Case Study | Islamorada, Florida Keys

Restaurant floor cleaning at Mangrove Mike's, a diner in Islamorada. The flagstone at the front door had gone black under heavy grease and dirt. The owner found us online and asked for the flagstone entrance, the main and private dining rooms and the restrooms. Four of us finished it in four hours.

The Job at a Glance

Islamorada | About 1,650 sq ft | Work by Miguel, Franco, Javi and Jose

Watch the Full Job | 61 seconds

STEP 1 OF 3

Every customer walks across the flagstone at the front door. Heavy grease and dirt had packed into the stone until the whole entrance read as black.

The main and private dining rooms are tile with cement grout, and in a restaurant the grout lines take spills, mop water and foot traffic every day. The restrooms are laminate, not tile.

STEP 2 OF 3

Flagstone: we worked the entrance with a rotary machine and cleaning chemistry, then extracted the slurry. Same floor, same stone.

Dining room tile and grout: machine scrub across the tile, a brush down the grout lines, then low-moisture extraction with a hard surface tool. It's the same method we used on the tile and grout cleaning in Islamorada condo job.

Restrooms: laminate can't take standing water, so we cleaned it with low moisture only.

No high pressure and no steam anywhere on the job. No sealing on this one.

STEP 3 OF 3

Miguel, Franco, Javi and Jose finished the flagstone entrance, both dining rooms and the restrooms in four hours on site, about 1,650 square feet across three different surfaces.

The owner already has us down for Phase 2 of the project.

More From This Job

What Our Client Wrote

"Excellent work from start to finish! Miguel is a true professional who kept us updated throughout the entire project with great communication, progress photos, and attention to detail. The finished results exceeded our expectations! We couldn't be happier and look forward to having Miguel and his team back for Phase 2 of our business project in the Florida Keys. Highly recommend!"

Paige, five-star Google review, word for word

Read every review on our Google Business Profile

Case Study | Coconut Grove

Terrazzo floor cleaning and polishing in a Coconut Grove home: about 1,600 square feet of terrazzo tile with grout missing across almost the whole floor. The joints looked black, but it was not black grout. They were open and full of dirt. Here is what we found, what we did, and how the floor was finished.

Kitchen, same spot: before and after

The Job at a Glance

Coconut Grove | Terrazzo tile | Work by Edwyn and Jose

STEP 1 OF 3

The owner walked the floor before we came out and marked the spots and stains that bothered her with blue tape. Up close, the problem was the joints. Grout was missing across most of the floor, and the open joints had packed with dirt, so every line read dark. At one joint, a chip in the terrazzo was pitted. The surface also had grout haze and was dull next to how terrazzo should look.

Along the island, same spot

STEP 2 OF 3

Edwyn and Jose filled the missing grout in a color matched to the grout the owner already had, so the new joints blend into the old ones. They removed the grout haze, then cleaned, polished and sealed the floor. Low-moisture method: chemistry plus controlled extraction, with no high pressure and no steam.

Living room toward the glass doors

STEP 3 OF 3

Terrazzo can be finished matte, satin or high shine. This floor was taken to a high shine and sealed. Because the grout fill was color matched, the joints now read as part of the floor instead of a grid of dark lines.

By the windows

Watch the Job | 30 seconds

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.

Watch the Rust Stain | 26 seconds

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.