Got Your House On The Market?

The housing market is iffy and weak these days. Since it crashed a few years ago, it's hard to sell your home and get what you're asking. 

If you have had your house on the market for a while now with several showings, but it still not sold, it may be time to deep clean! 

Your house is less money than the one 3 doors down that sold in a week. Yours has been on the market for 3 months and you have had many showings, still no bites.

What can be the difference? Chances are your realtor has come in and gave you advice of staging furniture and fixtures to make it presentable. They had you do some touch up paint inside and outside, weed the flower bed and keep the bathroom picked up every morning. 

One more thing you can do is make a small investment and have professional service come in and steam clean the carpets, the curtains, the tile floors and even the furniture. Not only will it bring out the colors and designs, giving your home a new, polished look, but it will make is smell clean and fresh too! Many realtor suggest this be done anyway, but if yours didn’t take the initiative and do it yourself.

It won't be as cheap as the dollar menu for sure, but even for $200 or so, you are giving your home a revived look and feel that will make the next prospective buyer want to move in right then. With clean, crisp, fresh looking curtains in every room, who couldn't picture themselves sitting there every evening?

You probably invested a good amount of funds for that tile floor in the kitchen and breakfast room, but if they aren't showing their vibrant beautiful colors, they aren't doing you any justice. A professional cleaningservice has the right chemicals and equipment that get down deep in the grooves and pores to pull out the dirt and grime that dull that tile.

If your home has been sitting on the market long, call a professional cleaning service today and by tomorrow, you can start packing those boxes!

Ceramic Tile Floors Are Beautiful And Easy To Care For

Ceramic tile floors are a beautiful upgrade to any home. However, some homeowners hesitate getting that upgrade with a fear of upkeep may be too much. Actually ceramic floors may need a some precaution, but using those precautions, they are fairly easy to care for. With proper care, ceramic tile can last for a long time and provide your home with a beautiful look for many years.

All  floors get dirty, there is no way to prevent that unless you just don't use the room. Ceramic tile is no different and just like carpeting, with a professional deep cleaning from time to time, it will bring the beauty and color back out and keep your floors in good condition.

Just as with any other type of flooring, spills need to be cleaned up promptly on ceramic tile. If spills are left to sit, it simply attracts more dirt, dust and grime to stick, same as it would carpet, linoleum or wood. Depending on what is spilled, it can stain the ceramic tile too, but again, this is not any different than other flooring materials.

You can save some wear on your ceramic tile flooring by placing door mats under locations that are prone to have dirt, such as at door ways where people are come inside from outside and track in dirt. Shaking the mats clean periodically is easier than having to clean the entire floor where the outside dirt  is tracked in on shoes, which require you to sweep the whole floor more frequently.

Before cleaning or mopping your ceramic flooring, check the recommendations by the manufacturer or the contractor that installs the flooring. There are many products on the market that state they are safe on ceramic tile. However, it is always recommended to do a small sample testing in an area that is not visible.

If you have a tile left over that wasn't used, this is perfect to test these cleaners to make sure there is no adverse reaction that could damage your beautiful flooring. You also want to make sure these cleaners are not harmful to the grout that is used when your ceramic tile floors were installed. Again, refer to your contractor or the recommendations by the manufacturer. 

When you begin to do your regular household cleaning, always sweep first. This rakes all the loose dirt and particles in one area and you can vacuum that up or use a dust pan with the broom.  A vacuum is more likely to get all the residue that a broom and dust pan can leave behind.

Next, using the cleanser you have purchased, which is usually mixed with warm water, the take a soft cotton mop or sponge mop  to apply the solution to your ceramic tile floor. Do only small sections at time so that you can rinse the ceramic tile floor before the solution has time to dry.

Just as with cleaning any other floor, you may need to repeat the process if the floors are heavily dirty from accidents, foot traffic and pets.  Use a gentle brush if scrubbing is necessary. For ceramic tile floors that have a gloss or shine, it is recommended to use a soft tile and wipe gently to eliminate any spotting.

Ceramictile flooring, just as carpeting, can always benefit from a professional cleaning as well. Using special equipment and products, an experienced professional is able to get down into the pores of the tile and pull out the dirt and grime that make ceramic tile dingy and dull.

With just a little extra attention in your cleaning process, a ceramic tile floor can give you home added beauty that you and your and family can enjoy for years to come.