Terrazzo Restoration, Epoxy Coatings and Concrete Polishing by SafeDry, 877-824-0501

Dispelling Some Terrazzo Restoration Myths | Terrazzo Restoration

2012-01-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

Terrazzo is making is great comeback.
Dispelling Some Terrazzo Restoration Myths Terrazzo Restoration

sTerrazzo Restoration | Safedry's Blog

2012-01-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

Terrazzo Restoration Safedry's Blog
This blog was just updated. Check it out.

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2012-01-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

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1968 Terrazzo Floor Restored by SafeDry

2011-11-27T07:43:00.001-08:00

http://www.SafeDry.com

877-824-0501

This article will deal with the restoration of a 1970 terrazzo floor. Many terrazzo floors from 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971 look very similar to this floor. Many years ago we struggled with these floors. This era of terrazzo floors was not always of the same quality as previous years. Most terrazzo restoration systems have a hard time getting good results from these floors. It is hard to get a highly polished shine and these floors tend to be thinner then their predecessors. This can cause an uneven look and lines of marble loss in the floors.

Today our terrazzo floor restoration system makes these floors more flat, and brings these floors to a highly polished shine. When a floor has a high shine it can hide many flaws. Our planetary floor grinding and polishing system gives our floors a brilliant shine and helps make the floor more flat. In fact, our system produces the flattest floors in the home terrazzo restoration business. Our process uses wet and dry diamond polishing to give your terrazzo floors a shine that will last years and years. Check out the beautiful floor. These pictures tell thousands of words. By Joe Martin

Terrazzo Restoration Venice Florida 877-824-0501

2011-10-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Terrazzo Restoration Venice Florida

877-824-0501

http://www.TerrazzoFloors.net

Hello again. This blog willl show a job we just completed in Venice Florida. The floor had vinyl flooring covering much of it and the rest had carpet. We removed the remaining paper from the vinyl on the terrazzo floors and pulled all the tack strip and cut all the nails flat on the terrazzo. The terrazzo restoration took three days and four people to complete. This terrazzo floor was installed in the 1950s. A large portion of the vinyl was on the Florida room and left three lines from the four segments. Thos lines were stubern, but came completely out.

When you see the largest room, part of that room is the kitchen.

The cabinets were completely removed so you need to look for the severe yellowing in that area. The kitchen came up looking great too. Check out the great pictures and call if you have any questions.

By Joe Martin

Vinyl Tile and Terrazzo Restoration

2011-09-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

877-824-0501

http://www.SafeDry.com

Many people call and ask if it is possible to remove vinyl tile and restore the terrazzo floor under it. Vinyl tile can be very east to remove, or extremely hard to remove. In most cases the terrazzo floor under the tile can be restored to look better then ever. We recently did a vinyl tile removal and restored the terrazzo in a home in Punta Gorda. There was an odor problem we had to deal with as well, but the final outcome was a great looking floor.

These are some of the many questions I am asked about removing vinyl and restoring the terrazzo.

Q. Will the vinyl damage the terrazzo flooring when it is removed?

A. Damage to terrazzo from vinyl tile removal is rare, but there can be some problems. Some old adhesives are stronger then the terrazzo floor. When the vinyl is pulled up it can pull peaces of the floor with it. The damage is usually small and can many times be ground out. Another problem is black mastic. Most black mastic is asbestos based tar. It can be scraped off safely, but if you use a solvent the floor might be beyond repair. In any case the floor will be darker when the job is complete.

Q. Will The glue from the vinyl stain terrazzo floor?

A. Again, if the adhesive is black it will darken the floor. Most glue will be completely removed. It is better to have vinyl tile on a terrazzo floor then old carpet pad.

Q. After the vinyl flooring is removed and the terrazzo floor is restored will there be a grid pattern left from the edges of the tile?

