How to Restore Terrazzo Floors _ Ask This Old House

**The Art of Restoring a Tazo Floor: A Step-by-Step Guide**

Restoring a Tazo floor is a meticulous process that requires patience, skill, and the right equipment. In this article, we will walk through the entire journey of transforming a worn-out Tazo floor into a stunning, polished surface using the full transcription of the video as our guide.

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### **Introduction to the Restoration Process**

The restoration of a Tazo floor begins with understanding the material you are working with. Tazo floors are known for their durability and beauty, but over time, they can become worn, stained, or damaged. The process involves grinding down the top layers of the floor to reveal the fresh, untouched material beneath. This is similar to peeling the skin of an onion—each layer reveals a new level of beauty.

The equipment used in this process is crucial. The video highlights the actual machinery and tools employed by professionals to achieve the desired results. From metal honing discs to planetary polishing machines, every tool has its role in the transformation.

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### **The Grading Process: From 30-Grit to 3500-Grit**

The restoration process begins with a 30-grit metal honing disc. This is a very aggressive grit that is used to start the grinding process. It is similar to sanding wood, as it removes the top layers of material while preserving the solid structure beneath. The goal is to create a new floor by removing the damaged or stained areas.

The process involves 10 different stages of grinding, starting with coarse grits and moving up to finer grits. Each stage removes imperfections and prepares the floor for the next level of finishing. By the end of the process, the floor will be polished to a 3500-grit finish, which is the finest grit used in this process.

The machine used for grinding weighs 800 pounds, with a water reservoir attached to it. Water is released as needed through a lever controlled by the operator. Wet grinding is preferred over dry grinding because it cuts deeper into the material and keeps dust levels low. The video emphasizes that while dry grinding is possible, wet grinding is more effective for removing paste wax and achieving a shinier finish.

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### **The Importance of Water in the Process**

Water plays a critical role in the wet grinding process. It cools down the machine, prevents overheating, and helps remove dust from the floor. The video shows that quite a bit of water is used during this stage, which will need to be cleaned up afterward.

Mike, one of the professionals featured in the video, passes over the floor multiple times in both East-West and North-South directions. He overlaps his grinding passes to ensure the floor is ground evenly. This method ensures that the floor is smooth and level after each pass.

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### **Handling Edges and Holes**

One challenge in restoring a Tazo floor is dealing with edges that the machine cannot reach. In such cases, hand grinding becomes necessary. The professionals use metal honing discs and resin diamonds to grind the edges manually, ensuring they are even and smooth.

Another issue that may arise during the restoration process is holes left behind by nails or other fasteners. These holes can be caused when the homeowner removes carpeting or other materials attached to the floor. To address this, the professionals use a chipping hammer to enlarge the holes slightly. They then apply a polyester stone adhesive mixed with a cream hardener to create a patch.

The artistry comes in when blending these patches seamlessly into the surrounding floor. The professionals have access to marble chips that match the color of the Tazo floor. These chips are added to the adhesive in the correct proportion to ensure the patch blends perfectly with the background.

Once the patch is applied, it is sanded down using 40-grit sandpaper, then smoothed out with 120-grit sandpaper. The final step involves wetting the floor and using resin diamonds to blend the patches further.

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### **Polishing the Floor**

After completing the grinding process, the next step is polishing. A planetary polishing machine is used for this stage. This machine features a 19-inch disc that turns in one direction while smaller 8-inch discs turn in the opposite direction. The combination of these movements creates a highly effective polishing action.

The polishing process involves applying a compound polish mixed with water to create a slurry. This slurry is worked into the floor using the polishing machine, which is passed over the surface multiple times (in this case, 20 passes per row). The result is a shiny, durable finish that will last for many years.

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### **Conclusion**

The restoration of a Tazo floor is a labor-intensive process that requires precision and care. From the initial grinding stages to the final polishing, every step is crucial in achieving a beautiful, long-lasting result. The professionals featured in the video demonstrate their expertise by handling challenges such as uneven edges and holes with skill and artistry.

The end result is a transformed floor that looks like new, with a shine that will last for years to come. As one of the professionals remarks, "This is beyond saving—it's beyond anything I could have imagined."

