Terrazzo Restoration and Repair

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This blog will be deal with the many aspects of terrazzo repair and restoration. The terrazzo flooring in Florida is largely antique flooring. Most of it was installed between 1950 and 1972. As old flooring it brings with it many problems of the past. Imagine dealing with a carpet or tile that was that old. What if you could make it look better then the day it was installed.

We all know that is not possible with other flooring. With terrazzo flooring we can repair and restore most floors to look much better than the original installer thought possible .If you look at one of our restored terrazzo floors most people never imagined the floor could look so great. 

I lived most of my life in Florida. I remember people saying they loved terrazzo and others saying they hated terrazzo. I can understand why, in 1970, a person might say they hated terrazzo. Back then terrazzo floors needed striped and refinished every year or two. 

Today that is not the case. Today we can diamond grind and polish a floor using state of the art tooling. When we finish a terrazzo floor it shines on its own. The cost of restoring terrazzo is offset by its low maintenance cost. 

Under normal conditions terrazzo flooring does not need any additional polishing for seven to ten years. By the time your terrazzo floor needs work it should only need some polishing, not a complete restoration. Check out our website and other blogs for a lot of pictures and videos, along with information on terrazzo restoration. 

 

Terrazzo Repair

Crack Repair

Crack repair is often times not necessary on terrazzo floors. SafeDry grinds the crack flat and in many cases a crack that is very noticeable will disappear. This affect is caused by taking a compression crack and leveling it out. When a terrazzo compression crack is ground it shrinks. SafeDry uses a planetary grinder that gives us the flattest floors in our industry. When a crack does need filled we fill it with an epoxy after matching the cement as closely as passable. We will usually consult the owner after the initial grinding to see if they would like us to fill the crack.

Tack Strip Removal and Nail Cutting



Under most conditions it is not advisable for home owners to take on tack strip removal and nail cutting on terrazzo floors. While I often times will advise customers on how to remove carpet and tile, I always advise them that tack strip and nail removal should only be done by an expert. Improper nail remover is the leading cause of damage to terrazzo flooring. When you pull nails from terrazzo flooring it leaves a hole in the terrazzo. These holes range in size from the size of the end of your small finger to larger then a silver dollar. We deal with these holes on ninety percent of our jobs, from a few holes to hundreds of them.

If you are having carpet installed on your terrazzo floor always insist that if the installer is removing tack strip that they cut the nails. When installers install new tack strip on terrazzo always insist they drill holes for the nails and only use only aluminum nails.
 

Filling Terrazzo Holes

SafeDry can fill any hole from the size of a small stone to many square feet. For a small hole we might fill it to match a stone color. We do this if the hole is the size of stones. For holes caused by improper nail removal we usually use a pigmented epoxy and use the same color stones the are present in the floor.

We match the epoxy color as closely as passable, but we are not filling these holes after complete restoration so we must use our best guess of the final color of the cement. The stones are a different story. SafeDry carries a wide variety of chip colors so we can usually match the stones that were originally used to install the floor. In some cases the stones used in the floor are no  longer available, so we cannot get an exact match.

For larger hole we usually use a pigmented cement product. These products are a new type of product that cures very quickly. We broadcast stones into these large holes as well. 

Terrazzo Stain Removal

Old terrazzo flooring, that has never been restored, is very pours. Stains can penetrate terrazzo and in some cases go all the way to the concrete under the terrazzo. Our grinder gets down under many stain. We can also use a poultice to help remove stains. They are most affective if left on the terrazzo floor for a week. 

Some other stains are caused by glue. Many carpet installers use glue to hold padding in place. These glues are unnecessary and can stain the floor. Rarely do these glues cause permanent staining for our large grinder. At around four hundred pounds our grinder can grind out these stains over ninety percent of the time. 

Glue stains from vinyl flooring can be problematic. Most often all the glue from vinyl flooring is removed. When removing vinyl flooring it is important to remove the paper backing with the top. If the paper is left it is much harder to grind out. Vinyl tile is a different story. When vinyl tile is removed it can leave a grid pattern in the floor after restoration. This effect is called ghosting. 

Ghosting is a potential problem with tile flooring as well. Quite often tile flooring can be removed and restored to look great. At other times the floor has a grid pattern after restoration. The best way to remove these stains is heavy grinding.



 

Removal of Old Flooring

 

As Stated earlier, Most old terrazzo has been covered with other flooring. Almost all of these floors can be restored to look great. In fact, many floors we were turning down just three years ago, can now be restored to look beautiful. We have removed vinyl tile from whole houses and turned a bad looking house into a thing of beauty.



As you can see this floor looks great.
Carpet can cause a lot of damage to terrazzo flooring. From improper installation. Old padding is the number one reason a terrazzo floor cannot be restored. This said, we can restore a many of these floors.

 

Tile Removal and Terrazzo Flooring

 

I am quite often asked if tile can be removed from terrazzo successfully and still have a great looking terrazzo floor. I can tell you it is done all the time. We can coach you into a proper tile removal and than you can still, in most cases, end up with a beautiful terrazzo floor. After tile removal, we often need to treat the floor for ghosting. This is caused when tile smothers the floor underneath and keeps the moisture from escaping. We can treat this problem, but many time the only cure is time. Over time the moisture will evaporate and the floor will return to a consistent color. 

 

Many terrazzo floors come with a variety of problems, but almost every floor, with proper care, can be restored. Give us a call, so we can give you a free on site estimate and start you down the road to a sparkling terrazzo floor.