The Riverwoods apartment complex in Fredericksburg Virginia was built around 1975 with more buildings added in 1980.  The management team there does an outstanding job at maintaining these aging buildings. I have friends that live in other Fredericksburg area apartment complexes, and let me tell you….they are in terrible condition and they where built less than 10 years ago. The Riverwoods maintenance crew does a great job keeping these 180 units updated  with new ceiling fans, appliances, door hardware, paint, carpet and the list goes on. Not only are the inside of these units maintained well, but the common areas are meticulously clean and well groomed. They keep the shrubs and grass trimmed, and fresh mulch is applied regularly. But the most impressive thing is, that every time I go there, I see an employee out making sure that the complex stays free of trash and cigarette butts.

We at Pristine Tile & Grout Restoration honestly feel that Riverwoods apartments is the best apartment living value in the Fredericksburg Virginia area. No where will you find a community that offers great, clean, updated apartments with affordable rent and an outstanding management team that truly cares about your living experience.

Pristine’s role at Riverwoods

The Riverwoods apartments contacted me several years ago because they were remodeling the units and wanted to see if we could restore the bathroom floors, as new floors would be very expensive for 180 units. It has always been Riverwood’s goal to keep the rent affordable for their tenants, by saving money when they could. We met with the manager and maintenance team of Riverwoods and gave them a sample of what we could do. They where happy with the results and agreed to have us restore these bathrooms as the apartments were turned over.

The Restoration Process

This picture shows a typical mosaic tile floor found in the bathroom at the Riverwoods apartments. After the years, the grout has become discolored and was difficult for the cleaning crew to get looking good even after hard scrubbing. This does not mean that the floor is not clean, it’s just that grout naturally darkens over the years on any floor. The good news is that ceramic or porcelain glazed tile can last forever if properly installed, in this case it was installed good and we just needed to get the grout looking good. Sometimes we can install new grout on certain floors and showers, however mosaic floors just are not an option for regrouting, besides the grout was good and hard, just a little ugly.

Pristine has a patented cleaning system to deep clean and sanitize even the toughest floors. We utilize a couple of different tools for this project. To the right is our patented floor cleaning tool, the “turbo hybrid” great at doing larger open areas. Below that is a picture of our “cobra handheld” doing what it is great for,  getting in corners, edges and around toilets.

Together, these tools with excellent cleaning agents, high heat (240degrees+) and powerful vacuum we are able to blast away years of dirt and soil on any floor.   When these floors were originally installed they used an off white color, probably an antique white or biscuit. The management was going for a fresh, clean, new look and insisted on a bright white scheme on all their apartment units.

After getting these floors cleaner than they have been since the day they were installed, we continued to the tedious task of staining the grout joints with bright white grout color stain/sealer. This product not only changes the color of the grout but it puts up a barrier, sealing the porous grout. This helps the grout resist permanent staining and makes the floors much easier to keep clean in the future.

These pictures show the finished product. The floors end up looking  a lot more inviting. Sorry that the bottom one is a little blurry, but you can get the idea.

Over the years Riverwoods has had us out for other cleaning projects, including the cleaning of the concrete in the entry ways of all the buildings, and a couple of concrete balconies that were badly stained. The folks at the Riverwoods Apartments have been a huge contributor to the success of my business in a time of uncertainty. They have no idea how much I apprieciate the support they have given me in the years when many businesses were closing their doors.

A big thanks to Mike, Randy, Dennis, Nancy, Tammy and Mary. Without great customers like you, we are not in business.

Go rent a clean well maintained apartment at Riverwoods and tell them Pristine Pete sent you!

Pristinepete.com  

These photos are of actual jobs completed by Pristine Tile & Grout Restoration, they are not just our “best shots” or altered in any way. These pictures were taken with my android phone and show the results we get on a daily basis. Quality work, is what we are about and will not accept any less!

