© 2012 Torino Mosaic
5178 Keller Road
Hamburg, NY 14075
Polished Terrazzo
Benefits of transitioning to a honed/polished natural stone
or terrazzo floor program.
Be Proactive, Not Reactive with the Go Green revolution.
Choosing to transition to a polished terrazzo floor is a
major step for any institution in advancing towards
sustainability and Green Initiatives.
A polished terrazzo floor helps in the following ways:
1.
Reduces consumption of unneeded chemical material (no more chemical waxes and strippers).
2.
Improves the indoor air quality by eliminating a major source of indoor volatile organic compounds
and contaminants, therefore helping to protect building occupants' health and safety.
3.
Eliminates the detrimental environmental impact of dumping used harmful chemicals down the drain.
4.
Reduces long term maintenance costs and has one of the lowest lifetime costs of any floor.
5.
Maintains a shine and appearance much longer than any floor coated with finish.
6.
Allows floor to "breath" which allows water moisture to evaporate from the floor.
2.
Helps to improve indoor air quality, eliminates harmful chemicals from the school environment,
reduces chemical disposal to the environment. A polished natural stone or terrazzo floor is completely
wax/finish free. The shine and appearance is accomplished by honing the stone with a very fine diamond
abrasive. The finished appearance has no surface wax or finish. Care and maintenance of the naturally polished
floor is easier and less intensive then what is required of a wax-n-
strip floor.
3.
Appearance and safety. A polished terrazzo floor will look
better and keep its beauty and shine much longer than a floor that is
coated with a wax. Terrazzo floors that are coated with waxes and
sealers hold onto dirt and grime and allow the substances to wear
through to the floor below. Repeated traffic over the top of the fixed
dirt and grime that is held in place by the coatings will grind into the
terrazzo and wear it down. A surface that is naturally polished with
no surface wax or finish doesn't hold onto dirt and grime. Dust
mopping easily removes surface contaminants and doesn't allow
them to stay in place and cause damage to the terrazzo. The
polished natural stone and terrazzo floors exceed the slip resistance
recommendations of OSHA and ADA.
4.
Long Term Maintenance Cost. Polished terrazzo floors have a lower long term maintenance cost when
compared to a waxed terrazzo floor. In fact, polished terrazzo has the lowest long term maintenance cost of
almost all other flooring options. The recommended maintenance requirements of a polished terrazzo floor are
dust mopping frequently where needed, wet mopping (or auto scrubbing) with a neutral cleaner and water once a
day or as needed, and dry buffing with a white or red buff pad weekly or as needed. These cleaning requirements
are much lower than the cleaning requirements of a waxed terrazzo floor and therefore a significant amount of
man-hours are saved in cleaning costs. Additional savings are realized because the school doesn't need to buy
the expensive waxes and sealers that it had been using.
5.
Initial Terrazzo polishing Costs: The price for the initial honing and polishing of terrazzo may seem costly
if you assume that you have to incur those costs every year. The truth is that the polished terrazzo surfaces can
and in most cases will maintain their polished appearance for several years. Over time the polished terrazzo floor
appearance will gradually degrade depending on the quality of daily maintenance on the floor. When it is deemed
necessary to re-polish certain areas, the cost will be a fraction of the initial cost to restore the floor. Providing walk
off mats at all entranceway areas to catch dirt and debris will minimize the polished floor degradation in those
areas. An established maintenance program to sweep away dirt and debris frequently will extend the life of the
polished shine of the terrazzo floor.
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Polished Terrazzo
Commercial
