What do tile and grout cleaners charge?
Standard machine cleaning of tile floors is priced by the square foot, at $0.75 to $3 depending on tile size, soil and region, which puts a typical kitchen or large bathroom at $250 to $700 and sets most companies’ minimum at $100 to $200.
The two public cost guides agree closely. Thumbtack’s grout cleaning cost page reports a national average range of $320 to $764, most people paying about $491, a low end of $174 and a high end of $1,398, and says tile and grout cleaning prices generally run from $0.75 to $3 per square foot, with hand or spot cleaning billed at $30 to $50 per hour on top. Fixr’s tile and grout cleaning cost guide reports $250 to $700 with a national average of $548 for steam cleaning and pressure washing a 260 square foot room, the same $0.75 to $3 per square foot rate, a $100 to $200 minimum at some companies, and typical flat fees of $300 to $500 for a 150 to 250 square foot room.
| Unit | Reported range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard cleaning, per sq ft | $0.75 to $3 | Thumbtack, Fixr |
| Grout cleaning only, per sq ft | $0.75 to $1.25 | Fixr |
| Restorative (deep) cleaning, per sq ft | $0.86 to $3.60, or about $575 per room | Fixr |
| Sealing, per sq ft | $0.90 to $1.73 | Fixr |
| Clean and seal bundled, per sq ft | $1.50 to $2.50 | Fixr |
| Hand or spot cleaning, per hour | $30 to $50 | Thumbtack, Fixr |
| Minimum charge | $100 to $200 | Fixr |
| Very dirty tile surcharge | at least $100 extra per average room | Fixr |
Fixr’s per-room figures give you a feel for the totals a homeowner expects: a small 75 square foot kitchen at $75 to $225, a 100 square foot bathroom at $100 to $300, a 150 square foot primary bathroom at $150 to $450 and a 300 square foot kitchen at $300 to $900. Your job is to pick where in the per-square-foot range you belong and to stop quoting below your minimum.
What moves tile and grout cleaning prices up or down?
Grout line density, tile type, soil level, layout and whether the surface is a floor or a wall are the five things that change your time per square foot. Price the square foot first, then adjust with a multiplier or a flat add-on for each.
Grout density
A floor of 2-inch mosaic tile has several times the grout of a floor of 18-inch porcelain. Grout is what you are really cleaning, so small tiles take longer per square foot. Fixr makes the same point: areas with smaller tiles have more grout lines, so the per-square-foot cost is higher. A simple rule is one rate for tiles 12 inches and larger, a higher rate for 6 to 12 inches, and a top rate or an hourly quote for mosaics.
Tile type
Glazed ceramic and porcelain shrug off alkaline cleaners and pressure. Natural stone (marble, travertine, slate, limestone) and unglazed or textured tile do not: acid etches stone, high pressure can lift soft grout, and textured tile holds soil. Price stone higher, use pH-neutral or stone-safe chemistry, and consider the IICRC’s Stone, Masonry and Ceramic Tile Cleaning Technician (SMT) certification, which has no prerequisites and covers maintenance and cleaning of natural and cultured stone, ceramic tile, masonry and grout. Never mix acid cleaners with bleach or other products, and never use acid on marble or limestone.
Soil level
Fixr suggests at least $100 extra per average room for very dirty tile, and prices restorative cleaning 15 to 20 percent above standard. Decide soil level at the inspection with a test spot: if one pass of your pre-spray and machine does not bring the grout back, it is a restorative job, priced as one.
Layout and access
- Furniture and appliances to move: flat fee per room, or ask the customer to clear it.
- Hose runs over 100 feet, upstairs rooms, no outside spigot or no drain nearby: flat access fee.
- Many small rooms (three bathrooms) versus one big kitchen: more setup per square foot, so a per-room minimum on top of the square-foot rate.
Floors versus walls, showers and counters
Vertical surfaces and showers are hand and small-tool work with longer dwell times and careful rinsing. Both cost guides show hand cleaning billed by the hour. Quote showers per shower (from a set price for a standard tub surround, more for a full tile enclosure) and countertops per hour, and keep the floor rate for floors. The homeowner page how to clean shower tiles shows what customers have usually tried before they call, which tells you how much soap scum and mineral buildup to expect.
How should you price grout sealing and color sealing?
Sell sealing on every cleaning job as a separate line, priced per square foot at roughly half to the same as your cleaning rate, and offer color sealing as a premium at a higher per-square-foot price. Sealing is the add-on with the best margin on the list and the one that keeps the floor clean long enough that the customer calls you back instead of a competitor.
