Natura Care Earns Coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award

Award reflects businesses’ consistently high level of customer service.

Natura Care has been awarded the prestigious 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award, an honor bestowed annually on approximately 5 percent of all the businesses rated on the nation’s leading provider of consumer reviews on local service and health providers.

“Only a fraction of the businesses rated on Angie’s List can claim the sterling service record of being a Super Service Award winner because we set a high bar,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “The fact that Natura Care can claim Super Service Award status speaks volumes about its dedication to consumers.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award winners have met strict eligibility requirements including earning a minimum number of reports, an exemplary rating from their clients and abiding by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List, but members can find the 2011 Super Service Award logo next to business names in search results on AngiesList.com.

Angie’s List collects consumer reviews on local contractors and doctors in more than 500 service categories. Currently, more than 2 million consumers across the U.S. rely on Angie’s List to help them make the best hiring decisions. Members get unlimited access to local ratings via Internet or phone, exclusive discounts, the Angie’s List magazine and help from the Angie’s List complaint resolution service. Take a quick tour of Angie’s List and view the latest Angie’s List news.

Many people do not know that flood damage is not covered by your typical home owners insurance policy.  In some cases, you may have coverage for sump pump failing and or sewage backup that were part of a flood.

Flood insurance is relatively inexpensive, usually running between $300-$500 average per year for a home.  By having this coverage not only will you be covered incase your home is flooded by a storm or heavy rainfall, you’ll save thousands of dollars in repairs.   Flood insurance is a must have for anyone that owns a home regardless if you are in a flood zone or not.  Emergencies at times cannot be prevented, having the right coverage will eliminate guessing or surprises when filling for an insurance claim.

The last few weeks we’ve been getting many calls at our office location in Sterling, VA.  We will be more than happy to help anyone w/ their flood & water damage emergency, just give us a call at 703-444-4604.  We are qualified experts in drying structures back to pre-loss condition and we can help you file an insurance claim policy as well as communicate with your claim’s adjuster.

Check out the National Flood Insurance Program’s for more information on how you can get flood insurance for your home or place of business.

http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/

We are always here to help you with your flood damage emergencies, do not hesitate, get flood insurance immediately.

Natura Care Floor Care & Restoration is your number one flood & water damage company serving all of Northern VA, DC, and MD, including Loudoun & Fairfax County.  Many people in VA are in desperate need of help flood cleanup services, we are here 24/7 to suit your needs.  Call us at 703-444-4604

Natura Care is honored to have won the Angie’s List 2010 Super Service Award! “The Super Service Award is given to companies that have achieved and maintained a superior service record on Angie’s List. Approximately 5% of companies on Angie’s List meet the minimum eligibility requirements to be considered. Eligibility requirements include maintaining an “A” rating overall, receiving a minimum number of reports and not have been in the “Penalty Box” for failure to respond to an Angie’s List member’s complaint.”

Please click on the the Award Badge below to view our reviews from Angie’s List members in the Sterling VA and surrounding areas.

There are many reasons as to why no matter what you do, you won’t get certain stains out of your grout lines in your home.  It does not have to do with scrubbing till your arms cramp up, using a wire brush (not recommended), or throwing bleach all over your floor and having to leave the area due to the odor overwhelming others and the entire house.

Most of us have a busy schedule, the kids, pets, school, work, and what have you.  The last thing in our mind is “Need to get that tile and grout cleaned!” What we don’t realize, is that most floors are not or have not been properly sealed in the first place so we wouldn’t have to worry so much about how dark or uneven our grout lines look.  One of the many reasons for this, is that there is a lot of misleading products and articles online letting homeowners run to their nearest store and grabbing any bottle that is labeled “sealer” to seal their floors.  I want people to understand, that there is nothing wrong with Doing It Yourself, however, please keep in mind, that in most scenarios you only get one chance to give it a try, if the DIYer does not get it right the first time, they might have made the problem worst by using the wrong technique, products, and overdoing it.  What has happened is that not only did the grout lines did not get sealed, but people are thinking they were sealed and now they can drop liquid and food on the floors without worrying so much about getting it stained, in reality the floor is now getting doubled the traffic and getting dirtier as time goes.

