About Ron Unger Expertise Floor and wall preparation and layout for the installation of ceramic, porcelain and natural stone tiles. Tile repairs, waterproofing of shower seats, pans, walls, steamers and floors. Floating and setting shower pans, walls and floors. grouting, cleaning and sealing sanded, unsanded and epoxy grouts. General knowledge of tile products and the application of products.
Experience I've been in the ceramic tile trade for 21 years, the first 10 years as a tile finisher and the last 11 years as a journeyman tile layer. I've worked in the residential and commercial fields. I've served as Forman as well as layed tile on jobs such as; Car Dealerships, Grocery Stores, Movie Theaters, Hotels, Office Bldgs. ect... As well as; Multi Million Dollar Homes and Condominiums.
Education/Credentials I've attended a tile finishers course and a tile layers course. I am also trained in blueprint reading as well as OSHA certified.
Awards and Honors The company I work for won an award for their ceramic tile work done on the Mexican Consulate in Chicago from the "Tile Contractors Association of America", which I was the forman on.
Question QUESTION: I have a marble shower (stand-alone shower with glass door). The walls are tiled with I think 12x12 and the floor is smaller (maybe 2x2). Its currently pretty gross. There's mildew in the grout, specifically where the walls meet the floor. There are also a couple of cracks there too. My questions are:
1) how do you clean marble to begin with? We have used the UltraSeal product at Lowe's - is this right?
2) how do you clean the mold? or do we need to just regrout? we've used a bleach pen with moderate success but the mold is just growing now.
3) for that area where the walls meet the floor, and there are cracks in the grout, do we need to re-grout there? or do you use caulk?
4) is this something my husband can do?
Thank you so much for answering this!
All the best,
Sue
ANSWER: Hi Sue,
Using cleaners on marble is tricky as many of them are caustic and will eat the finish of the marble. I would use a mild bleach solution as you did and then consider regrouting the shower.
This is time consuming and you can scratch the marble if the grout saw slips out of the joints but over all it is a fairly easy job.
You can purchase a carbide grout saw a your local tile store for about $10.00. This is a handle with a 1/8" wide carbide blade on it that you use in a sawing motion to remove the grout.
When regrouting the marble use a unsanded wall grout then seal it and finally caulk all corners including the floor. Remember caulk is a maintenance issue and should be redone about 1 1/2 to 2 years.
As far as the sealer you bought, I'm not familiar with that brand, I use "Miracle Sealants" http://www.miraclesealants.com/index.html
I hope this answer is of some help to you please feel free to write back with any other questions you may have.
Thank You,
Ron
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I believe it's AquaMix brand. As for caulk, do you use latex or silicone? Is there
a difference?
Thank you! (Apologies for checking in late...)
Sue
Answer Hi Sue,
AquaMix has some good products. I prefer silicone but it can be hard to work with if you have never used it, latex would be fine since as I stated before, caulk is a maintenance issue and should be redone about 1 1/2 to 2 years.
I hope this answer is of some help to you please feel free to write back with any other questions you may have.
Thank You,
Ron
