Bought a house last year, whole house is Terrazo...love it. It shows signs of use but not bad for the 65 years the terrazzo has been lived on.

Anyhow, I'm in the beginning stages of planning a kitchen renovation, and with that renovation I think I want to have the floors in the kitchen and adjacent living room refinished. I asked a few friends who had their terrazzo floors about 10 years ago and the price was fucking stupid.

I'm pretty handy, can I rent one of those big floor polishers from HD and buy some pads and chemicals and do this on my own? Anyone experienced in this task?

Please consider leaving the floor under the refrigerator, dish washer and washing machine flat tile.

It makes leveling and stabilizing the appliances 99% easier.

Bendable, the entire floor is a poured concrete, maybe you're thinking travertine?

One of my employees is a union terrazzo installer. I’ll see him later this afternoon and ask him.

Is that the wavy stuff that all over
Phoenix and considered
So. west style ?

If my Italian grandfather was still alive he would be able to give you his expert opinion.
He was trained in Italy as a young man and came to the US in his 20’s where he specialized in Terrazzo. In fact, he finished the main entrance in the New York City Hall.

I also have 2 of his tables and I too would be interested in seeing if it’s possible to re-polish them…

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Is that the wavy stuff that all over
Phoenix and considered
So. west style ?

I believe you’re thinking of Saltillo, a handmade red unglazed tile, or Talavera, a glazed decorative tile from Mexico

This message has been edited. Last edited by: arfmel, March 07, 2025 07:44 PM

This is the right way to do a Terrazzo restoration and why the price is fucking stupid...



Or you can just clean & polish it.

pace40,

Very cool, thanks for posting that.

I would try renting a floor buffer with a stripping pad and some chemical floor stripping solution. Then you can put on a sealant, buff with a finer pad and finally apply wax and buff with a polishing pad.

Make sure to rinse the floor thoroughly between steps , especially after stripping.

Saltio tile.
You are correct,
Delivery guys nightmare.

I had to go back to four or five houses per year to dick around with appliances.

P.i.m.a.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:
pace40,

Very cool, thanks for posting that.

You're welcome. When I was a kid, my uncle was a Terrazzo contractor and would let me tag along sometimes. His floor grinder's name was Gabrielle. He named it after his wife (Aunt Gabby). He said it made the same sound she did when she was mad at him.

I remember the first time he taught me to use it (on concrete, not finished Terrazzo). Threw me around like a toothpick. I got pretty good with it after some practice, though.

Use water.

I used a concrete floor grinder without water once and had all the openings into the room except the ones on each end taped off with visqueen to keep the dust out of the rest of the house. A big fan at one end of the room sucked fresh air in and blew the dust out the other end.

It worked so well one of my neighbors called the fire department because they thought the dust plume was smoke. Imagine my surprise when a masked figure appeared through the dust cloud.

My guy said it depends on how bad the floors are. Somebody had already posted the This Old House video by time I saw him. He said maybe if the floors were that bad you'd need to go through all of that, but said that sanding them 100/200/400 and resealing them may also be a possibility. Grit up to 1000 or more if you want more of a mirror like surface.

They use Plaza sealer.