A. SafeDry has made a lot of advances in removing the grid pattern left by vinyl tile. we work to ground out the grid pattern with our HTC planetary grinder. our grinder is the most aggressive used in homes. It allows us to grind down without causing any damage to the floor. we also use chemicals to bleach out these stains during the terrazzo restoration process. If there is a pattern left we work to make it faint. This insures it will fade away over the next weeks or months.

Q. Will the vinyl tile effect the final shine we get on our terrazzo floor?

A. No matter what is on your floor we get a high diamond polished terrazzo floor. SafeDry never uses acid or recrystallization to get a high shine. We use all diamond polishing to get the longest lasting terrazzo shine possible.

Q. Will vinyl tile removal significantly increase the terrazzo cost for restoration?

A. Vinyl tile removal will add 50% to the cost of restoration.

Q. Can we remove the vinyl tile ourselves?

A. I am always happy to help people do as much as possible to cut terrazzo restoration costs. If you give me a call I will help you remove the tile yourself. We offer tile removal as one of our services, but would rather spend our time restoring terrazzo.

Q. Do you think if will make my house look a lot better if we remove the tile and restore the terrazzo.

A. Check out the job we recently did and you make call.

Terrazzo Restoration Orlando 2 877-824-0501

2011-08-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

877-824-0501

http://www.SafeDry.com

This video shows a terrazzo restoration done in Orland in August of 2011. The terrazzo floor was diamond polished and used no other product to acheve the shine you see. Truely diamonds are a terrazzo floors best friend. Check out our video and let me know what you think.

Terrazzo Floors Help Spark a Huge Demand for Retro Design In Florida.

2011-07-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

877-824-0501
http://www.SafeDry.com

Florida has a lot of terrazzo flooring from the 50s, 60s and 70s. With a large availability of these old homes in Florida many have gained a love for the home designs from these eras. I have had people call me for terrazzo restoration and say they were going to modernize the homes a little and restore the terrazzo then sell. I let them know that the old bath tubs, sinks, bathroom tile bathroom and kitchen cabinets are in high demand and should be restored and not replaced.\I talk to new home owners every day. Many love the old retro look from these home and want to preserve them.I have had home owners say the were tearing out the tub liners and whatever the tub looked like they would restore it. Even the old colored fixtures are in demand.
Retro is in in Florida and these homes are now in demand. At Safe Dry we restore old terrazzo. When terrazzo was installed in old Florida homes it was often covered with carpet, tile or vinyl. Other areas were left exposed and a topical sealer and finish was installed. These floors were honed to around 200 grit, so they were very respective to dirt and stains. \It is no wonder so many people hated them. Terrazzo finish would get scared very easily. It would need stripped and finish would need re-installed every year or two.
Today we diamond polish terrazzo flooring with a shine that is not the illusion a a shinny floor, but a floor that shines on its own.Our floors do not have a glare. When a light shines on the terrazzo you see the light build, not a glare of light. This is what terrazzo was always desired to look like. With Safe Dry's terrazzo restoration these floors do not need any polishing for seven to ten years under normal residential use. We install an impregnating sealer that penetrates the floor and lasts two years. We also have an upgrade penetrating sealer that lasts five to ten years.

If you are buying a home with terrazzo flooring to make your home, rent it out or resell it you should consider restoring the terrazzo and saving the fixtures. Go retro.

Terrazzo Art of Sarasota

2011-05-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.SafeDry.com

877-824-0501

This blog is from a terrazzo restoration SafeDry did in Sarasota Florida. This is a great looking old Florida home. The house did not have any windows, but had sliding glass doors in every room. The house was surrounded by atrium's and Florida rooms. This helped to show the true beauty of their terrazzo floors as well as highlighting the wonderful architecture of their home. These old Florida terrazzo floors are art. With all those wall and glass doors to reflect on the floors I think you could do a whole book of art from this home. I hope everyone loves this house. I know I did. The floor had a heave finish product on it, but we ground it off and polished this terrazzo floor to a high shine. We also did a few repairs. We filled around sis holes that were very hard to find after we were done.

