Friday, September 23, 2011

Vinyl Tile and Terrazzo Restoration



 
877-824-0501
Many people call and ask if it is possible to remove vinyl tile and restore the terrazzo floor under it. Vinyl tile can be very east to remove, or extremely hard to remove. In most cases the terrazzo floor under the tile can be restored to look better then ever. We recently did a vinyl tile removal and restored the terrazzo in a home in Punta Gorda. There was an odor problem we had to deal with as well, but the final outcome was a great looking floor.
These are some of the many questions I am asked about removing vinyl and restoring the terrazzo.
Q. Will the vinyl damage the terrazzo flooring when it is removed?
A. Damage to terrazzo from vinyl tile removal is rare, but there can be some problems. Some old adhesives are stronger then the terrazzo floor. When the vinyl is pulled up it can pull peaces of the floor with it. The damage is usually small and can many times be ground out. Another problem is black mastic. Most black mastic is asbestos based tar. It can be scraped off safely, but if you use a solvent the floor might be beyond repair. In any case the floor will be darker when the job is complete.
Q. Will The glue from the vinyl stain terrazzo floor?
A. Again, if the adhesive is black it will darken the floor. Most glue will be completely removed. It is better to have vinyl tile on a terrazzo floor then old carpet pad.
Q. After the vinyl flooring is removed and the terrazzo floor is restored will there be a grid pattern left from the edges of the tile?
A. SafeDry has made a lot of advances in removing the grid pattern left by vinyl tile. we work to ground out the grid pattern with our HTC planetary grinder. our grinder is the most aggressive used in homes. It allows us to grind down without causing any damage to the floor. we also use chemicals to bleach out these stains during the terrazzo restoration process. If there is a pattern left we work to make it faint. This insures it will fade away over the next weeks or months.
Q. Will the vinyl tile effect the final shine we get on our terrazzo floor?
A. No matter what is on your floor we get a high diamond polished terrazzo floor. SafeDry never uses acid or recrystallization to get a high shine. We use all diamond polishing to get the longest lasting terrazzo shine possible.
Q. Will vinyl tile removal significantly increase the terrazzo cost for restoration?
A. Vinyl tile removal will add 50% to the cost of restoration.
Q. Can we remove the vinyl tile ourselves?
A. I am always happy to help people do as much as possible to cut terrazzo restoration costs. If you give me a call I will help you remove the tile yourself. We offer tile removal as one of our services, but would rather spend our time restoring terrazzo.
Q. Do you think if will make my house look a lot better if we remove the tile and restore the terrazzo.
A. Check out the job we recently did and you make call.