Follow Us
Subscribe to our
Newsletter
PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE PAGE FIRST BEFORE YOU BUY A D.I.Y. KIT.
REMEMBER THERE ARE NO REFUNDS! AS WE CANNOT RETURN USED UP PADS, LIQUIDS AND LABOR HOURS.
List of Services
-
#1. remove carpet, padding and tack stripsList Item 1
with a utility knife make cuts longways on your carpet in manageable 4 foot wide by 10 foot long strips. roll up the strips and tape them up in tight secure rolls. repeat the same process for the padding. put these rolls in heavy duty contractor garbage bags. with your included nail grinding disks cut off and grind down flush all the nails left over after removing the tack strips. DO NOT PULL OUT THE NAILS. YOU MUST GRIND THEM DOWN. neatly pile your contractor bags on the curb for bulk pick up.
-
#2. check for hidden nailsList Item 2
go back around and inspect the entire area and especially perimeters with your hands or with a floor scraper, checking for nails that were not properly grinded down on any foreign object that may and will damage the diamond pads in your kit.
-
#3. remove existing tile or floor coveringsList Item 3
you obviously need to remove any existing tile or floor covering from your terrazzo floors. i recommend using a home depot rented power floor scraper. this machine is easy to use and with proper use will easily remove all types of floor covering, ceramic, vinyl, laminate, rotten carpet, any solid matter!. it also works magic on removing thinset residue under the tiles. if you are removing vinyl tile cut slits in your vinyl floor and use henry brand adhesive remover during the power scraper process.
-
#4. remove residues, degrease, strip and rinseList Item 4
you must remove all coatings and residues that are on your floors before starting the diamond polishing process. all thinset, adhesive residues, paint overspray or droplets, sealers, waxes etc,, it all has to be removed first! you have to start the diamond polishing on a clean, obstruction free floor! use hot water (if possible) and commercial striper with a black striping pad and your rented floor machine and shop vac to remove your residues, grease, grime and surface matter. if you have adhesive residue use "henry" brand adhesive residue remover available at home depot.
-
#5. caulk the entire perimeter (optional)
if your terrazzo is newly uncovered chances are you will have a gap between the bottom of the existing baseboards and your newly exposed floors. if you do not have any baseboards then you will have a gap between the drywall and the floors. either way you should caulk the entire perimeter since you will be using water in the diamond process and want to prevent any future stains from seeping out of the gaps in the years to come from normal cleaning and mopping. so caulk the entire perimeter as a safe practice.
-
#6. remove interior doors (optional)
remove all interior doors including closets and any tracks thats are screwed into the floor. make sure you mark each door and each hinge with masking tape and a name or number. it will be allot easier to re hang the doors if you have marked them first.
-
#7. blue tape and plastic (optional)
cover up and protect the walls, baseboards, appliances, and anything you don't want splashed on. from the floor up about 2 or 3 feet to protect everything from the occasional splashing that will occur during the wet diamond process.
-
#8. protect pathways (optional)
with a roll of brown construction paper and some blue tape you should cover and protect the walkways and paths around the work areas.
-
#9 Start Your DIY Kit
You are ready to buy a diy kit!
if after you have followed all the steps above and you still have ghosting or stains you must try one more step
the test listed below is the best way to keep you from wasting your money on a floor that is unrestorable.
GHOSTING AND STAINS ON WHITE TERRAZZO
The diamond polishing and restoration process does NOT remove old, deep penetrated stains.
it WILL remove the top layer of your existing floor and anything that is a surface related stain, grime etc...
IF YOU HAVE ANY COLOR OTHER THAN WHITE
then you're good to go on purchasing a D.I.Y. Kit. your darker areas will not show up at all after the restoration / polishing
since the process naturally enhances and darkens thus blending the entire floor hiding the discolored areas.
You can now change your dingy white terrazzo into a custom tinted polished floor !
You need to be aware of circumstances that will NOT allow you to restore your floors successfully.
remember most if not all terrazzo floors are going to at least 40 years old! most average 50 to 60 years old.
they have been covered with decades worth of floor coverings from vinyl tiles with black cutback adhesive to
glue down carpeting and don't forget pets doing god knows what on the floor.
I have outlined 2 of the danger areas here, ghosting and penetrated stains.
although very rare if your floor matches these descriptions and you're unable to restore them
it will be easier and less expensive to install new, low cost travertine or any natural stone tiles
from and then polish it yourself with our travertine polishing kit.
Please send me as many pictures as you can of your floors so i can help make a determination
as to if your terrazzo floor is a candidate for restoration and then which Kit you will need.
upload your pictures here
There is a test to see if you can remove the ghosting, penetrated stains, blotchiness, discolorations etc..
our d.i.y. kit starts off with a 50 grit diamond metal bond electroplated grinding disk. it's one of the industry's most aggressive diamond sanding pads. it "cleans" far better than sandpaper, black striping pads, mops, scrub brushes, preasure washers etc.
these diamond pads remove a considerable amount of surface. but it is not a substitution for a good old fashioned diamond grinding with a commercial machine.
before you panic look at the before and after pictures below of terrazzo floors that were cleaned and diamond polished using our kit and nothing else! like i said the first pads are very aggressive and will clean and remove %99 of most anything that is on your floors right now.
If your floors are in really bad shape, especially if there in the white color family, and have ghosting, penetrated stains, blotchy areas or general discolorations that are not removed with an aggresive striping and cleaning then you will need to grind down your floor first.
Rent this machine from home depot and grind down a small area in the worst spot. rinse and dry the area, if your ghosting or stains are gone you can continue grinding down the rest of the floor and proceed to purchase one of our restoration kits.
this machine is actually easier to operate than the floor buffer and costs $60 to rent.
You can also use a hand held sander or grinding tool 50 grit minimum, and apply at least 150 pounds of pressure, (easily done with a human arm) and slowly with small circular motions, then forward and back and side to side, grind down an area with water and striper for only a few seconds to half a minute.
please note: the use of a rented concrete grinder is the best way to prep and or test an area.
If you still see the problem after you do your test area then at least you didn't waste your time and money and can proceed to installing the cheapest ugliest travertine or any natural stone tile and then turn them into the most beautiful highly polished jewelry you can walk on with our travertine (natural stone) polishing kit.
Proud Supplier To The Pentagon!
We service all 50 states!
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho
Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi
Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina
North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee
Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming