Do Tile Floors Need to be Sealed?
Do Tile Floors Need to be Sealed? – Keeping your grout and tile clean is important, but does it really need to be sealed? Isn’t this just an extra optional step?
What Does Sealant Do?
Sealant is a protective layer applied in liquid form and left to dry. Once it is dry it creates a barrier between the surface of what it is protecting and anything it comes in contact with. It’s like putting clear coat or wax over the paint job of a car or putting top coat over a manicure. It is there to provide a layer of protection and help keep harmful things the tile and grout come in contact with from causing more damage.
Does this mean sealant is a 100% foolproof guarantee against damage? No, but it does help significantly to protect. It also allows you to more easily and effectively clean up spills and stains without damage.
Why is Sealant Helpful?
Much of this was explained above, but to take it a step further, in the case of your floors especially there are many things that can get stuck in tile floors. The grout alone can harbor a large number of things brought into the home on the soles of your shoes. Grout is made of sand and covers a significant percentage of the floor surface. This sandy grout as it dries when it is being applied, forms little tiny holes called pores. Those pores are small and not easily seen without the help of magnification, but they can harbor a large amount of dirt, grime, bacteria, or even mold and mildew. Sealing, just in the case of grout alone, keeps a large amount of this grime away from the pores.
Floors Where Sealant is Very Important
Some rooms see more foot traffic than others because they are used more than others. For example: the kitchen and the bathrooms. These are rooms that also have high water usage. These areas are prone to higher levels of germs and mold so it is very important to provide the grout lines in these rooms with an added layer of protection.
Why It’s Important to Have a Cleaning Done Before Sealing
The best way to ensure the sealant is doing its job to provide a protective barrier, is to make sure there is no dirt on the surface when it is applied. The best way to make sure all of the dirt and grime even in the deepest pores has been removed is with professional deep cleaning. Only professional truck mounted equipment has the power to get to the deepest areas and not only clean, but sanitize so that you have a clean surface to apply sealant to. Applying sealant to a floor that has not been deeply cleaned will result in sealing all the deep down dirt into the floors.
Does Sealant Need to be Re-applied?
Yes, sealant should be applied at least once a year. As you go about your daily life and routine cleaning, the sealant begins to wear away. Over the course of a year it will be worn enough that it should re-applied.
For tile cleaning and sealing in Edmonds and surrounding areas make an appointment with AllKleen.