Talavera General Inc. provides a full line of terrazzo installation, restoration, refinishing and maintenance services.
Turn your old terrazzo floors that are dull into bright floors that shine make customers, students, and employees happier. This investment towards restoring, refinishing and maintaining your terrazzo floors will make owners happier too! This is an excellent option for schools and educational institutions, commercial office buildings, hotels, and casinos. We also provide professional terrazzo floor installations. With years of experience comes high quality craftsmanship and expert knowledge in the industry. Our projects range anywhere from large scale commercial and industrial projects, to smaller warehouses, garage floors, and residential homes.
If you’re thinking about including terrazzo floors in your new or existing home or business, contact us! We can provide you with a list of terrazzo flooring options and a written estimate.
What is Terrazzo Flooring?
Terrazzo was originally created by Venetian construction workers who mixed marble chips from upscale jobs to design attractive, low-cost flooring in their own living quarters. Today, terrazzo can consist of marble, quartz, granite, recycled glass, recycled porcelain, recycled concrete and metal aggregates, which are mixed with cement or epoxy and polished to produce a seamless surface. Either poured or pre-cast, terrazzo offers designers unlimited flexibility to create stunning designs—as breathtakingly beautiful as they are durable and easy to maintain.
Benefits of Terrazzo Flooring
Cost-effective
During the lifetime of a building, the total cost of maintaining or replacing flooring can multiply as much as 35 times the initial cost of the flooring.
Long-lasting Durability
Terrazzo shows its true colors where durability, longevity and minimal maintenance are critical, making it perfect for high traffic public access buildings such as airports, hospitals, government buildings, and schools. Terrazzo floors have an outstanding record of durability and performance dating back over a thousand years, and these floors will typically last the life of the structure. Properly maintained, a terrazzo floor may never need to be replaced.
Easy to maintain
Clean, safe corridors and indoor air quality are essential. Terrazzo’s non-porous surface resists microbes and moisture accumulation, essential for a mold-free, healthy environment. Both cement and thin set epoxy terrazzo floors have extremely low maintenance costs, and annual stripping and resealing can utilize environmentally friendly water-based products. Because terrazzo flooring is seamless, maintenance is as easy as periodic sweeping, damp mopping and machine cleaning. Damaged or worn terrazzo can usually be matched, repaired, and refurbished at a fraction of the cost of replacing the flooring.
Customization
With unlimited design and color options, terrazzo is an architect’s dream. From elegant geometric patterns, bold graphics and school mascots, terrazzo transforms a simple corridor or entryway into a space of elegance and power. The only limit is your imagination.
Terrazzo Flooring Process
There are certain steps that need to be followed in order for a terrazzo project to be a success. Knowing the process and following the steps will help make it easier to plan for a terrazzo floor.
Floor Prep
Floor prep is critical for the success of any terrazzo project. The concrete surface needs to be mechanically shot blasted or diamond ground to create a strong bond between the terrazzo and concrete. This process allows for a clean surface for the terrazzo to properly adhere to.
Moisture Mitigation Treatment – If required
Prior to any work, the concrete slab must be tested for moisture. If the moisture levels are to high for the specified reading, then a moisture mitigation treatment is required. This treatment is applied over the top of the prepped concrete substrate to prevent moisture from delaminating the terrazzo after installation. Moisture is epoxy terrazzo’s worst enemy and it is critical to treat it if necessary.
Crack Membrane
If cracks in the concrete are present, a flexible membrane can be installed over them to help absorb some horizontal concrete movement. This process can be done with a full coverage membrane, where the entire area is covered, or it can be done where just the cracks are treated.
Design layout
Terrazzo is laid out using zinc or brass divider strips. They help separate different terrazzo colors and help to create complex design patterns. They also are used for expansion joints and transitions to other finishes.
Installation
There are multiple components to a terrazzo mix. Terrazzo mix is a combination of marble or glass aggregates blended together and then mixed with epoxy resin or cement. This mix is then poured out on the floor using a hand or power trowel, then spread evenly at 3/8’’ thick. If multiple colors are specified, each color must be poured separately according to the design. Typically, adjoining colors cannot be poured the same day due to bleed through of the resin. It becomes a highly sophisticated paint by numbers on the floor. It takes about 8 hours for the mix to cure out and harden before walking on it.
Grind
After the terrazzo is poured and cured, then it can be ground. This involves using a floor machine with diamond plated grinding pads that rotate. There are different grits of diamonds used that take the floor from a rough to a smooth surface.
Grout
Once the floor has been rough ground it needs to be grouted. There will be micro scratches and pinholes present in the surface that will need to be filled in. The grout is the same resin color as the mix and it is troweled over the floor to fill in any pinholes.
Polish
The terrazzo floor can be polished when the grout has cured. This involves the same floor machine using resin bonded pads and water. Polishing removes and scratches that are left and leaves the floor near completion.
Seal
The final step is to seal the floor with an acrylic water based sealer. The sealer helps give the floor extra protection and gives it the finishing shine.