Thao Dien: where it is, its homes, and how we come to survey
Thao Dien is the riverside neighbourhood of the former District 2. Districts were replaced on 1 July 2025 by wards, the city's local administrative units, and Resolution 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15 merged Thao Dien ward whole into An Khanh ward. Either address works when you book.
Our office at 72 Nguyen Co Thach in Sala is in the same ward, so a home survey with a test area is easy to arrange, any day between 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM.
- Apartments beside the Saigon River
- Tropic Garden, Xi Riverview Palace at 190 Nguyen Van Huong and Thao Dien Pearl at 12 Quoc Huong.
- Other apartment buildings
- The Ascent at 58 Quoc Huong, Masteri Thao Dien, The Nassim, Gateway Thao Dien and Lumiere Riverside.
- Villas, compounds and townhouses
- Large houses with verandas and gardens along Quoc Huong and Nguyen Van Huong, some behind a guarded gate; many townhouses are now cafes, showrooms or small offices.
- Thu Thiem, Sala and An Phu
- The rest of the former District 2 is on our District 2 tile and grout page.
Ten years by the river: how grout ages in Thao Dien's apartment buildings
Cement grout is full of fine pores and soaks up water, grease and dirt; epoxy grout soaks up less, though residue still sits on it. Thao Dien gives grout every reason to darken: the city government portal puts relative humidity at 79.5% on average and around 80% in the rainy season, May to November, and homes close to the river and among trees feel that damp more, though no separate figures exist for the riverside.
Age adds to it. The dates below were published by the press and developers and are cited on our page for each development.
- Thao Dien Pearl
- Due for handover at the end of 2013, and many families have lived here for over ten years: darkened grout, limescale on taps and shower screens.
- The Ascent
- About ten years old if handed over in late 2016 as planned; door seals and grout are the first things to change colour.
- Masteri Thao Dien
- Small bathrooms with little ventilation, so soap residue builds on shower glass and grout; many units have had several tenants.
- A quick test
- Rub a short stretch of grout with a damp cloth. A clean cloth and a line still dark mean the dirt is inside the grout.
Four treatments for grout, and a test area before the whole room
Once the tile, the grout and the reason for the discolouration are known, a small sample is treated and you approve it before the work widens. At the end the result is compared with that sample in daylight, and whatever falls short is redone without charge within 48 hours of the Up Report, our before-and-after photo record. We do not replace tiles, renew grout or treat leaks; those places are photographed for your repair contractor.
- Deep scrubbing
- A purpose-made grout brush and a handheld scrubber follow every joint with a cleaner matched to the grout, and the slurry is vacuumed away. Grey that is only surface residue usually brightens clearly at this step.
- Whitening and mould treatment
- Black mould spots on shower grout get a mould product that is approved for sale, left on for its full contact time and then rinsed away.
- Recolouring
- For grout stained right through, which scrubbing lightens but cannot return to its old shade: a fresh colour coat on clean, dry grout, tried on a sample first.
- Sealing
- In bathrooms, kitchens and on balconies, a sealer slows water and grease getting in, so the grout stays clean longer. It wears with time and is reapplied.
Villas and compound houses: verandas, steps and bathrooms on several floors
Thao Dien's riverside villas and compound houses are large, built on several floors and usually floored in stone and natural timber. This service therefore applies where there is tile: bathrooms on each floor, the kitchen, the veranda, entrance steps and balconies.
Low ground darkens outdoor grout quickly. Tuoi Tre (June 2025) reports 0.15–0.3 m of standing water for one to two hours on Quoc Huong, Nguyen Van Huong and Thao Dien streets when a downpour coincides with a high tide, and leafy gardens bring fallen leaves and fine soil onto the veranda. A large house is surveyed on site and listed floor by floor; steps, tight corners and shower walls go more slowly than open floor, and the quote says so.
Tile, encaustic tile, cement or stone: what polishing means for each
- Glazed tiles and porcelain
- A glazed tile's gloss is its factory glaze, and we do not grind into it; porcelain leaves the factory polished and dulls when residue fills its micropores. Both are deep-cleaned, then polished with soft pads. Worn or deeply scratched glaze stays that way.
- Encaustic tiles and cement floors in converted townhouses
- Encaustic cement tiles absorb water and stain easily: a mild, non-acidic cleaner, light polishing and a sealer to hold the pattern. Cement screed is cleaned, lightly polished and given an anti-soiling coat; deep grinding is Concrete floor polishing.
- Marble at The Nassim and stone in villas
- The Nassim's apartments were presented with marble floors (VIR, 2015). Stone is sensitive to acid and is not treated like tile; see Stone floor polishing.
- A whole floor evenly dull
- Machine floor scrubbing, which has a published rate per m², usually suits better: the machine cleans the entire floor and darkened grout gets extra scrubbing by hand.
Why grout and tile work in Thao Dien is quoted only after a survey
We name no figure for this service: the steps and hours are known only after the surface has been seen and a sample treated. One bathroom in a Masteri Thao Dien apartment that needs deep scrubbing alone is a different job from three bathrooms and the veranda of a compound villa that need whitening, recolouring and sealing. The home survey costs nothing, and the written quote sets out each area, each step and the time needed; it changes only if you agree in writing.
- Area and tile size
- The smaller the tile, the more grout in every square metre: mosaic takes far longer than large-format tile.
- Grout and soiling
- Cement or epoxy grout; dirt on the surface only, staining that has soaked in, or mould.
- Steps, position and access
- Scrubbing only or further treatments; open floor or shower walls, steps and balconies; furniture to move and the building's working hours.
Between tenants, with children at home, or from abroad
According to Tuoi Tre (2020), Thao Dien is home to almost 6,000 foreigners holding 102 nationalities, and most homes rented to them are furnished. The days between two leases suit grout work: recoloured or sealed grout has to stay dry for a while, and in an empty home nobody has to avoid the water.
- Families in residence
- Work proceeds one area at a time. The room in hand is ventilated, and children, older relatives and pets are better elsewhere. Products are approved for sale, never combined and tried first on a hidden corner.
- Using the room again
- Scrubbed grout can be used once dry. Recoloured or sealed grout and coated encaustic tiles must stay dry for a period your specialist gives at handover and writes in the Up Report. Freshly polished tiles can be slippery when wet.
- English
- The plan, the quote and the Up Report are available in English. For an English speaker in the home, tell us when booking; if none can be arranged, we say so beforehand and help by phone or message.
- Access and owners abroad
- You receive your specialist's name and photo before the visit, for registering with building management or the compound gate. A key can be left with building management, compound security or family, and is never copied. The walk-through, our check of the result with you, can be a video call.
What does UpClean's tile & grout cleaning include?
- Assessment of tile type, grout type, staining, mould and existing cracks
- A test area for grout cleaning, whitening or polishing before the full job
- Skirting, kitchen cabinets, timber floors and furniture protected
- Line-by-line grout scrubbing with dedicated brushes and handheld machines, dirty water extracted
- Grout whitening suited to the grout; grout recolouring where staining is too deep
- Glazed and porcelain tiles polished with soft pads and glaze-safe solutions
- Encaustic cement tiles and screed floors cleaned, lightly polished and sealed
- Grout sealing in bathrooms, kitchens and balconies where suitable
- Clean-up, items returned to place and an Up Report
Written by the UpClean technical team, reviewed by Trần Nguyễn Hữu Nhật — Founder of UpClean.
