When you’re installing a new commercial floor, such as a ceramic tile surface, you’re going to have to use a grout sealer. If you don’t, you could find a number of problems beginning to develop, and in quite a short amount of time.
Below are three things that can actually happen if you try to cut corners to save money by not using a proper grout sealer.
1. It can dry out.
When you don’t apply an adequate grout sealer, the air inside the facility can cause the grout to dry much too quickly. That can cause it to become brittle and more susceptible to cracking and breaking apart. When that happens, damage to the ceramic tiles is much more likely to occur.
2. Cracking.
As mentioned, when grout is not properly sealed and begins to dry out, it can crack. Just the appearance of cracks in the floor surface can be unsightly. It can also cause other problems to develop quite quickly.
Dust and dirt can work their way into the cracks and that can cause more damage to the surrounding tiles.
3. Loosening of the tiles.
When dust and dirt gets down through cracks, it will continue to work its way underneath the tiles themselves. This will eventually begin to weaken the adhesive used to apply them to the floor surface. Given enough time, it can cause ceramic tiles to come loose, cracked, and break apart.
That leads to some serious liability issues because people can become injured by loose or broken floor surfaces.
If you’re having your maintenance personnel replace any section of the commercial floor surface in your facilities, make sure they take their time, use the proper materials, and never cut corners, especially when it comes to that final step of applying a grout sealer.