Another issue that I see in a lot of homes is house cleaning companies using the wrong products to use on floors. Each floor being carpet, tile, grout, stone, or hardwood in our home should have its own methods, techniques, and solutions to properly clean and maintain the floor for years to come.  Using a product that claims to do everything for all, in most cases is a bad thing.  3 of the most common household products we’ve seen used by some of these companies are 1. White Vinegar, 2. Bleach, 3. Pine-sol.  These products may get the job done if that’s all there is available, but in the long run, they may cause more rapid soiling and wear on your tile and grout floors.  The main reason is not always the actual product, but the way that is put down.  If the person laying down any of the 3 products with a mop and bucket, they need to make sure the dirty water is not getting re-used and the floor is rinsed with plain clean water as a rinse.  In most cases, the 2nd water rinse is never done, they just mop and go, and the floor will get sticky due to the chemical left all over the floor, and both the tile and grout lines will get dirtier much faster.  It is important to understand one simple thing, there is no miracle to solution to the things we do, but if you have the proper directions by a professional tile and grout cleaner than they can walk you thru on how to properly maintain your floors, and if you must, than give these directions to your house cleaning crew.  We always give our clients proper written tile and grout maintenance directions showing them exactly what to use and how to use it on their own floors.

Chances are your grout lines need some TLC too.  You see grout lines are no different than your hair, skin, and body.  They all need to be treated with proper care and maintained so they’ll stay healthy and look beautiful for a very long time.  Once we start giving attention to the things we own, we can understand that grout lines are no different than our own bodies. Both are porous and can absorb certain products, stains, and chemicals which can be a challenge to remove if not treated quickly and with proper techniques.

Let’s look at a few reasons as to why stains may actually be permanent on your tile & grout floor even if it’s cleaned by you, your house cleaner, or us the professional company:

1. Grout has never been sealed by your installer, not sealed properly, and or, with the proper sealer.
2. Wrong chemicals used on floor may have set the stain deeper and permanently.
3. Acids, cooked hot vegetable oil, red wine, are just stains that may contain dyes which may impregnate into the body of the grout thus becoming permanent.
4. Urine from animals may get soaked into the grout lines and yellowing may occur.
5. Tile installer ran out of the grout color, and mixed up a few colors on the spot to get a “close as possible” color without having to go buy the color he ran out of, thus making the floor look discolored.

The above are the top 5 things we see in most homes and businesses in the Northern VA and surrounding areas after doing the initial inspection.

For more information about service, please contact;
Bill Martins
703-444-4604

http://naturacaredc.com/tile-grout-cleaning-sealing-va-dc/

A few times a week, we get calls from clients asking if our company does tile regrouting and or repairs to grout lines.  I always ask clients “why does the grout need to be repaired or regrouted?” and they say, “because we’ve tried cleaning on several attempts and the grout lines are still dirty and black.”  Well, the main reason for this is quite simple.  The tile floor does not need to be regrouted but cleaned by a professional tile cleaning company and than color sealed.   In many cases, no matter how strong you are or the biggest equipment you have, the grout lines may be permanently stained.  This typically happens to floors that were either not sealed properly with the right sealer or never sealed to begin with.  Grout is a very porous surface.

So why not re-grout the tile floors? Well, you could re-grout all the tile lines, but than you would still need to seal them with the right sealer (not just any sealer), thus the cost of something like this would be enormous and not counting for the 5 days cure time it takes to wait for the grout lines to properly cure before attempting to seal the floor.  This means you cannot use the floor (includes walking on it) for 5 days before the contractor can seal your floors.  Most people cannot have this done as they need to use their floors for their daily life necessities.

In many cases, color sealing or color dying the grout lines with an impregnating sealer is the way to go after the floor has been properly cleaned.  This will insure the floors have gotten a deep cleaned and the grout lines are now more porous to accept the sealer.  The work can be done in a few hours to a day’s work depending on the size of the floor, and the homeowner can walk on the floor within 1 hour.  Once sealed, any future spills will be easily wiped away with a cleaning rag or paper towel and the floor will always have that new “re-grout” or new tile look.  Proper maintenance is required to keep the floors looking it’s best, and can easily be done by a cleaning service or the home owner.

So why re-grout when we can clean and color seal for a third of the cost?

For more information or to find out how we can help your tile, please contact:
Bill Martins
Natura Care
703-444-4604

Green Cleaning your microwave.

Take white vinegar and a microwave bowl, mix 50% water and 50% white vinegar.

Put it inside of microwave for 5-7 minutes till water gets very hot.  This will remove fowl odor from the inside of the microwave and loosen up hardened build up from the inside walls.

Safely remove the bowl out of microwave, take a paper towel(we use bounty), dip the tip with water.

Now you’ll be able to clean the inside of the microwave without using toxic chemicals.

You can also remove the odor by leaving the bowl inside of the microwave over night.