Many think terrazzo floors are hard to clean, but after restoration these floors are very easy to clean and keep up. When these terrazzo floors were first done they were very pours and held dirt. After terrazzo diamond grinding and polishing and sealing dirt has a hard time getting into the floor.

When you figure the terrazzo restoration cost against tile or other flooring I am sure you will find it a bargain.

Terrazzo Restoration Before

Terrazzo Restoration After

Terrazzo Restoration Before

Terrazzo Restoration After

Terrazzo Art on the Floor

Terrazzo Before Restoration

Terrazzo After Restoration

Polished Terrazzo

Art of Terrazzo

The Terrazzo Orchid

Terrazzo Restoration Process

Terrazzo Grinding

David in the Floor

Terrazzo Restoration Sarasota Award Winning Shine

2011-04-27T03:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.SafeDry.com

1-877-824-0501

This video is from a two jobs we did in Sarasota Florida. They both came out looking great with our diamond polishing terrazzo system. I have put a lot of before and after pictures on this video so check it out.

Terrazzo Restoration by SafeDry

2011-04-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.SafeDry.com

1-877-824-0501

Today I want to show some of our latest pictures, including some taken today at a job just completed in Sarasota Florida. I also want to talk about how and why I take the pictures of terrazzo restoration floors.
I could do a whole blog of of plant reflections in floors we have restored. I must admit to being a plant lover. If I had terrazzo in my home I would surround my rooms with windows and flowers and plants. Imagine enjoying your plants , not only outside, but on your floor in high definition.
Sometimes I forget to show the entire floor after the terrazzo restoration. I am trying to do a better job of showing the whole floor before and after. We have made marked advances in our terrazzo floors over the years, but in the past few months we have stepped up our game more then ever.
As the owner of SafeDry, I and promise to always keep up to date with all the advances in terrazzo restoration. When we find high quality new products we always Incorporated them into our system and test their effectiveness and place within our system.
I think one of the best ways to show how great a terrazzo floor looks is to take pictures of the reflection off the floor. When you take a picture of a palm tree, on a quality terrazzo restoration, you can see the space between the fron strands. You can see flowers in bloom. I have even taken many pictures of reflections of people standing outside and these pictures look great.
This does not tell the whole story. Terrazzo floors look great at night. In low light you can often times see the whole room reflect off the floor.
The job just completed in Sarasota was stunning. It had a great variety of marble stones and colors. I am sure you will agree that this floor was worth saving. Now on to the great terrazzo floor.

Here are some pictures from another terrazzo restoration done in Sarasota in March.

Terrazzo Restoration

2011-04-15T06:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.SafeDry.com

1-877-824-0501

Terrazzo Restoration

SafeDry has been doing terrazzo restoration for many years. We test many products and systems to insure we give our customers the best, longest lasting floor possible. Several years ago we made a decision to switch our system to use an HTC grinder.

At the point we changed we were using the same machine almost all our competition used. We were using a weighted swing machine. That machine weighed around 150 pounds. Change meant a significant investment for us. A swing machine runs from $800 to $1,000. Our new system would cost us a $20,000 investment. Since we clanged to our HTC 500 grinder we have never looked back. I have never felt we could match our new system with the old one.

The new system came with one big problem. It made the floors look so good that we had to learn how to step up our game in edging. Floor edging is very important and the better you make a floor look the more you have to work on edging.

In the past couple of years we have tested many new systems and implemented new steps in order to maximize our finished shine. None of our steps include any topical finish or sealer. We use an impregnating sealer the penetrates the floor and fills the pours to protect the floor. When we finish with your terrazzo floor the shine you see is the floor, not the illusion of a shinny floor.
We never recrystallize terrazzo floors. This process means the floor needs buffed every one or two years. With our system, under normal where, your floor will not need any polishing for seven to ten years. We use only diamond grinding and polishing. We show our HTC 500 grinder, but never share all our steps.
SafeDry has spent many late nights figuring out the best products and which order they are best used in. We are not going to show other how to replicate what we do. In short our complete system is secret. The results of our terrazzo restoration system are evident. Check out how great our floors are looking these days.