Fixr’s figures: a standard grout sealant costs $0.90 to $1.73 per square foot, cleaning and sealing bundled together $1.50 to $2.50 per square foot, color sealant about the same per square foot as clear (with extra labor if you are lightening a dark grout, which may take more than one coat), and hourly rates for sealing of $30 to $80. Fixr also notes that sealing jobs for rooms up to 300 square feet usually take 2 to 5 hours, that you should wait 24 hours after cleaning before sealing, and that professionally applied sealers can protect for years.
| Line (hypothetical price list) | Per sq ft | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Clean only, tile 12 inches and larger | $1.25 | $175 minimum |
| Clean only, tile under 12 inches | $1.75 | More grout per square foot |
| Clear penetrating sealer, added to a cleaning | $0.75 | Applied after the floor is dry; one visit if you dry with air movers, otherwise a return trip |
| Color seal (grout stain and seal), added to a cleaning | $2.00 | Hand application along every grout line; sold for stained grout the customer wants to look new |
| Restorative cleaning | +20 percent | Decided at the test spot |
Return trips are the hidden cost of sealing. If your process needs the floor fully dry, either schedule the seal as a second short visit (and price it to cover the drive) or carry air movers and finish the same day. Write on the quote how long the customer must stay off the floor and keep it dry.
How do you recover the equipment cost in your rate?
Add a per-job equipment line to your cost build-up: what you paid, divided by the jobs you expect before replacement. Tile work is equipment-heavy because the productive tool is a pressurized spinner tool on a truck mount or a high-pressure portable, not a mop. The full equipment list and startup path are in starting a tile and grout cleaning business.
A worked example (hypothetical numbers)
Round figures to show the method. Use your invoices.
- High-pressure portable extractor with heat, spinner tool, hand tool, pre-sprayer, hoses, air mover, wet vac and a sealer applicator kit: $9,000.
- Expected life before major replacement: 450 jobs. Equipment per job: $20.
- Technician loaded cost $28 per hour. A 260 square foot kitchen takes 2.5 hours on site plus 45 minutes drive and setup: 3.25 hours, $91.
- Alkaline pre-spray, rinse, chemistry for a test spot and a 260 square foot floor: $12. Van, fuel and insurance per job: $25.
- Direct cost: $148. Price = $148 ÷ (1 − 0.25 overhead − 0.20 profit) = $269, or about $1.03 per square foot.
- Sealer: product about $0.15 per square foot plus 45 minutes labor ($21) and a second short visit ($20): $80 direct, $145 priced, or $0.56 per square foot.
Clean and seal together comes to about $1.60 per square foot in this example, inside Fixr’s $1.50 to $2.50 bundled range. A company with a truck mount, two technicians and an office will carry a higher overhead share and land higher in the range. Check a full day of jobs in the cleaning business profit calculator; the carpet cleaning business guide compares portable and truck-mount costs, since the same machine does both services.
What should your minimum charge be?
Set a minimum of $150 to $200 per visit, and a per-room minimum of about $75 when a job has several small rooms, because mixing chemistry, running hoses, protecting baseboards and rinsing take the same time on a 40 square foot powder room as on a kitchen.
Fixr reports that some companies require a $100 to $200 minimum, and its own low end of $76 shows what happens to companies that do not. A single powder room at your square-foot rate might be $60; at your minimum it is $175, and the customer who balks is the customer who would have cost you money. The usual fix is to make the minimum easy to reach: offer to add the entry, the laundry room or a sealer so the visit is worth both parties’ time.
If you also clean carpet, your minimum can be a combined one: tile in the kitchen plus the hallway carpet is a normal visit. The house cleaning pricing guide covers minimums and add-on pricing for interior services if you run a mixed company.
A worked tile and grout quote (hypothetical numbers)
A kitchen and breakfast area of 320 square feet of 16-inch porcelain, a 110 square foot primary bathroom floor in 4-inch ceramic, a tub surround, grout grey-brown from ten years of mopping, and a customer who wants it to look new. Built from the hypothetical price list above.
| Line | Price |
|---|---|
| Kitchen floor, 320 sq ft at $1.25 (tile 12 inches and larger) | $400 |
| Bathroom floor, 110 sq ft at $1.75 (4-inch tile) | $193 |
| Restorative surcharge, 20 percent, both floors (test spot did not clear in one pass) | $119 |
| Tub surround, hand cleaned, flat | $95 |
| Color seal, kitchen grout, 320 sq ft at $2.00 | $640 |
| Clear sealer, bathroom floor, 110 sq ft at $0.75 | $83 |
| Total | $1,530 |
Without the color seal, the job is $890, inside Thumbtack’s high end for a two-room cleaning. The color seal more than doubles the ticket for a few hours of careful hand work, which is why you lead with the test spot: show the customer the grout as it cleans and then show a color seal sample, and let them choose.
How to present it
- Measure every area and write the square feet and tile size on the quote. It is the fastest way to look like the professional in a three-quote comparison.
- Describe the process in one line each for cleaning and sealing, and say what the customer must do (clear the floor, stay off it, no mopping for a set time).
- Put restorative pricing on the quote as a line triggered by the test spot, not as a surprise on the day.
- Offer clean-only, clean-and-seal and clean-and-color-seal as three totals. Most customers pick the middle one.
- State what will not change: cracked grout, missing grout, etched stone and stained tile bodies are repairs, not cleaning. Fixr lists grout repair and removal as separate services at hourly or per-square-foot rates.
The cleaning estimate template gives you the layout, and the cleaning quote software page describes how Broombook sends the three-option quote and books the visit. Sealed grout needs cleaning again in a year or two, so set the reminder before you leave.