When renting property out a property it makes a lot of sense to give it a quick facelift to ensure it’s more attractive to future tenants, not only will it rent faster but it should also command a better price. Many landlords don’t realise this but giving bathrooms, a facelift is the one thing you can do quite cheaply and quickly that can rapidly improve the appearance and desirability of a house, after all no-one wants to rent a place with grotty tiles!
A returning customer of mine recently contacted me about restoring the condition of a Ceramic tiled shower cubicle in a flat she owned in the Surrey village of Oxshott. She was about to rent the property out to a couple of international students, and so wanted it looking its best in all aspects.
Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle
We tend to follow a tried and tested method that we have developed at Tile Doctor for restoring shower cubicles. To begin, I cleaned the grout lines using our acidic cleaning product, Tile Doctor Clean-Up. The product was scrubbed into shower wall tile and grout using a handheld rotary machine fitted with a six-inch black scrubbing pad.
Being a concentrated phosphoric acid cleaner, Grout Clean-Up effectively removes mineral deposits (salts etc) and grout smears from the tile surface to leaving it looking much fresher, it also prepares the grout for a superior bond with the grout colourant that was to be added later.
Following this, I scrubbed the tiles down with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to provide a general clean and to remove any other muck and dirt. This was followed by a rinse with water to remove any trace of cleaning product from the tile and grout. The next step was to remove all the existing silicone mastic with a sharp knife; the mastic sealant stained with mould and much in need of replacement. Once all the rubbish was swept out, I dried any remaining dampness from the grout and tiles with a heat gun.
Grout Colouring a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle
This left the grout ready to be recoloured. I did this over the course of a few hours, using a White colourant from the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant range. White is just one of ten colours available in the range and was chosen in this case to give the grout a really fresh look and to blend in with the White Ceramic tiles.
The application of Grout Colourant not only colours the grout joints – it also seals and rejuvenates them. It also dries quickly, so I could apply a second coat quite soon after the first, removing any excess as I went.
Once the restoration was finished, I resealed the shower base with fresh silicone mastic again in White to match the tile and grout. As a courtesy, I also cleaned the shower glass too, leaving an excellent result overall – and one very happy customer!
For the general day to day cleaning of Bathroom tile and grout we recommend using Tile Doctor Oxy-Pro which is a spray on cleaner that is easy to apply and safe to use on natural stone.