Clean terracotta floor tile with bright grout lines

Tile and grout cleaning · Birmingham, AL

Tile and grout cleaning: the grout lines scrubbed back to clean

Grout lines go gray in the kitchen and dark in the bathroom, and a mop only wets them. We scrub every line, rinse the soil out and lift it off the floor, in your home, often the same day you call. The price is written first, and the floor takes feet again in about an hour.

★ 5.0 · 428 Google reviews
Same-day service available
Walk on it in about an hour
Guaranteed

Book a Tile Clean Call (205) 421-3993

Call or text(205) 421-3993or text the same number

The red and gold Rug Runners van in the driveway of a brick home

Who shows up

Our own technician, at your door

The person who arrives is a trained, insured Rug Runners employee, never a subcontractor booked for the day. Careful with your home from the doorway in, and happy to explain what your rug or room needs before any work starts.

Our own trained, insured employee
Respectful of your home, start to finish
Every rug and sofa handled with care
Non-toxic solutions, safe around kids and pets
A final walk-through with you before we leave

The same trained technicians and the same guarantee in all 25 towns on our pickup routes.

Straight from Google

5.0 stars across 428 Google reviews

★★★★★

Nick and Henry were fantastic. Helped move the furniture to make the house whole again! Wonderful!

Alex H. May 2026 · Google

★★★★★

Very thorough and done a great job!

Ethan E. April 2026 · Google

★★★★★

Rug runners did an amazing job cleaning the carpet. Manny was timely and provided great customer service.

Webster S. April 2026 · Google

★★★★★

Nick did a great job on our 2 rugs and sectional sofa.

Kim M. March 2026 · Google

★★★★★

They did an amazing job with my couch and rugs!

Nikita P. March 2026 · Google

★★★★★

Nick did a great job today!

M G. March 2026 · Google

More about tile & grout cleaning

Why the lines go dark

Tile wipes clean. Grout holds on to everything.

Glazed tile has a hard, glassy face, so a mop takes most of what lands on it. Grout is cement, full of tiny pores, and every pass of the mop pushes a little gray water into them. When the water dries the soil stays, and week by week the lines darken while the tile around them looks fine. That is how a floor mopped every Saturday can still look tired.

What sits in the lines differs by room: cooking grease and garage grit in the kitchen, soap film and hard-water scale around the tub and the toilet, plain tracked-in dirt at the entry. None of it is damage, and all of it comes out.

Scrub, rinse, lift

Worked by machine and by hand, with no harsh acids

The floor is swept and vacuumed first, so the grit is gone before anything wet touches it. A cleaning solution goes down and sits long enough to soften the grease and the film. Then each grout line is scrubbed, by machine across the open floor and by brush along the baseboards, behind the toilet and under the lip of the cabinets, where the dark builds thickest.

The floor is rinsed and the dirty water is lifted straight back up as the rinse goes, so the loosened soil leaves on our equipment and does not settle back into the grout. Nothing acidic goes on the floor: acid etches marble and travertine and weakens grout over time, so the scrub and the rinse do the work. The solution is non-toxic and safe for kids and pets, and the floor is dry in about an hour.

A tile visit, start to finish

From gray lines to clean lines

The floor, looked over

The technician checks the tile type, the state of the grout and any cracked or missing pieces, measures the rooms and writes the price down.

Dry soil up first

Sweep and vacuum, so the grit is off the floor before the solution goes on.

Solution goes down

The cleaner is spread over the tile and given a few minutes to loosen the grease and the film in the grout.

Every line scrubbed

Machine across the open floor, brush by hand at the edges, around the fixtures and into the corners.

Rinse, lift, dry

The dirty water is lifted away as the rinse goes. You walk the floor with the technician, then it dries for about an hour.

★★★★★

“Braden did a great job . He even moved the heavy slate table back into place. The wool carpet has really come back to life. Would recommend Rug Runners to others.”

Cheryl W. · Google review, July 2026

5.0★ across 428 Google reviews · Read more reviews

Where the lines go dark

Kitchens, bathrooms, entries, laundry rooms and showers

Kitchen floors

Stove grease settles into the lines and holds the grit walked in from outside. The strip in front of the sink is the darkest, and the first to come back.

Bathroom floors

Soap film and scale in front of the tub, and the half circle around the toilet. Scrubbed by hand there, rinsed, and dry in about an hour.

Showers and tub surrounds

The walls are scrubbed like a floor, the grout worked by hand where the soap film is thickest, then rinsed down. Ask for the shower when you book.

Entries, mudrooms and laundry rooms

The floors every shoe and every detergent drip meets. Tracked-in grit and lint sit in the lines, and a scrub lifts them out without touching the face of the tile.

