Terrazzo Polishing Tips Miami
Terrazzo is a unique floor that will display its colors and shine throughout many years but the time will come when the terrazzo is in need of a good polish. Terrazzo is very durable, but stains, scratches, dullness, and even cracks may form depending on the foot traffic and that shine will eventually wear away. Whatever the case, professionals can restore the terrazzo and bring back its vibrant color and shine through various polishing techniques. Even though you can polish the terrazzo yourself, professionals will almost always yield better results and have a much lower chance of accidents due to their experience. The first thing they usually do is move all the furniture and make sure nothing covers the terrazzo. From there the terrazzo is cleaned with a cleaner so no dirt or dust mixes and interferes with the later process. If your terrazzo has a coating such as wax, a stripper compound will be used to remove it so the craftsman can work on the actual surface. Once the stripper has been applied successfully, the cleaner solution is applied and swept with a clean mop to get rid of the dissolved wax.
If damages such as stains and scratches were superficial, then it may have been removed with the stripper. If not, the damage is on the terrazzo itself and further steps need to take place. If it is a stain, professionals will identify what type of substance caused the stain and match it with the correspondent poultice. A poultice is simply a mixture of substances such as hydrogen peroxide and baking soda that is used to lighten stains. For scratches, a sponge with baking soda is gently but consistently buffed in the affected area until the scratches disappear. If the scratch marks are even deeper, they may have to use polishing powder with an electronic grinder to grind and buff the area until the scratches are gone. When they get to actually polishing the terrazzo, professionals will wet the floor thoroughly with a hose and use an electric grinder with diamond grit disks. Sometimes, companies will choose to weigh the machine down and apply more pressure and pass over the terrazzo in rows about five times at about 30 grit.
From there, more water applied they grind the floor again but this time with finer 40 grit. After this is done, they may fill any holes your terrazzo may have with the proper epoxy or cementitious base and corresponding aggregate chips. If the holes are too small, they sometimes make them bigger with a chipping tool since they will be filled and smoothed out anyway. Once the mixture hardens, a grinder is used to smooth out the patch until it is thoroughly blended in. From there, they continue to grind the floor and with each pass using finer and finer grits until the finest grit is achieved while removing weight if it was added to the machine. All that’s left is adding polishing powder graded for terrazzo and a wet polisher around ten times per row. A sealer or wax is then applied towards the end and is buffed out with an electronic buffer. By now, you should have a beautifully restored and sparkling terrazzo that looks several years younger and will continue to do so for many years to come through professional terrazzo polishing.
