shu246

have 1960's vintage house in far south texas. nice polished (white/cream) terrazzo floor in one of the major living area. wall-to-wall carpet in other.

we had deduced that a previous owner had knocked out walls to make one large master bedroom out of two bedrooms and a short stretch of hall.

now ripping out detested carpeting to install porcelain floor tile. find the two above mentioned bedrooms have polished terrazzo. plan B: forget tile in the bedrooms; keep the terrazzo.

however the short stretch of hall, about 4 x 6 ft, is bare concrete at a depth of 0 to 1/8 inch below the terrazzo.

what can we economically do that will give a close visual, textural, and hardness match in this area to the terrazzo?

bethany14

I had to look up terrazzo
Apparently you can mix and pour this yourself. It sounds simple enough:
“Terrazzo consists of marble, granite, onyx or glass chips in portland cement, modified portland cement or resinous matrix. The terrazzo is poured, cured, ground and polished. Typically used as a finish for floors, stairs or walls, Terrazzo can be poured in place or precast.” per http://www.ntma.com/05_what_is_terrazzo.php
So, what kind of chips are in your existing terrazzo?

glennjanie

Hi Shu:
I think terazzo is above the relm of DIY. I would try to find someone in the area that can do it for you. No-one can match the existing floor so I would go with a slight contrast and make it look like what it is; a different piece of floor. If you can't find a terazzo company you might try cultrued marble; have an oversize slab made and cut to fit (it saws fairly easy with a masonry blade). The thickness will probably be 1/2" or morre but a sander can bevel the edge and polish it back to original appearance. As you can see, it ain't going to be fun either way. I wish you the best with it.
Glenn

shu246

thanks.

the available depth (near flush to max of about 1/8 inch) does not lend itself to a marble or granite inlay.

this is a nice house, but not by any stretch a mansion deserving of restoration to original specs at any cost. (brick veneer over concrete block walls for the exterior, all interior walls of concrete block; nice to have in an area of termites and rare but possible flooding from hurricanes. cathedral ceiling of tongue-and-groove 2x6, and 42 ft of near continuous plate glass windows in the 'public' area of the house. attractively positioned on 6 acres.)

the best we have come up with so far is to:
..square off the offending area with a concrete saw;
..fill to level with thinset mortar;
..finish with epoxy paint of a creme color.

if we could find out more about terrazzo, get hold of the right tools and materials, and thought the dust raised by polishing would be manageable, we might try that.