Our Experts Discuss Cleaning Grout After A Flood In Great Neck

5/15/2022 (Permalink)

Regardless of how the flooding entered your home, team SERVPRO can help. Contact our technicians for storm damage remediation efforts. Call 24/7.

Flood Damage Experts In Great Neck Discuss Cleaning Grout

When a severe thunderstorm strikes the Great Neck region, there is a chance that water could find its way into your residence. Once moisture coming from the outdoors enters the interior of your home, you may be forced to contact a professional restoration company such as SERVPRO. Water coming from outside can bring other things into your house with it, including dirt and possibly contaminants like harmful parasites, bacteria, and fungi.

When dealing with flood damage situations in Great Neck, our SERVPRO technicians treat the situation as either a category two or category three scenario. Category two problems deal with what is considered "grey" water because there is a chance that it is contaminated. For example, if the source of a leak is a kitchen sink or rainwater coming from the outside, it is possible the water contains harmful microorganisms because the source is not clean or freshwater. Moisture-related issues that are caused by muddy water or a leaky toilet get labeled as "black" water and most likely do have some amount of harmful microorganisms inside them, so they get classified as category three problems.

Whenever liquid H2O that builds up outside after a storm finds its way into your structure, it can bring in large amounts of dirt with it. Once the moisture that got onto your tile floors dries, the dirt can settle and leave your tile and grout soiled. In most cases, tile can be cleaned by mopping or scrubbing with a detergent and squeezing it into a floor drain.

However, cleaning the grout that sits in between each tile can involve specific chemicals and techniques. Whenever our SERVPRO team cleans grout, we start by applying an alkaline cleaning solution. For small areas, we can apply the detergent with a tile and grout brush. When working with larger spaces, we can use a rotary floor machine to apply and agitate the alkaline cleaning compound.

Next, we can rinse the affected area with a mop and a chemical called Bright-N-Neutral. After that, we can apply an acidic cleaning agent like a tile and grout cleaner to reduce any blotchy areas. We then can rinse the affected area again before cleaning it with the alkaline compound a second time to counteract the etching caused by the acidic detergent.

Cleaning stained grout after storm-related damage can be a chore that is best handled by the pros. For professional assistance after a storm wreaks havoc on your property, call SERVPRO of Great Neck / Port Washington at  (516) 767-9600 24/7.