VCT Wax on Tile & Grout

[Bruce Humphrey]

I'm going to look at some tile and grout that has had a few wax jobs on it over the years. The facility is looking to get all of the wax off and get this tile and grout look as back to normal as can be.

What are some of the things I should be looking for? Seem like once this wax gets into the grout it's going to be very hard to get out.

What would be a "great" wax stripper to use on this job?

175 with scrub pads ?

Just looking for as much info as I can get before I look at it.

 

[Larry B]

Finish stripper of your choice just work with it and if needed mix stronger.

175 with a thick BLACK pad (dont use the slim ones) you will have to apply pressure to the side of the machine in the groute lines.


Strip it the same as you do VCT it just takes more work to get the groute cleaned out. Have a groute brush with pole on hand also. We would strip, suck it up & restrip the groute lines again.

Its really not that bad to do.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

Thanks Larry, could I use my turbo to rinse in the finale stage ?

 

[Gary T]

Lotsa dwell time for the grout. As mentioned it might take a few applications on the grout lines. I like Johnson's Fastrip works great on most crud.

 

[Larry B]

Lotsa dwell time for the grout. As mentioned it might take a few applications on the grout lines. I like Johnson's Fastrip works great on most crud.

Fastrip works very well.

Thanks Larry, could I use my turbo to rinse in the finale stage ?

Dont own one yet so I dont know. We have always just stripped 2 to 3 times then really wet mop as to water down groute lines and suckup with a typhoon.

I would think a turbo would work fine but do you really want to suck that melted finish into your hoses and machine?

 

[Gary T]

I usually wet vac the 1st time, then turbo to rinse. If I need to strip off more crud, I'll use the turbo to pick it up and rinse.

 

[boazcan]

Dwell. We had to let it dwell for 40 mins +.........keeping it wet in between.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

I did a test run on a small corner today and took some pictures.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

The building manager was very happy with the test results. Her and the maintenance lady had forgotten what the original grout color was, it matches the new tile and grout in the lobby.

So , does this look normal or do you think more wax could come out of those grout lines? I've never done a job like this so I'm not sure what to expect.

Comments needed. Thanks.

 

[Mikey P]

This is why you dont quote .50 a foot for TnG. over the phone.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

This job will be time consuming , not to mention the amount of stripper I'm going to need. Haven't even figured that up yet.

 

[boazcan]

Similar to what I was dealing with but we were playing with acrylic sealer :shock:

If they are happy then run with it. Two options, try dry scrubbing the grout brush or wire brush on the grout to get additional was to flake off. Second, let the initial dwell time go to 30-40 mins and try at least 3 different strippers. One may work better than another.

But, the customer is always right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If they like it the way it looks, you are the winner on that one.

Bryan

 

[breezeman]

You may cause effloresence on grout if its over saturated with water. You can also use stone tech color enhancer on grout if this does occur and hide any other blemishes.

breezeman