Case Study | Islamorada, Florida Keys

Tile and grout cleaning in Islamorada for a Keys property manager: two condo units in one building, ceramic tile throughout, two screened balconies, and a one-day window before both units were occupied again. No beds or furniture moved. Here is what we found, what we did and how we worked around the schedule.

The Job at a Glance

Islamorada | Ceramic tile | Work by Franco and Javi

Watch the Balcony | 22 seconds

STEP 1 OF 3

Both units have beige, stone-look ceramic tile. The property manager wanted the traffic paths done, the walkways that take the most foot traffic in a rental: the kitchen, the hallways and the main routes through each unit.

In the kitchen there was a rust stain on the tile next to the refrigerator. There were also two screened balconies, tiled in the same ceramic, and both needed the work. One just looks worse than the other on camera because of the light.

STEP 2 OF 3

Franco and Javi cleaned the tile and grout along the traffic paths in both units with our low-moisture method: chemistry first, then controlled extraction. No high pressure and no steam, so the grout lines are not flooded with water.

They treated the rust stain by the refrigerator, cleaned both screened balconies, and set air movers on the floors to help them dry.

STEP 3 OF 3

We had a one-day window before both units were occupied again, and we finished inside it. We focused on the high-traffic areas, and both clients were fine leaving the furniture where it was, so no beds or furniture had to be moved and each unit stayed set up for the next stay.

That is the kind of job we are set up for in the Keys: get in, clean the tile and grout that takes the foot traffic, and get out of the way before the next arrival.

More From This Job

Who We Clean For in the Keys

Case Study | Pinecrest

Saltillo tile cleaning in Pinecrest, not a full restoration, was what this owner asked for. The aged Mexican Saltillo kitchen floor carried buildup, embedded dirt and discoloration, and there was a budget in mind. This job was about getting the most out of the clay while respecting that budget.

What was on the clay

Buildup on the surface

Embedded dirt

Discoloration

A budget to respect

The Job at a Glance

Pinecrest | Mexican Saltillo | Clay-safe, low moisture

STEP 1 OF 3

Saltillo is handmade clay, and this kitchen floor had aged the way Saltillo does: buildup on top, dirt worked down into the surface, and discoloration across the tiles.

Saltillo needs a very specific approach. The wrong chemicals or too much pressure can damage the clay, so before anything touches the floor, the method has to fit the material.

Watch the job | 17 seconds

STEP 2 OF 3

Miguel handled this one himself, in about 4 hours.

STEP 3 OF 3

Not every Saltillo floor needs a full strip. This owner wanted the floor clean and wanted to stay within a budget, so that is the job we did. A full Saltillo restoration is a different, longer process, and we tell you which one your floor actually needs at the assessment.

Not sure it is Saltillo at all? Read terracotta vs. Saltillo. They are not the same tile.

The right job for the floor, and for the budget.

Case Study | Pinecrest

Pool deck grout haze and rust removal in Pinecrest, on one deck with two problems: cloudy haze left behind after installation, and rust from irrigation overspray and outdoor metal furniture. The pool contractor on the project called us in, the way they do whenever they run into a surface problem like this.

What was on the deck

Grout haze from installation

Rust from irrigation overspray

Rust from metal furniture

No protection against sun, chlorine and moisture

The Job at a Glance

Pinecrest | Outdoor pool deck | Cleaned and sealed

STEP 1 OF 3

They can be treated in the same visit, but they need different chemistry. Each one gets its own process rather than a one-size-fits-all treatment.

Watch the job | 1.5 minutes

STEP 2 OF 3

Miguel and Franco did this deck in about 6 hours.

STEP 3 OF 3

Usually it is irrigation overspray or metal furniture left in place, which is exactly what this deck had. Sealing helps slow it down, but the source often needs addressing too. The sealer is not the whole answer on its own.

Outdoor sealing is also its own thing. A pool deck faces UV, chlorine and constant moisture that indoor tile never sees, so it needs a sealer made for that.

Treat the haze and the rust separately. Then protect the deck.

Case Study | Pinecrest

Grout color sealing in Pinecrest was the call for new owners who walked into stark white grout against wood-look tile. It was not their style at all. Instead of ripping out the floor, we color-matched the grout directly into the tile. No demo, no new flooring.

The Job at a Glance

Pinecrest | Wood-look tile | Grout color sealing

STEP 1 OF 3

The tile itself was fine. The problem was the look: bright white grout lines cutting across a wood-look floor, so every joint stood out. The new owners did not want to live with it, and they did not want to tear out a floor that was otherwise in good shape.

The grout color can be changed without replacing the tile. Grout color sealing recolors the existing grout lines to match or contrast with the tile, without touching the tile itself.

Watch the job | 53 seconds

STEP 2 OF 3

Miguel, Javi, Franco and Gian worked this floor over 5 days.

STEP 3 OF 3

Paint sits on top of the grout and wears off. Color sealing bonds a pigmented sealer into the grout itself. Because the grout is recolored, you can go either direction: take stark white down to something that disappears into the tile, or go the other way for contrast.

