Terrazzo Cleaning and Restoration

Terrazzo is versatile, hardy and exceedingly attractive flooring options, commonly seen in hotels and high-class establishments. Dating back to the 15th Century, terrazzo this style of flooring has stood the test of time, with modern versions incorporating materials like plastics and resins into their overall look.

Traditional terrazzo is typically created from a composite mixture of stones; the dazzling appearance is achieved by mixing chips of marble, granite, quartz, or glass with cement; depending on the colour of these chips, you can create a huge array of different effects. However, the most popular terrazzo mixes use marble chips, but granite is also fairly popular as is coloured glass.

Both cement and marble do not take well to being cleaned with highly acidic or alkaline cleaners and as both are porous; most restoration involving terrazzo surfaces that we are contacted for is to clean it to its new, fresh looking state. There are few terrazzo cleaners available on the market which can achieve this, and many can also cause micro cracks to form in the marble and concrete, weakening the terrazzo and leaving it open to chipping and other forms of damage.

Common Problems with Terrazzo Flooring and Tiles

As previously mentioned, cleaning terrazzo can be a real challenge due to its mixture of materials. Even if your newly discovered terrazzo kitchen floor is not a composite of cement and marble, you still must be exceedingly careful about how you clean it; not even plain water is safe enough!

Dulling and Fading

Any composite involving marble is prone to fading, creating a dull, shine less appearance. When terrazzo begins to fade, its unique patterning begins to look blurred, thus losing its striking appearance and its colouring to become bland looking.

Holes

Back to the issue of being porous! Though a terrazzo floor is hardier than a marble floor, it is still prone to becoming damaged due to its composite materials being quite soft and porous; one common issue we see in terrazzo flooring is the occurrence of holes.

As carpets became fashionable at one time, many terrazzo floors were covered and had carpet attached to them via tacks. Now, that carpets are less common, they are being removed and exposing that the terrazzo floor underneath has holes- not only unattractive, holes can also lead to further damage being caused.

Cracks

Unsightly and a potential health hazard, cracks in any flooring are a visual eyesore and can cause structural damage to the rest of the flooring if not treated quickly and correctly.

With terrazzo, as opposed to marble, there is the further issue of any filling material being the correct hue to match the original colour scheme; many restorers simply use a white coloured resin and paint the ‘chips’ in after. This not only looks awful but does not stop that initial crack from spreading.

Services We Offer

At MK Marble, we want your dazzling terrazzo floor to keep its wow factor.

We don’t scrimp on materials we use to restore and polish your terrazzo surface and we provide you with tips on how to keep it looking at its best for as long as possible.

If your terrazzo requires a bit more than a simple clean, we offer a wide range of services to repair it, regardless of the composite used; leaving you with a professional finish for a great price.

Polishing, Refinishing and Cleaning

As we previously mentioned, terrazzo surfaces can become easily damage by cleaning products with high alkaline and acid concentrations; even if you try cleaning it with plain tap water, the chemicals in the water (like chlorine) can cause an unwanted reaction with the marble and cement, so this task is best left to us!

If your terrazzo floor is flat and undamaged, we will typically begin the cleaning process by using specialist terrazzo grinding equipment to ty to remove surface dirt.

In the event that a deeper clean is needed, we break out unique terrazzo cleaning diamonds, to begin to remove deeper set stains and remove any minor scratches.

We then use a sealant to add that extra gloss factor to your terrazzo floor, making it look striking and adding a protective layer against dirt and grime. Be aware though, that no sealant can protect terrazzo from high acidic foods or liquids, so don’t spill any orange juice!

Is your terrazzo flooring older? Don’t worry; though older terrazzo flooring is softer than more modern versions, our equipment will still provide a thorough clean and polish, leaving your terrazzo floor looking brand new!

Repair

This is truly where our expertise in stone repair shine through!

Many stone restoration companies try to take the cheap way out when it comes to repairing cracks or holes in terrazzo; we deem it simply unacceptable!

Quite often, terrazzo flooring has been ‘repaired’ by using a baseline white filler, sanded and then the ‘chips’ are painted on by hand. Not only is the finished product exceedingly poor to look at, it also shows lack of expertise in this style of stone surface.

We take the finest sandpaper to remove any micro particles on the surface area to prepare it. The, using a mixture of grout, dyes and marble chips (if the damage is large enough to warrant that) to match the rest of the terrazzo flooring. We then carefully pour the mixture in to the damaged area and leave it to dry overnight. More sandpaper, some sealant and voila! No trace of any cracks or holes and certainly no hand painting!

 

If you have any worries about your terrazzo surface and are concerned we may not be able to provide you with the service you need, rest assured that we specialise in all types of terrazzo restoration and can provide you with a specialised service if we feel it is needed to restore your floor or surface to its former glory.

Simply contact us via telephone or through the contact form on this site and we will be happy to help you!