Hi
I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the following
piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?

Thanks in advance


Floor Maintainer
CLARKE(R) AMERICAN SANDERS
Safety Requirements: Always wear eye and ear protection and breathing
mask. See operator's manual.

Versatile polisher uses a range of pads to scrub, scour and buff hard
surfaces
Sands decks with grit-brush attachment
Safety handle reduces operator fatigue
Dual independent micro-switches reduce down time
Non-marking, vinyl bumper protects walls and furniture

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:31:40 -0800 (PST), ralph
wrote:

Hi
I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the following
piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?

Thanks in advance

Can't answer the polish question. If this carpet has tack-strip nailed
into the Terrazzo - you need to repair the nail holes before polish.

Search - terrazzo maintenance.

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 16:06:04 -0800, "Cshenk"
wrote:


"ralph" wrote

I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the following

Lovely stuff when treated right.

piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?

First off, you do not want a sander. Start instead with a floor buffer with
those round brushes of sort of hard hair looking stuff.

Terrazo is very hard to damage the coating of (unless you sand it off) so I
think it's likely you can get the glue off then just polish with a buffing
pad.

Depending on what you find in the way of 'glue' (if any, might just be dirt)
you can use some pretty harsh chemicals on terrazo as long as you dont add
anything that will scratch it (like Comet type cleansers).

If it's already been scratched, dont panic. They can repolish it or put a
new layer of whatever the heck the stuff was on ours back in Florida. You
can also just wax it up nice.

I remember once a year, Mom used to bleach ours. She'd open all the
windows, put on her really ratty clothes and rubber boots, then just pour
straight bleach on'em g. Then we'd vacate the house and go grocery
shopping or something (Mom would swap clothes in the laundry room at the
foot of the garage) for a few hours, then come back and mop it all up.


Good thing your mom used rubber boots. Bleach and water on terrazzo
became our "skating rink", as kids doing chores. It was fun until I
landed against the wall and knocked a big hole in the sheet rock (LOL)

On Nov 18, 3:42 pm, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:31:40 -0800 (PST), ralph
wrote:

Hi
I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the following
piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?

Thanks in advance

Can't answer the polish question. If this carpet has tack-strip nailed
into the Terrazzo - you need to repair the nail holes before polish.

Search - terrazzo maintenance.




What is a good materal to use to repair the tack strip holes ?

R

That is really a question that is subject to the color of the
matrix. Materials that work well:
ceramic tile grout
Durham's Rock Hard water putty
White Portland and fine sand

You might be able to randomly patch the holes with a small
assortment of colors so that the result is blended in the floor as
much as possible. Make sure to seal the entire floor once you get
it repaired and cleaned. A well polished terrazzo floor is
impressive.

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"ralph" wrote in message
...
On Nov 18, 3:42 pm, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:31:40 -0800 (PST), ralph

wrote:

Hi
I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo
flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the
carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the
following
piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish
the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?

Thanks in advance

Can't answer the polish question. If this carpet has tack-strip
nailed
into the Terrazzo - you need to repair the nail holes before
polish.

Search - terrazzo maintenance.




What is a good materal to use to repair the tack strip holes ?

R

"ralph" wrote

I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the following

Lovely stuff when treated right.

piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?

First off, you do not want a sander. Start instead with a floor buffer with
those round brushes of sort of hard hair looking stuff.

Terrazo is very hard to damage the coating of (unless you sand it off) so I
think it's likely you can get the glue off then just polish with a buffing
pad.

Depending on what you find in the way of 'glue' (if any, might just be dirt)
you can use some pretty harsh chemicals on terrazo as long as you dont add
anything that will scratch it (like Comet type cleansers).

If it's already been scratched, dont panic. They can repolish it or put a
new layer of whatever the heck the stuff was on ours back in Florida. You
can also just wax it up nice.

I remember once a year, Mom used to bleach ours. She'd open all the
windows, put on her really ratty clothes and rubber boots, then just pour
straight bleach on'em g. Then we'd vacate the house and go grocery
shopping or something (Mom would swap clothes in the laundry room at the
foot of the garage) for a few hours, then come back and mop it all up.

ralph wrote:

Hi
I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the following
piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?

Thanks in advance


Floor Maintainer
CLARKE(R) AMERICAN SANDERS
Safety Requirements: Always wear eye and ear protection and breathing
mask. See operator's manual.

Versatile polisher uses a range of pads to scrub, scour and buff hard
surfaces
Sands decks with grit-brush attachment
Safety handle reduces operator fatigue
Dual independent micro-switches reduce down time
Non-marking, vinyl bumper protects walls and furniture



I know nothing about the machine. HD had a three-step
cleaner/sealer/polish for terazzo that we used. Blue scrubber with the
cleaner and lots of elbow grease, on hands and knees. Once cleaned and
rinsed, apply sealer. Then spread on two coats of the polish. Ours, 40
y/o, looked beautiful. Polish lasts a long time, about 2 yrs. Damp mop
occ. I gave away the original stuff, and have used other brands of
cleaner and polish, which work very well and are specific for terazzo.

