Terrazzo help please

[chezza]

Hi everyone and may i say thanks in advance to any help/info yous can offer me.
My partner and myself have just bought a vacant shop unit, my query is:-
it has a Terrazzo tiled floor which has apparently been laid for approx 20 yrs or so, there are a couple of slightly damaged corners to some of the tiles and the rest of the floor is quite grotty looking.We wish to try and repair the tiles and clean and polish the floor, from what we can gather there are some epoxy kits available, or even use white portland cement, What we are unsure of is, which type of floor cleaner to hire, do we hire an ordinary polisher and use different coloured discs, or do we have to hire a diamond floor polisher. My partner is quite good at D.I.Y and tiling, once he has the correct advice that is, so we feel with the correct knowledge he can make a really good job of the floor.
so can anyone offer us any help please

thanks in anticipation Chezza

 

[DHTiling]

Hello and welcome.. A floor pad polisher will suffice..

As for the broken corners then you can epoxy resin fill these to match colour.

Click on the LTP site logo to your left and there is a full cleaning regime info on there..

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Terrazzo can be polished using diamond polishing machine. It depends on the area to be cleaned, a big industrial Turco would prob be to big. a diamond hand held ie. flex may be more suitable, you can mix in-situ terrazzoto patch small areas. Using white portland and the right colours of marble chippings, if you need some Tel no of some specialists, PM me with your area/ location, and I will forward any contacts I have. Good luck

 

[chezza]

Thanks Dave,
when you say a floor pad polisher, do you mean what i would call a buffer, the type cleaners use, they accept different sorts of discs?
And thanks very much for the quick reply

Chezza

P.S
the floor area is approx 75m2

 

[DHTiling]

That's them.. that is suitable for a good clean but a total revamp is a specialised job as phil said..


Always and i mean always test a small area with the cleaning solution you are going to use before doing the whole floor...

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Sorry Dave, my slow typing again

 

[chezza]

Dave would you recommend any kind of cleaning solution to clean the floor with and also some kind of polishing compound compatible with the machine you mentioned
Also i believe we have to strip the floor of any kind of sealers that had been applied, any kind of stripper you lads would reccommend


chezza

 

[chezza]

Phil you have a private message

Chezza

 

[DHTiling]

If are want to do it yourself then..

This for a clean..

LTP Power Stripper

Description: LTP Power Stripper is one of the few products on the market capable of breaking down oxidised boiled linseed oil from the surface of terracotta. With powerful amines, ammonia and alkalinity that penetrate and help lift the hardest, heaviest films, it is ideal for intensive cleaning of heavily contaminated vitrified quarry tiles, glazed ceramics and porcelain. Strips most things first time thereby minimising labour costs.

Tips: Pick this product if you have heavily soiled surfaces, old layers of sealer, oxidised boiled linseed oil, residual grout on the surface of limestone....

Technical Data Sheet (PDF)




And depending on how far you wish to go this comp sell some good polishing powders..


Marble Master Cleaning Supplies Stone Polishing Powders

 

[chezza]

Dave, i have looked at the link opposite for LTP, its so confusing as to which solutions i need for cleaning, polishing and sealing. Your input would be greatly recieved agai


Chezza

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Hi Chezza, got your PM. sent you one, the people I have sent you a link to I have never dealt with. I use Manchester based companies Dave might have some info on these guys, just thought they are in your area. Good luck

Regards, Phil.

 

[chezza]

Hey guys thanks VERY much for your help, maybe a little more assistance if yous dont mind

Phil you mentioned marble chippings of the same colour ar the Terrazzo, would you know where we could buy some and also the best place to find white portland, and also how do we mix the chippings with the portland, do we just add water to make it like a paste?

 

[peckers]

If i was to repair a terrazzo tile that had been down for a long time then i would grind a small test area first to uncover the true colour of the tile and the chippings, you can then get the colours and size off the chippings that you need and the relevant colours that you would need to mix togeather to get to the true colour off the tile.
then you can make your repair to the tile leaving the repair about 2-3mm higher then the tile itself and place in the chippings you then diamond grind the whole floor and the repaired area to make it look like new.
when you are doing your colour matching it always drys different then when you have mixed it and it takes an experienced person in this area to get it perfect ( I am not the expert) just seen it being done. There is alot more to it then the above but this is just an insight to what gets done to achieve a new looking floor.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Hi Chezza, yes if you can source the right colour of marble chippings, mix with white portland, you might have to experiment to get the mix right.

Lay as you would grano, use a steel roller to bring the fat up ( at a pinch a bottle will do the job) leave to cure, then polish as stated previously

I would recommend you try to get a specialist to talk you through this, or better still get a price from them. It is a job that sounds more simple than it is. Good luck

 

[chezza]

Phil we had a price £6000, now thats a big no no, in fact we had 3 quotes from big companies and were all in the £6000-£8000 bracket.Floor too bad etc etc was what they all told us, parts of the floor needed repairing then the entire floor needed re-honing , 3 stage polishing then sealing.
so we are prepared to try ourselves, we actually invested all our savings in buying the unit, so truthfully money is an object at the minute