It costs a fraction of what a floor replacement does, and the tile you already paid for stays where it is.

Change the grout. Keep the floor.

Case Study | Miami Lakes

Grout haze removal and tile cleaning in Miami Lakes were two separate jobs on one floor, in a newly purchased home that sat empty before move-in. The new owner saw a dull, patchy floor across the large-format concrete-look porcelain and assumed it was dirty or worn out. The two problems do not have the same fix.

The Job at a Glance

Miami Lakes | Large-format porcelain | Low moisture

STEP 1 OF 3

The previous owner most likely spent years assuming the cloudiness was simply how the floor looked. Matte porcelain like this holds haze worse than polished, because the surface texture gives the film something to grip.

Watch the job | 31 seconds

STEP 2 OF 3

Miguel and Javi did this one together, in about 5 hours. Low moisture throughout: chemistry plus controlled extraction, no high pressure, no steam.

STEP 3 OF 3

Sequence is the part that gets missed. You clean first, because you cannot judge how much haze is present while soil is still sitting on top of it. Only once the floor is clean can the haze be identified and matched to the right chemistry.

Reverse that order and you are guessing. Guessing on the face of a tile is how floors get damaged.

Clean first. Then you can see the haze.

Case Study | Cutler Bay

Terrazzo floor restoration in Cutler Bay took 5 days on this home, where deep scratches, worn spots and years of dullness were past anything regular cleaning could fix. It needed real correction, not a mop and a coat of wax. Here is how the floor came back, and why there is no acrylic coating on it.

The Job at a Glance

Cutler Bay | Residential terrazzo | Penetrating sealer

STEP 1 OF 3

The floor showed visible surface wear, deep scratches, and years of dullness. That kind of damage lives in the surface of the terrazzo itself, so no amount of mopping or cleaning product was going to bring it back.

There were also cracks and chips that had to be repaired before any polishing, or they would have stayed in the finished floor.

Watch the job | 3 minutes

STEP 2 OF 3

Miguel and José worked this floor over 5 days, in four stages.

STEP 3 OF 3

We did not put wax or acrylic on this floor. No acrylic coatings, no shortcuts, no temporary treatments. The floor was corrected mechanically, then sealed with a breathable penetrating sealer that goes into the stone instead of sitting on top of it.

If you want to see what a failing acrylic looks like on a floor, read our acrylic sealer case study, also in Cutler Bay.

The shine comes from the stone, not from a coating on top of it.

Case Study | Cutler Bay

Acrylic sealer removal came first on this Cutler Bay porcelain floor, because the coating someone had put down was failing and ripping apart. The tile came from Spain, so the owner called it Spanish tile, but it is porcelain. Here is why we stripped it instead of cleaning over it, and why porcelain gets a coating at all.

What the sealer was doing

Hazing over

Building up along the edges

Wearing through in the walking paths

Ripping apart

The Job at a Glance

Cutler Bay | Porcelain tile made in Spain | Ceramic coating

STEP 1 OF 3

The floor had the wrong product on it. An acrylic coating had been applied over the porcelain, and in this climate it was not holding. It had hazed over, built up along the edges and corners, worn through where people walk, and in places it was ripping apart.

A floor in that condition cannot be cleaned back. Scrubbing over a failing acrylic just seals the problem in underneath it. The coating had to come off first.

Watch the job | 1 minute

STEP 2 OF 3

Miguel and Franco did this one together, and it took about 6 hours from start to finish.

STEP 3 OF 3

Porcelain is dense. It cannot be honed or polished the way natural stone can, so a coating is how you change its finish. The ceramic coating we use is one part and silane based, and it is rated for tile and grout, concrete, masonry, epoxy, natural stone, VCT, LVT and LVP.

Stone is a different story. On marble, travertine, limestone and Saltillo in South Florida, we refinish the stone and use a penetrating sealer, so the stone can still release moisture.

The right product for the surface matters more than how hard you scrub.

Case Study | Cutler Bay

Rust stain removal on tile in Cutler Bay, after metal dog crates sat in the same spot on this floor for close to two years. The rust they left behind had gone deep into the tile. Here is how the job went, and why we told the owner to expect about 90 percent, not 100.

The Job at a Glance

Cutler Bay | Tile floor | Work by Miguel

STEP 1 OF 3

This was not surface dirt, and it was not ordinary discoloration. Metal that sits in one place for months oxidizes, and the rust bonds into the surface of the tile. After close to two years under the crates, the staining had worked its way into the floor itself.

So the real question was not just how to clean it. It was how much of it the tile would give back.

Watch the job | 28 seconds

STEP 2 OF 3

Miguel handled this one himself. He worked the stained areas with a rust and oxidation treatment, and the work on the stains took about 30 to 45 minutes. No tiles were pulled up and nothing was replaced.

STEP 3 OF 3

We removed roughly 90 percent of the staining. After years of rust, some shadowing can stay, because long exposure can change certain tile surfaces for good.

We give you the real number before we start, not after.