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 14:40:40 -0800 (PST), ralph
wrote:

On Nov 18, 3:42 pm, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:31:40 -0800 (PST), ralph
wrote:

Hi
I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the following
piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?

Thanks in advance

Can't answer the polish question. If this carpet has tack-strip nailed
into the Terrazzo - you need to repair the nail holes before polish.

Search - terrazzo maintenance.

What is a good materal to use to repair the tack strip holes ?

R

I really don't have an answer. 40's - 60's Terrazzo; I doubt you find
a Terrazzo worker / finisher in Florida.

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:06:15 -0800, "Cshenk"
wrote:


"Oren" wrote, "Cshenk"
wrote:

I remember once a year, Mom used to bleach ours. She'd open all the
windows, put on her really ratty clothes and rubber boots, then just pour
straight bleach on'em g. Then we'd vacate the house and go grocery
shopping or something (Mom would swap clothes in the laundry room at the
foot of the garage) for a few hours, then come back and mop it all up.


Good thing your mom used rubber boots. Bleach and water on terrazzo
became our "skating rink", as kids doing chores. It was fun until I
landed against the wall and knocked a big hole in the sheet rock (LOL)

Hehe Ya got that right! Mom never let s in there til it was all cleaned up.


Dang! We never let mom in until we cleaned up :-))

"Oren" wrote, "Cshenk"
wrote:

I remember once a year, Mom used to bleach ours. She'd open all the
windows, put on her really ratty clothes and rubber boots, then just pour
straight bleach on'em g. Then we'd vacate the house and go grocery
shopping or something (Mom would swap clothes in the laundry room at the
foot of the garage) for a few hours, then come back and mop it all up.


Good thing your mom used rubber boots. Bleach and water on terrazzo
became our "skating rink", as kids doing chores. It was fun until I
landed against the wall and knocked a big hole in the sheet rock (LOL)

Hehe Ya got that right! Mom never let s in there til it was all cleaned up.

ralph wrote:

On Nov 18, 3:42 pm, Oren wrote:


On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:31:40 -0800 (PST), ralph
wrote:



Hi
I have an Florida house built in the 1940's with Terrazo flooring but
has been covered with carpet. I am looking a taking off the carpet and
polishing the terrazzo. My question is, Home depot has the following
piece of equipment that I can rent. Can it be used to polish the
flooring and why type of pads do you recommend to use?


Thanks in advance


Can't answer the polish question. If this carpet has tack-strip nailed
into the Terrazzo - you need to repair the nail holes before polish.

Search - terrazzo maintenance.






What is a good materal to use to repair the tack strip holes ?

R


I don't know what the pro's use, but grout would probably work fine.
There are also art materials that can be mixed to your color of choice
and dry hard....acryllic paint with medium. Probably available matte or
glossy. I love terazzo, and our condo is the only one in our building
that isn't tiled over the terazzo. Kitchen, baths and hallway. Tough
stuff.

clipped

Good thing your mom used rubber boots. Bleach and water on terrazzo
became our "skating rink", as kids doing chores. It was fun until I
landed against the wall and knocked a big hole in the sheet rock (LOL)


For sure! I did that the other morning on my way to the coffee
pot......water leak in adjoining laundry room, puddle on floor.

Full strength bleach? What/who was she trying to kill? The cleaners I
have used, specific for terazzo, stress being "neutral" pH. Don't know
how important that is, but I don't see any purpose in using that. A
tough of bleach to sanitize the mop is all I need.

"Norminn" wrote

Good thing your mom used rubber boots. Bleach and water on terrazzo
became our "skating rink", as kids doing chores. It was fun until I
landed against the wall and knocked a big hole in the sheet rock (LOL)

Full strength bleach? What/who was she trying to kill? The cleaners I
have used, specific for terazzo, stress being "neutral" pH. Don't know
how important that is, but I don't see any purpose in using that. A tough
of bleach to sanitize the mop is all I need.

Dunno, also I was pretty young then so maybe she mixed it with some water.
Mostly she was trying to bleach it white. Worked is all I really recall.

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:28:15 -0800, "Cshenk"
wrote:


"Norminn" wrote

Good thing your mom used rubber boots. Bleach and water on terrazzo
became our "skating rink", as kids doing chores. It was fun until I
landed against the wall and knocked a big hole in the sheet rock (LOL)

Full strength bleach? What/who was she trying to kill? The cleaners I
have used, specific for terazzo, stress being "neutral" pH. Don't know
how important that is, but I don't see any purpose in using that. A tough
of bleach to sanitize the mop is all I need.

Dunno, also I was pretty young then so maybe she mixed it with some water.
Mostly she was trying to bleach it white. Worked is all I really recall.


Our instructions from Mom was a warm pale of water, a cup or so of
bleach mixed, scrub the floor a bit and mop up with fresh warm rinse
water.