Terrazzo floor prep for polishing.

Safe Dry is a terrazzo restoration and concrete polishing company. I want to inform others in the proper care of terrazzo and polished concrete as well as natural stone.

Cement based Terrazzo flooring is made of Portland cement and stone chips. The stones are often marble chips, but can be made from many other stones. Terrazzo was very popular in Florida homes built from the mid 1950s to the early 1970s. Unfortunately many were later covered with carpet, tile and vinyl flooring. Restoring these floors can be a difficult task. If you have flooring over your terrazzo here are a few tips that can help you safely remove whatever is covering your terrazzo flooring.

Vinyl flooring- Removal of vinyl flooring can be very difficult. Much care must be taken to insure you do not damage the floor. Remember any attempt to remove the vinyl flooring may result in damage, so pay attention to what you are doing and try not to score, or scrape the terrazzo. Most vinyl flooring should be removed with a floor scraper. If the floor is covered with vinyl tiles then you should consider the fact that you will most likely end up with a grid pattern when the polishing process is completed. Some vinyl can only be removed in chips the size of a quarter, so be prepared for a tough job. Remember no matter how carefully you work, you may cause damage to to the terrazzo.

Tile Removal- Tile removal can be much easier then vinyl removal, but it is a dusty proposition. You can rent a chipping hammer at The Home Depot. Rent the thin set removing attachment and only use it. You will want to work from under the tiles. Never use the tool to cut lines in the grout, as this will cut into the floor. Try to break a few tiles so you can start working through the room and push the thin set removal head between the thin set and the tile. You can also point the tool almost strait down to remove thew thin set. Be very carefully in doing this as it may damage the floor, but if done properly it can be done successfully.

Carpet Removal- Carpet removal is by far the easiest. We all know how to pull up and cut carpet and padding. The hard part, and the part that does the most damage, is tack strip removal and dealing with the nails.

Tack strip removal and nail cutting- I should start this segment by saying this is best left to a pro. Of all the things people do that causes damage to terrazzo the number one mistake they make is pulling up the nails that hold the tack strip to the floor. When pulled up they also remove large chunks of floor. The proper way to install tack strip in terrazzo is to drill holes in the floor and use aluminum nails. When these nails are pounded into the floor they form to the hole and do a great job holding the tack strip. Instead of pulling the nails it is best to cut them flush with an angle grinder. Again, this is not an easy process and I have seen many people damage a floor cutting nails.

The tack strip can be pulled up around the nail using a flat head screwdriver and a hammer. again this must be done with caution as you might also pull up nails and damage the floor in the process. One additional problem I often see is when the carpet installer does everything right, then goes around the room and adds small nails to help secure the tack strip. This is a waist of time and always causes damage. The nails are small, so they do nothing but chip the floor. It is also quite common that steel nails are used. They can rust and will not shine as well as aluminum nails do.

This segment was on floor prep for your terrazzo flooring. In future segments we will discuss. the rest of the process.