A Professional Tile Cleaning Service Thoroughly Restored This Once Grimy Shower Floor in Bryn Mawr, PA

July 15, 2017

A Pennsylvania resident purchased her home seven years ago in the town of Bryn Mawr. The previous homeowners had completely remodeled the entire basement before putting the house on the market, including the cozy bathroom down there. They replaced the old shower tiles with dark grey tiling. However, after years of constant use and lack of maintenance due to her busy schedule, the appearance of the floor completely changed and made the dark tiles look grimy, with white soap scum splotches that stood out on the entire floor. The current homeowner noticed how bad the floor looked some time ago, but, aside from trying to clean it herself occasionally, she never found the time to actually figure out what the problem was. A professionally done Bryn Mawr tile cleaning is what the shower floor needed.


One day after taking a shower, she decided something had to be done about the dirty floor. She talked with a few friends about it, and one of them told her that he had the same issue with his master bath. He explained how his marble shower had been completely etched and scratched, while the grout began to chip. Her friend told her that his problems were results from wrong cleaning products, and that could be her problem as well. He referred her to our services at Sir Grout of Greater Chester County and the homeowner reviewed our site watching and reading testimonials before deciding to call us for an in-home consultation.

Our team of experts arrived at her home on the day scheduled. She took us to the basement and showed us the shower. The floor was covered in moldy soap scum, completely ruining the surface. The corners and edges were even worse, as you can see in the photo above, where the grout was almost entirely destroyed. We told the homeowner that incorrect cleaning products and lack of professional cleaning caused the awful deterioration of the floor. She told us how she has an acidic cleaner, but stating that she has only cleaned the shower once or twice a year since moving in. Acidic cleaners aren't good for regular cleaning and maintenance and cause more damage instead of cleaning over time. We went on to explain how soap scum is the combination of soap mixed with hard water. Hard water has a high mineral content containing calcium or magnesium ions that react with soap, and eventually cause the build-up of soap scum—the white splotches that covered her shower floor. The problem was that since grout and caulk are porous, water, dirt, and grime permeated their surface, which caused decay and cracking.

Our client was unaware of how bad the damage actually was until we explained it to her. She asked us if we would be able to clean it thoroughly enough to get rid of the moldy soap scum. After expressing her concern about the dark tile and grout not returning to their original state, we assured her it could be done. She immediately scheduled an appointment for us to return to carry out the necessary cleaning services.

We returned the following week, ready to work. The soap had created a filmy layer of grime on the floor, attracting dirt and allowing mold to grow. To begin, we deeply cleaned the shower floor using a steam cleaner and gentle scrubber. The steam cleaner works by lifting the layer of grime, while the scrubber removes it completely. It was apparent to us that the expansion joints of the shower floor were even more severely damaged, piled high with extra soap scum and mold, and also the grout and caulk were beginning to crack. That meant it needed to be replaced, so we continued with that step.

We started this step by removing the old grout and caulk. After, we applied Epoxy Grout to the grout lines and Epoxy Caulk to the expansion joints. Epoxy Grout is a Sir Grout of Greater Chester County proprietary product that is long lasting and mold, mildew, and stain resistant used to fill in the grout lines. Being extra tough, this top-notch product doesn't need any sealant. Another plus of this product is that it comes in a variety of colors that the client can choose from. This specific client decided to go with a dark color to match the tile.

When the time had come to bring our client in to show her the results, she was amazed. She was happy to see all of the soap scum and mold completely gone, and the new appearance of her floor had her in awe. After thanking us, she said she would hire us again for future hard surface restoration jobs.

Before leaving, we gave her a few quick tips to help keep the floor free of mold and soap scum: use soap-free detergents and dry the floor after showering to remove hard water, soap, and dirt. Soap is what causes soap scum and damages the tile and grout. And even though it can be tedious to keep a shower floor dry given the constant humidity that it experiences, it will be worth it in the end.

If your shower floor has problems similar to this one, or you have other hard surfaces that need to be restored, we can help! Give us a call at (215) 609-4868 and set up a free in-home consultation, or fill out the "Request a Quote" form that you'll find on this to ask for a free, in-home consultation today. We will gladly assist you. For more information that will arrive straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter!

If you found this article helpful then let us know in the comments section below. Likewise, feel free to share it using the share options below. Want us to cover another topic of your interest pertaining to Hard Surface Restoration? If so, then like us and follow us on social media, and post to any of our social media profiles the topic you'd like us to discuss: Facebook Sir Grout of Greater Chester County, Instagram @sirgrout, and Twitter @SirGrout.