Protecting your New Tile

What’s the best way to take care of the tile floors in my bathroom and kitchen? 

Use a cleaner that has “neutral pH” on the label. Or you can mix baking soda and water as a homemade cleaner. Pour half a cup of baking soda into two gallons of water and mix very well. Then apply the liquid with a string mop or sponge mop. You don’t want to put harsh chemicals on tile, not even the chemicals that are in steel wool pads — there’s always a risk that you’re affecting the color or etching the polish. There might be fading or staining that you don’t notice that seeps in over time.

What causes the worst stains you’ve seen? 

Let’s see, any kind of spill or pet stain, or even a rag soaked with chemical cleaners left sitting out on the tiles too long. Or flooding — we get calls from insurance companies to deal with mold that’s spread across a whole floor. Rust from metal left out can also cause marks that get under the tile glaze. We’ve even seen grease get under the glaze.

Are there sealants I can put on to prevent that kind of damage? 

That’s a really tricky area. I don’t want to badmouth the stores, but the sealants that a home-owner can buy are poor quality — they won’t work and might even damage the floor. Have a sealant applied by a professional who is experienced with your specific tile.

What floor tiles are most popular and does each kind need a different cleaner? 

The most popular materials are natural stone — marble, limestone, granite. We’re seeing more terra-cotta tiles lately. We used to see more porcelain, some of it airbrushed to look like veined stone, but that’s fading now because the hard-fired surface is hard to cut. I predict that ceramic mosaic with tiny pieces will be the next fad.

I could go on for hours about the different approaches professionals take for different materials. But baking soda and neutral pH cleaners are the best for homeowners. They’re suited to all materials.

Are certain sizes or finishes of tile more practical for a heavily trafficked floor?  

The size is an aesthetic question — it’s all about the look you want. Small tiles have a busier look, but make a small room look larger. The finish is up to you, too. Matte tiles tend to be less slippery, but a professional can make any finish have more grip. Textures like hand-hammering can make stone less slippery — that’s ideal for shower enclosures.

What’s the best way to clean grout? 

The baking soda cleaner should take most stains out of grout, too. If there’s serious staining, don’t flood the grout with cleaner, that won’t work. For that kind of discoloration you need to call in a pro. Removing the grout is only necessary when it’s cracked and water can seep through and damage the floor underneath.

Does each kind of flooring require a different kind of grout? 

In general, you want high grout lines. Low grout collects dirt. If it’s a heavily trafficked bathroom, you might ask for acid-resistant grout — it’s what we use in commercial applications. It won’t discolor the tiles, and it won’t react with anything else spilled on it.

What about colored grout?  

Use whatever color you like. Just be sure it’s properly sealed and maintained — maybe a darker color in a very heavily trafficked area.

If there’s only minor damage to a tile floor, can one small area be restored? 

A really good installer can reattach one loose tile by injecting adhesive, or putting in a single new matching tile. An inexperienced person usually prefers to chop out a broken tile. But that’s likely to break the pieces next to it, and you end up having to chop out much more than you expected. You might even damage the pipes below.

Okay, so tell me: What exactly is “a really good installer”? 

Someone who’s experienced with different kinds of flooring, who can make sure moisture and mold don’t get under the tile and that the sealant won’t react with the tile. Someone who understands the look you want and who can work with the other construction trades. Your tile installer has to take into consideration the layout of plumbing or heating pipes, electrical outlets, air conditioning ducts, whether the foundation footings or the lumber in the house frame are susceptible to settling. If he doesn’t…well, we see so many disasters.

Like what? 

Floors pitched so that water drains the wrong way. Stress cracks across an entire floor. Different colors of stone not mixed evenly so the floor has splotches, and colored grouts used in batches that weren’t of consistent color. I could go on and on.