If you ever find yourself wondering whether your dingy Tazo floors can be saved, the answer is a resounding yes. With the right equipment and expertise, even the most damaged floors can be restored to their former glory.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwell guys this is the actual equipment that we're going to be using to grind the Tazo floor this is an actual piece taken out of the kitchen and you can see the aggregate goes all the way through the floor so what we do is start out with a 30- grit metal honing disc it's very similar to sanding wood so because we've got solid material here so long as we just sand down the good material we've got ourselves a new floor it produces a brand new floor it's like peeling the skin of an onion so we start out with 30 grit right here and we're going to go through 10 stages and we're going to wind up with 3500 grit and this is the finest grit that we're going to use 10 different grits absolutely all right and so this is very aggressive to start absolutely and we're going to add weight at the beginning and we're going to take off the weight in stages so the higher the Grits we're going to take off the weight so we're going to produce a shinier finish all right I bet you the venetians wish they had one of these they would have loved it okay what Mike is doing right now he's wetting the floor down and we're going to do a wet grinding process the reason why we like to go with a wet grinding process is it cuts the trazo even deeper probably keeps the dust down a little bit too keeps the dust down and we're going to take off the floor a little bit more aggressively see how aggressive it is it's making a grinding sound and it's taking off those top layers how heavy is the machine with the weights on it's 800 lb there's a water reservoir on the machine and Mike he has a lever that he releases the water as he needs it you can actually see there's quite a bit of water on the floor so that's going to all have to be cleaned up could you do this without the water we could do it dry also but it's not as aggressive we'd like to wet grind these old floors because we could take off the paste wax and the wax uh in my opinion better wet grinding is always better than dry grinding it's more aggressive what Mike is doing right now he's passing over the floor he's going to go four times in an East West Direction then he's going to go four times in a north south Direction and he's overlapping as he's grinding to keep the floor nice and level that will ensure that the floor is ground evenly well guys look what we have here the machine wasn't able to reach to the edge so what we're going to have to do is we're going to have to hand grind all these edges with metal honing discs and resin diamonds and this will produce a nice even Edge and it'll lighten up we're going to take the stain out in the next step you can really tell the difference already so we're on to the next grit we're on to the next Grit wow after just two passes it looks incredible but this is only the 30 and 40 grits we have eight more passes to make in this room but we completed the grinding up to 3500 grit in the other room come on let me show you guys here we are in the living room this is after 10 stages of diamond grinding I am so impressed at how far this floor has come just keeps getting better I'm glad that you're happy but we're not done we still have to polish and seal the floor but I want to show you something this house had wall to--all Carpeting and it was held down by these TX strips right and so the idea here is that you've actually got these tacks all along will grab the carpet but this strip is installed to the floor using these nails every 5 in or so and it usually is around the perimeter of the room around the perimeter room and there was a wall here so so there is now holes now the way these holes were created was the homeowner pulls out the wood and the nails with it creates a hole so what we ask that the homeowner just leave these tag strips so we can cut the wood away from the nail and then we're going to grind the nail flush to the floor so we don't create this hole here and when he says home on a Jesse I think he's talking about you right he is I used a hammer to remove them all right but we can handle these holes right we can repair them all right let's do a patch using a chipping hammer Junior enlarges the holes to accept the patch the base of our patch is a polyester Stone adhesive Jeff adds cream hardener to harden the adhesive now here's where the Artistry comes in Jeff has marble chips that match the colors of the floor he adds the correct proportion of marble chips to the adhesive to blend to the background of the floor and so why not patch these holes before you grind the floor so that we can see what the background actually looks like first chef uses 40 grit sandpaper and it takes down the patch rather aggressively then he goes up to 120 grit and Smooths it out some more Jeff wets the floor with a sponge and he uses resin diamonds to blend the patches to the background of the floor well Jesse can you find those patches that we made for you uh you're going to have to give me a few minutes I guess that's the point right it's not supposed to see them exactly nice job okay now we're going to go from here to polishing the floor and this is the equipment we're going to use this is a planetary polishing machine notice how the discs turn the 19-in place turns in a circle while the uh smaller disc the 8 in discs turn in the opposite Direction at the same time then we come over here and we're going to show you this is a compound polish it's acid based we apply it to the floor mix it with water and we polish away now the water is fed from this tank onto the floor and we create a slurry and polish the floor out all right that's a lot of back and forth with the machine yes he passes over the floor 20 times in each row you can really see that shine coming through now yeah the acid is literally burning the shine into the Tazo Jesse you were wondering if you could even save your dingy Tazo floors and it looks to me like Frank and his crew have answered your