Marble and travertine

Natural tile is checked first and gets a gentler product matched to the surface. No harsh acids on any floor, and nothing that will etch a soft tile.

Priced at the door, in writing

The price is on paper before the first line is scrubbed

The technician looks the floor over with you, measures it, names any line that will lighten without going all the way back, and writes the total down. A bathroom floor typically starts at around $50 and a kitchen floor at around $79, and the written figure is the whole figure: a shower, a second bathroom or the entry either sits on that paper or costs nothing. Once you say yes, the scrubbing starts. Satisfaction is guaranteed on the floor as it is on every rug we wash: walk it with the technician before you pay, and if a line still looks dark, point at it and it is scrubbed again at no charge. More numbers on the pricing page.

Honest about grout

Gray lines come back to their own color

On nearly every floor we see, the lines go from gray back to the color they were mixed to be when the tile went down. That gray is almost always grime, and grime is what the scrub is for. If the original color is still under there, we will find it.

The exceptions are rare. Crumbled grout and a cracked tile call for a repair, and a line marked by rust or by a spill left for years usually lightens without quite matching its neighbors. The technician points those out before the price is written.

One visit, every floor

Tile, carpet, hardwood and the rugs on one ticket

Most of our tile jobs ride along with something else. The rugs are rolled and priced at the door and ride to the plant for a full wash, the carpet gets the low-moisture clean, the hardwood is deep cleaned, and the kitchen and bathroom tile is scrubbed while the carpet dries. One technician, one written price covering the lot, every floor dry in about an hour, and the rugs delivered back within 5 to 7 business days.

Before the technician arrives

Clearing the floor, and where we come

Take the mats, the trash can and the pet bowls off the tile so the whole floor can be reached, and name the rooms you want done when you book so the technician plans enough time. Furniture that slides easily can be moved; the technician works around what cannot. Keep the dog elsewhere until the floor has had its hour.

Tile and grout cleaning runs across the Birmingham pickup area, often the same day you call; in Tuscaloosa or Northport, ask when you book. Visits run Monday through Saturday, 7 AM to 5 PM. Book online, or call or text (205) 421-3993.

Current offers

Three ways to save on this visit

Satisfaction is guaranteed on every rug we wash. Say which offer you want when you book, or mention it to your technician at the door.

$30off Rug cleaning Any rug we pick up, wash at our plant and bring back. Free pickup and delivery. One per household · Minimum charge applies Expires in two weeks

$25off Pet urine & odor treatment Backed by our 100% pet odor removal guarantee. One per household · Minimum charge applies Expires in two weeks

10%off Your first visit New customers, on any rug, carpet or upholstery job. Tell us it's your first time. One per household · Minimum charge applies Expires in two weeks

Tile and grout questions

The questions we hear at the kitchen door.

Why does my grout look dark when the tile around it is clean?

Because grout is porous and tile is not. Mop water carries fine soil down into the grout and leaves it there when it dries, so the line darkens a shade a week while the tile wipes clean. In a kitchen that soil is mostly cooking grease; in a bathroom it is soap film and scale. A scrub that works the line itself, then a rinse that lifts the soil back out, brings the color back.

Will my grout come back to the color it was laid in?

On most floors, yes, because what darkened it is soil sitting in the pores, and the scrub and the rinse take that soil out. Grout stained by a dye, a rust mark or a spill that sat for years can lighten without going all the way back, and a cracked or crumbling line needs a repair, not a clean. The technician points those spots out at the door.

Do you clean shower walls and tub surrounds, or only floors?

Both. Shower tile is scrubbed the way a floor is, the grout worked by hand where the soap film and the scale build up, then rinsed down. Say when you book that a shower is on the list so the technician brings the time for it. Glass, fixtures and the caulk line are not part of the clean; a caulk bead gone black inside needs replacing, and we will say so.

Can you scrub the tile on the day you pick up the rugs?

Yes. That is how most of our tile jobs are booked: the technician rolls and prices the rugs for the van, cleans whatever carpet is on the ticket, and scrubs the kitchen or bathroom floor while that carpet dries. The rugs come back from the plant within 5 to 7 business days; the tile is ready to walk on the same afternoon. One written price covers all of it.

Is the cleaning safe for marble, travertine and other natural tile?

The technician checks what the tile is made of before anything is written down. Ceramic and porcelain take the full scrub. Marble, travertine and other natural tile are softer and can be etched by acid, so they get a gentler product matched to the surface. We do not put harsh acids on any floor; the scrub and the rinse do the work.

How long before we can walk on the floor and put the bath mat back?

About an hour. The rinse lifts the dirty water back up as it goes, so the floor is left damp, not wet, and the air finishes it. Walk on it in socks after that hour, and put the mats and the pet bowls back once it feels dry to the hand. To book, call or text (205) 421-3993, or book online.

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