When your hotel guests enter your bathrooms, you want them to be wowed. They should marvel at the tasteful design, quality fixtures, and impeccable cleanliness.
What you do not want is your caulking to let you down. The fact is that unsightly, damaged caulking will attract the eye in even the most beautiful bathroom. This can be an ongoing hotel maintenance headache and lead to regular room closures.
You need to call in Safe Step. Our EverSeal Caulk Replacement solution lasts for years, not months. Click here to request a quote for hotel bathroom caulking replacement.
Let’s look at how often to replace bathtub caulking and why.
The Lifespan of Bathtub Caulking in the Hotel Industry
Ask anyone tasked with hotel maintenance and repair how long bathtub caulking lasts, and they’ll probably give you the same answer – not as long as it should.
Most hotel maintenance workers will tell you that they have to get this done every six months in many cases. Some may last up to two years, but that’s the exception. There are different types of caulk, but most last about the same amount of time.
Why Does Regular Caulk Fail So Quickly?
Caulking has two jobs – seal the tub and look good while doing it. The problem is that caulking lives in a high humidity environment. This environment is perfect for the growth of mold and mildew.
If the caulking used is not high quality, it can begin to come away from the tiles. The area where the tile meets the caulking is the most susceptible to water ingress.
Tiny amounts of water can penetrate, and mold can begin to grow. Once you can see the telltale black dots, it means that the mold has already penetrated the caulking. By this point, it’s impossible to clean the caulking, and you will have to remove it and start again.
Regular caulk also gets worn over time. Cleaning and scrubbing can cause it to start rubbing away. Peeling and flaking caulking is very unsightly for guests relaxing in the bathtub.
Hotel Bathrooms – Extra Pressure
Not only do your hotel guests use the bathtub every day, but the bathtub is also cleaned every day. The cleaning solutions your hotel uses may put pressure on the caulking.
The Institute of Hospitality found that 78 percent of hotel guests believe hotel cleanliness is paramount when choosing a hotel. 69% will walk out if they catch sight of a dirty bathroom.
Your guests rightly expect the highest standards of hotel cleanliness. Particularly now, COVID and health standards are on people’s minds more than ever before. They will not overlook caulk that is in bad condition.
The Effects of Damaged Caulking
If you do not replace hotel bathtub caulking quickly enough, other problems can develop. Water can get under the tiling, causing the plaster to blow out. Water can leak into the rooms below.
Floors can become waterlogged and start to weaken. It could be tempting to lower maintenance costs by putting off replacing the caulking.
This would be a false economy. Hotel maintenance issues quickly mount up if damaged caulking is not quickly fixed.
The Impact on Business
Removing and replacing bathtub caulking takes at least one day. One night that the room cannot be booked means lost revenue for the hotel.
Then there is the question of update vs. replace. If you update, applying new caulk and allowing it to cure may only take one day. That means the room would be unavailable for one night.
It would take much more time to replace all the caulking in a hotel bathroom. This would include bathroom vanities and other fixtures. This would mean more nights with no revenue.
Some hotel maintenance crews may be able to handle this job themselves. But using caulk remover successfully and getting a professional finish using a caulking gun are skilled jobs. A poor job will make a very bad impression.
However, if the hotel does not replace its caulking regularly enough, guests will walk out.
In this time of instant online reviews, word can quickly spread. Hotel guests will begin to complain online about poor standards of hygiene in your hotel bathrooms. Cancellations may soon start to rise, and booking rates will fall.
The Solution for Hotel Bathtub Caulking
A solution is needed that will lower maintenance costs while maintaining the very highest of standards. Regular caulk will always produce the same results.
The EverSeal Caulk Replacement Difference
Most hotel bathtub caulking lasts about six months. Some may last as long as two years. However, only EverSeal Caulk Replacement lasts for more than five years.
In fact, EverSeal Caulk Replacement from Safe Step comes with a five-year guarantee. That means for a minimum of five years, all you will have to do is wipe it and admire how good it looks.
The key is its two-part titanium filler solution. This solution produces a much more resilient and hard-wearing seal for your bathtub and fixtures. It will also prevent mold from developing.
If you’re planning a hotel bathroom remodel or are just looking to recaulk your bathrooms, it makes sense to go with this long-lasting solution.
Calculate the Cost
The actual cost of the labor and materials to replace bathroom caulking are only a small fraction of the cost to the hotel. Depending on how big the job is, the room can be unavailable for one or more nights.
This impacts the bottom line, as you may have to turn down booking and can negatively impact your reputation.
The initial cost of EverSeal Caulk Replacement may be higher than using a standard caulk. However, the savings quickly add up.
You can go on using your room night after night for years. It will need little to no maintenance, resulting in no dead periods and no dissatisfied customers.
Maintaining and Replacing Caulking
Hotel bathrooms undergo rigorous daily cleaning to keep them looking their best. High-quality caulking does not require special chemicals to keep it in good condition.
However, some chemicals may be too harsh for everyday use. Our team is very happy to advise you on which cleaning products to use to keep your caulking looking its best.
Reduce Hotel Maintenance with EverSeal Caulk Replacement
If you’re looking to reduce hotel maintenance costs and keep your guests happy, regular caulking just isn’t going to cut it. You need EverSeal Caulk Replacement, guaranteed for five years.
Safe Step is the industry-leading hospitality commercial bathtub refinishing company.
Contact Safe Step for a quote on any hotel and resort refinishing project.