question this is beyond saving this is beyond anything I could have imagined yeah and the shine's going to last for many years to comewell guys this is the actual equipment that we're going to be using to grind the Tazo floor this is an actual piece taken out of the kitchen and you can see the aggregate goes all the way through the floor so what we do is start out with a 30- grit metal honing disc it's very similar to sanding wood so because we've got solid material here so long as we just sand down the good material we've got ourselves a new floor it produces a brand new floor it's like peeling the skin of an onion so we start out with 30 grit right here and we're going to go through 10 stages and we're going to wind up with 3500 grit and this is the finest grit that we're going to use 10 different grits absolutely all right and so this is very aggressive to start absolutely and we're going to add weight at the beginning and we're going to take off the weight in stages so the higher the Grits we're going to take off the weight so we're going to produce a shinier finish all right I bet you the venetians wish they had one of these they would have loved it okay what Mike is doing right now he's wetting the floor down and we're going to do a wet grinding process the reason why we like to go with a wet grinding process is it cuts the trazo even deeper probably keeps the dust down a little bit too keeps the dust down and we're going to take off the floor a little bit more aggressively see how aggressive it is it's making a grinding sound and it's taking off those top layers how heavy is the machine with the weights on it's 800 lb there's a water reservoir on the machine and Mike he has a lever that he releases the water as he needs it you can actually see there's quite a bit of water on the floor so that's going to all have to be cleaned up could you do this without the water we could do it dry also but it's not as aggressive we'd like to wet grind these old floors because we could take off the paste wax and the wax uh in my opinion better wet grinding is always better than dry grinding it's more aggressive what Mike is doing right now he's passing over the floor he's going to go four times in an East West Direction then he's going to go four times in a north south Direction and he's overlapping as he's grinding to keep the floor nice and level that will ensure that the floor is ground evenly well guys look what we have here the machine wasn't able to reach to the edge so what we're going to have to do is we're going to have to hand grind all these edges with metal honing discs and resin diamonds and this will produce a nice even Edge and it'll lighten up we're going to take the stain out in the next step you can really tell the difference already so we're on to the next grit we're on to the next Grit wow after just two passes it looks incredible but this is only the 30 and 40 grits we have eight more passes to make in this room but we completed the grinding up to 3500 grit in the other room come on let me show you guys here we are in the living room this is after 10 stages of diamond grinding I am so impressed at how far this floor has come just keeps getting better I'm glad that you're happy but we're not done we still have to polish and seal the floor but I want to show you something this house had wall to--all Carpeting and it was held down by these TX strips right and so the idea here is that you've actually got these tacks all along will grab the carpet but this strip is installed to the floor using these nails every 5 in or so and it usually is around the perimeter of the room around the perimeter room and there was a wall here so so there is now holes now the way these holes were created was the homeowner pulls out the wood and the nails with it creates a hole so what we ask that the homeowner just leave these tag strips so we can cut the wood away from the nail and then we're going to grind the nail flush to the floor so we don't create this hole here and when he says home on a Jesse I think he's talking about you right he is I used a hammer to remove them all right but we can handle these holes right we can repair them all right let's do a patch using a chipping hammer Junior enlarges the holes to accept the patch the base of our patch is a polyester Stone adhesive Jeff adds cream hardener to harden the adhesive now here's where the Artistry comes in Jeff has marble chips that match the colors of the floor he adds the correct proportion of marble chips to the adhesive to blend to the background of the floor and so why not patch these holes before you grind the floor so that we can see what the background actually looks like first chef uses 40 grit sandpaper and it takes down the patch rather aggressively then he goes up to 120 grit and Smooths it out some more Jeff wets the floor with a sponge and he uses resin diamonds to blend the patches to the background of the floor well Jesse can you find those patches that we made for you uh you're going to have to give me a few minutes I guess that's the point right it's not supposed to see them exactly nice job okay now we're going to go from here to polishing the floor and this is the equipment we're going to use this is a planetary polishing machine notice how the discs turn the 19-in place turns in a circle while the uh smaller disc the 8 in discs turn in the opposite Direction at the same time then we come over here and we're going to show you this is a compound polish it's acid based we apply it to the floor mix it with water and we polish away now the water is fed from this tank onto the floor and we create a slurry and polish the floor out all right that's a lot of back and forth with the machine yes he passes over the floor 20 times in each row you can really see that shine coming through now yeah the acid is literally burning the shine into the Tazo Jesse you were wondering if you could even save your dingy Tazo floors and it looks to me like Frank and his crew have answered your question this is beyond saving this is beyond anything I could have imagined yeah and the shine's going to last for many years to come\n"