Here we have an Edwardian Era Terrazzo floor in the hallway of a property in Mapperley Nottingham. I was asked to retore the floor which would involve a restorative deep cleaning to remove years of ingrained dirt and then seal it to add protection going forward.
I went over to the property to survey the Terrazzo and create a quotation for the work. Whilst there I noticed the floor has had experienced some structural movement at some point in its 100-year history which has resulted in several cracks. I have a system for repairing this using marble & granite chips with colour matched Portland cement however this can take longer and does increase the cost, so I put it as an option.
After the reviewing the quote, they decided to go ahead with the restorative clean and then call me back later to deal with the cracks if they felt it was needed.
Cleaning and Repairing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor
To deep clean the Terrazzo, I started with the application of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted four parts with water to make a strong cleaning solution that breaks down both soiling, and old coatings. The was allowed to dwell on the Terrazzo for fifteen to twenty minutes before being worked in, this gives it time to soak to get to work. Then I started on cleaning the edges first using 100 and 200-grit hand burnishing blocks which are metal bonded diamond abrasives.
Once I was satisfied the edges were clean, I proceeded to mechanically hone the floor with a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad fitted to a weighted Italian Floor rotary grinding machine. The resulting slurry was removed with a wet vacuum, and the floor checked to ensure contamination, including paint spots were fully removed.
I then repeated this process with finer 800 and 1500-grit diamond pads that slowly burnish the stone and restores the polished lustre of the floor, these pads also close down the porosity of the stone, making it more hard wearing to foot traffic. As before the resulting slurry was rinsed and extracted after each pad.
Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor
The next step would be to seal and protect the floor however it needed to be fully dry first, so it was left to dry overnight and when I returned the next day, I took several moisture readings with a damp meter to confirm it was ready.
The sealer of choice for this floor was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a fully breathable impregnating sealer which also enhances the colour of the stone chippings in the Terrazzo. This sealer is an impregnator that works by soaking into the pores of the floor rather than sittings on the surface, thus protecting it from ingrained dirt. Hallways are by their very nature a high traffic area so the sealer will provide adequate protection from both ingrained dirt and moisture and keep the floor in good condition.
The final process was to complete the polishing of the Terrazzo with the last pad in the set which is 3000-grit. This creates a lustrous hard wearing polished finish to the stone and is applied with a fine mist of water using a process we call a spray burnish.
Once cleaned, sealed and polished the Terrazzo look great and the colours in particular really came to life. The new sealer will keep the dirt on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away and if maintained correctly should last for up to five years.
On the subject of maintenance, I recommend the use of Tile Doctors Stone Soap for this floor. It’s an effect sealer friendly product that will also help maintain the patina. There are many products you can use for cleaning floors, but you do have to be careful as many are simply too strong for the sealer, always check the label.
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