Jobs from the week of February, 19 2012

These nice folks purchased a foreclosure in King George Virginia, the house was in great shape and they got an awesome deal, however, there was a blackish traffic lane running throughout the upper level and on the stairs.The soil was no match for our powerful cleaning system, we were able to restore the carpet to a like new condition. The carpet was in great condition with no permanent fiber damage.

While cleaning at temperatures of 240 degrees we completely sanitized the carpet giving the new homeowners peace of mind that they made the right decision not to replace this carpet. The next picture shows the stairs from the same job, equally impressive results.

The next picture is a tiled bathroom floor in the upscale subdivision of Fawn Lake, in Spotsylvania county Virginia. The homeowners called us out to clean and re-caulk their master shower. While I was there, I told them I could clean the bathroom floor for only $75 dollars more since i already had the hoses in the house. They said “we did not think they were dirty” so I asked if they wanted me to clean a small spot and see, they agreed. These folks could not believe their eyes, and said “oh yes, please clean them” So we did and they came out bright white just like the day the grout was installed, and yet another customer was very happy!

Shower re-grout and re-caulk in Fredericksburg Virginia

These next two before and after photos are of a recent shower overhaul we did in the Falmouth area of Fredericksburg Virginia on 10 March 2012. Over time, water can seep behind missing grout or caulk that has separated from the tile or shower pan turning it black. When this happens, cleaning alone will not fix the problem, the grout and caulk must be replaced. In the case of this shower, the faulty caulk and grout were replaced in time, if left unattended this could have turned into a much larger more expensive repair, had the moisture penetrated to the wall board behind the tile.

Note: the caulk along the corners and edges in the after shot appears darker as it was just installed and is still wet. It is matching caulk from the same grout manufacturer, and will match the grout lines perfectly when dry.

More photos and information on this subject can be found on my other blog site:

http://pristinepete.com/wordpress/when-the-grout-and-caulk-need-to-be-replaced/

http://pristinepete.com/wordpress/a-minor-shower-repair-could-save-thousands/

http://pristinepete.com/wordpress/how-to-regrout-a-shower/

A professional cleaning is far superior to any home cleaners or even carpet cleaners found in the grocery store or home centers. To get a good clean you need the heat and powerful vacuum that can only come from a truck mounted carpet cleaning machine. If you’ve ever rented a carpet cleaner you know that it is hard work, expensive, and doesn’t really do a good job, especially on the stairs and other hard to reach areas.

Why such a big difference in cost?

There are many different companies to choose from when it comes to carpet cleaning in Fredericksburg. How do you know which one is the best choice for you? As with most products and services it’s important to look at the value and not just the price. Some  companies advertise prices so low it almost seems too good to be true, it always is. It costs money to operate a business, insurance, taxes, gas, labor and so on. If the price is low the company is sure to be cutting corners. You wouldn’t want your carpet cleaned with just cold water would you? Of course not, but it happens. There are guys out there offering professional carpet cleaning, but use only have an old portable unit that can’t even heat the water, or they might not use the proper cleaning agents if any at all. Then you have the giant companies with the big advertising budgets, brand new vans and big fancy shops. I have had some people tell me these large companies have charged them 3 times what I have, and done a horrible job. You see, most of these bigger companies have high rates of employee turnover, so you really don’t know if your tech started 2 years ago, or yesterday.

In my honest opinion you will get your best value using an owner operated carpet cleaning company. It only makes sense, if the owner is cleaning your carpets, they truly care that the job is done properly and for a fair price. Most owner/operated companies rely heavily on repeat business and referrals. If they were doing poor work they would starve. Many owner/operated companies have better, more powerful equipment than the larger companies.

When choosing a carpet cleaning company always make sure they portray a clean professional image. Their uniforms, websites, business cards, brochures and vehicles should always look good. This image will most likely extent to your home, a professional will use corner guards to protect your walls and have booties to ensure they don’t leave behind more soil than they remove.

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