Terrazzo Restoration: Holes and Chips in Terrazzo Partitions and Flooring

One of the most common issues after the normal wear and tear of terrazzo partitions and flooring would be the holes and chips on the edges or on the surface. Since terrazzo is normally composed of decorative chips of marble, getting one of those “small holes” on the surface can lead to a much faster degradation of the flooring. This is where restoration is crucial.

insitu terrazzo

When providing prices for restoring chip and holes for floorings, many customers would think this is an easy “fill-in” process which they could get for free from any terrazzo company in Sydney or any parts of Australia. Truth of the matter is, filling a small hole in Terrazzo takes as much time and effort as laying out the whole terrazzo partition. Many companies would simply fill the hole with a white binder, level it, let it dry and come back with color markers / paint to match the existing color of the rest of the terrazzo.   

Terrazzo Australian Marble does more than just filling with a white binder and coloring it with paint. We color the binder to match the cement we used to begin with. We dedicate a lot of time preparing for the hole to be filled than most of the terrazzo suppliers in the market. Our technicians are specifically trained to identify the pigment properly in order to get a great match to the existing terrazzo. Since our terrazzos are made of hundreds of different types and sizes of stones, we make sure that our technicians have the eye to match the existing material, and level the floor properly after filling the hole or chip.    

For terrazzo at residential and home structures, a lot of the questions raised are for repairing chips due to carpeting. Indeed, there are several ways to fill holes and chips in terrazzo flooring. But due to cost-cutting of suppliers or restorers, and to meet the expectations of homeowners, terrazzo companies end up patching with white binders and painting the stone after. Painted stone against the perfect finish of terrazzo across the room is highly noticeable and degrades the overall value of the flooring.  Our technicians discuss this outcome to the homeowner even before implementing the solution. There are some homeowners who would agree to this process, but as much as possible we do not implement this approach. It is a waste of money to “repair” and restore terrazzo with a substandard approach, as this same chip and hole can be the cause of a much greater damage in the future. It is ideal to start with a UV stable white epoxy and match the pigment as closely as we can to the cement. We would then add rocks to match the stones in the floor. After which, we then fill the hole further to level the to the floor and grind it flat once it’s settled. This approach gives the best result possible, as it matches to around 80% to 90% of the original flooring or partition.  

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