we would incur, especially when coloring shower floors. The product/application is a similar idea to Sani-Glaze and Adsil.

Certain floors will be a bugger, and certain expectations need to be set with them. If you have high grout lines, it was a shitty install, and will in turn still be a shitty floor after you make the grout lines look new (and you will be cussing yourself out as you wipe the color seal off because they are the same heighth as the tile). Ever heard of putting lipstick on a pig? Same scenario. These types of floors will need to be serviced on a more regular basis. Why? The customer is actually walking on the grout lines as they use the floor and in turn will dirty the grout lines faster and/or grind off the color seal. COLOR SEAL DOES NOT MAKE THE DIRT JUMP OFF THE FLOOR!!! NOTHING UNDER THE SUN IS MAINTENENCE FREE!

We are usually doing repairs on each job, wether that be regrouting areas that are necessary (sometimes we will file down high grout lines if they are going to be a problem in color sealing process), cracked tile replacement, recaulking (sooooooo much recaulking).

I carry TEC Powergrout as a replacement grout, we carry around 10 different colors on each truck, as well as TEC Accucolor 100% Silicone in matching colors, as well as those colors in color seal. This is great for showers because it allows us to make an aesthetically pleasing end product (especially in a shower) where everything matches.

Heading in the direction of tile and grout was the best decision I could have made for my business. Which will be 12 years old this July.

If you can't be on your knees, or crouching for long periods of time, don't bother with the service. Your health is more important. Im 32, and have been using Racatacs since I started and have 0 health problems (knock on wood)....tho I want more of my hair back....

EDIT: You can take a look at my website and go to the tile categories to see all sorts of color sealing projects that look amazing and like a pro did them (because one did). www.vcleaning.com

You dropped quite a few nuggets in this post.

Had to print it out so I can research some of the products you mentioned.

Much appreciated.

 

[Six Figure Solo Cleaner]

So in other words, it's like painting a car (literally); make sure you prep the surface and you will have good luck. I once had a van painted by Maaco and the top peeled up all over. They didn't get up there and sand the paint, just sprayed it. Looked like crap after one year.

I swear you can literally feel the grout channels "suck" in the color seal when they have been properly prepped.

I prefer to saw/grind my be down manually. Which is why I only focus on small areas like showers, bathrooms or kitchens.

I can ensure an uncompromising bond then.

 

[shane deubell]

I swear, for every guy that comes here complaining about color seal and how they had a nightmare job, there's another guy claiming that it revolutionized their business.

The question is it the right service for YOU, personally.

I hated it and couldnt find a tech to do it, very tedious work.
But some people like it.

No question the service is legit if applied properly.

 

[Vito]

I had a large job that was color seal. it need a little touch up and the kit. needed redone. I order it from grout perfect. it match perfect. got lucky. touch up the main area and redid the kitchen. I have to say it look great.
good stuff. but it not a easy task to applied.

 

[bob_rugratz]

I dunno.....Now I'm on the fence!

careful stepping down , there's a big pile a shit on one side.

 

[danbrown20]

Also be careful driving motor vehicles, Aloha....lol

 

[Magnum Clean]

As others have stated, what will make you or break you on color sealing is whether the grout is high in the line, or down where it should be. Uneven tile height is also terrible. I'm just getting into the business and I decided to buy the color clad system. So far I have only done my own floors but I think the stuff is awesome. I did my kitchen first, and it went well. About 100 square feet, took a couple hours and looks like brand new grout job. A few week later did the front entrance.. Nightmare. Half the grout is high, uneven tiles. It took me until the wee hours of the night and I was pulling my hair out. Quality of job is so-so. Morale of the story some grout is good to seal, some is run away fast! If I had done it the other way around and tried my entrance first I likely would have given up the idea of it right there. Now if I am quoting a job I will inspect the grout closely.. Only if it's a good install will I offer color seal.
My question, what's a good and quick way to file down high grout lines? Please tell me there is a power tool for this.

 

[Mike Krall]

Is color sealing more profitable than carpet cleaning for you?

Those 2 clients that wore off, how did you "prep" the grout channels to receive the seal?

Do you recall, Was the grout sanded, unsanded or epoxy?

Which brand of color seal did you use?

Did you leave your client with a $2.99 gallon of ZEP neutral cleaner?

Do you offer a 6/12 Month "Service Agreement" at 33% of the initial job cost?

I'd like to order 64 gallon jugs of $2.99 Zepp neutral floor cleaner please.