FlexPAC Provides 3 Possible Solutions to Terrazzo Flooring Overhaul

Executive Summary

A high school Head Custodian struggled with keeping the school floor shine. The school had a terrazzo floor, which hadn’t been completely stripped in 50 years. This left the floor looking yellow-ish and needed a complete overhaul. FlexPAC came in and found a solution that allowed the school floor to have a complete refresh, leaving both the Custodian and the Superintendent satisfied.

Previous Challenges

The Head Custodian of a high school was worried about the task of making the school’s terrazzo floors ‘shine like new’. This terrazzo floor hadn’t been completely stripped in 50 years. Over the summers, the floor was scrubbed and recoated which resulted in yellow finish buildup along edges and doorways. Overall, the floors have a yellow-ish look to it despite the shine. The Custodian enlisted in help from FlexPAC to find a solution for the floors.

FlexPAC’s Solution

Two of FlexPAC’s solution providers visited the school to demo three possible solutions. When they arrived, the Custodian had previously stripped the floors. The demo area was 12′ wide x 20′ long with a 4′ wide metal spacer. FlexPAC’s Solutions Providers wanted to present several solutions to the school system, so they could decide on the preferred way to shine the flooring.

On section one, they started with a one cut diamond pad with water and then used paste combined with a white polish pad to work it into the floor.

On the second section, FlexPAC used the 3M diamond pads system (gold 6 passes, red passes and blue 6 passes) with water to grind the terrazzo to a smooth result. They rinsed the floor with water and a neutral cleaner, burnished, dust mopped, and added the first coat of 3M Floor Protector. They then let it dry, burnished again with the diamond pad, dusted with with a disposable duster, and put on second and final coat of floor protector.

In the third section, two coats of Terra Glaze were put down as sealer and additional three coats of finish. A demo of a NSS 2500RPM burnisher was tested that day also. Of the solutions provided, the Superintendent of the school system decided that the 3M Floor Protector gave them the results he wanted. 

Results

At the end of the testing period, they still had an additional 12,000 square feet of terrazzo floor to do using the same procedure. The terrazzo floor now looks brand new, leaving the Superintendent and the Custodian happy.