Terrazzo Restoration Lakeland

2011-04-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.SafeDry.com

1-877-824-0501

This video is from a terrazzo restoration done in Lakeland from 8-10 April 2011. The floor is over fifty years old and came out looking great. The video shows a lot of before and after pictures. We diamond polished this floor. It does not have a topical coating, so the shine you see is the floor. We did some terrazzo repair and after filling the holes and setting the stones we ground the next day. The result was repairs the were very hard to find. As you can see by our latest pictures and videos, SafeDry has stepped up its game and producing, we feel, the best looking floors in the industry.

If you have any questions about terrazzo flooring, or want an estimate, give us a call.

Terrazzo Polishing

2011-04-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.safedry.com

1-877-824-0501

Terrazzo Polishing

This video is from a terrazzo restoration we did in Leesburg. The job took three days and included repairing several chips in the floor caused by past nail removal. This terrazzo floor is over 50 years old but looks better then the day it was finished. SafeDry gladly covers the Gainesville, Ocala and Leesburg area, as well as all of central and west Florida.

Sarasota Terrazzo Restoration from 2 April 2011

2011-04-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

www.safedry.com

1-877-824-0501

Sarasota Terrazzo Restoration

2 April 2011

This blog is a review and report from a Sarasota terrazzo restoration done between march 31st and April 2nd of 2011. I will cover many aspects of the job, but not every step. We at SafeDry have spent many late nights developing our system and as such we will not divulge many details of how we restore terrazzo. As I often say, we restore using diamond technology and without tricks. We use many different diamond polishing technique at the polishing stage in order to maximize the shine of our finished product.

The images you will see in this blog will show off how we have evolved into the top terrazzo restoration company in our field. I will apologize in advance as some after restoration pictures show dust that settled on the floor. Most of our steps are wet, but the final steps are dry and as a result can cause some dust. This terrazzo floor is was installed in 1957. That makes it 54 years old. We cannot even imagine all the abuse this terrazzo floor has experienced in all that time, but the final product resembled a granite counter top.

Terrazzo Stain Removal

This terrazzo restoration had some red stains in the living room we had to eliminate. We first scarped off as much as we could then tried some mastic remover. Scrapping held a little, but mastic remover did not help at all. The solution to the red stain was our HTC grinder. It helped by grinding into the floor and getting under the red stain. Check out some of the pictures.

Red Stain Before

Red Stain After

Tack Strip Removal and Nail Cutting

We always suggest people let us remove the tack strip and cut the nails on terrazzo flooring. Terrazzo floors are very hard. This is because of the Portland cement. Portland cement is more dense then sanded cement so it is harder to remove the nails. If you try to pull the nails from terrazzo flooring you will pull up chunks from the floor. This will result in costly repairs and a repair that may be seen after restoration. As you can see, we had to deal with some nails that we already removed in past carpet installations. If you have terrazzo floors and you are having carpet installed on top, remember to always insist the installer cut the nails if they install new tack strip. You should also insist the installer drill holes for the new tack strip and use only aluminum nails. Even if you never want to restore your terrazzo the next owners may want to do that. By insuring proper carpet installation over you terrazzo you are protecting you property value and it may help to sell your home in the future.

Terrazzo Polishing

After grinding and honing the terrazzo it is time for polishing. Though we grind with a 400 pound planetary grinder, to help remove the most imperfections possible, the shine we put on terrazzo is from our many steps and systems of diamond terrazzo polishing and refinishing. We do not use topical coatings for our terrazzo restoration. The shine you see is the floor. We expect out floors to last seven to ten years under normal wear. The terrazzo floors we restore are not slippery. Diamond polished terrazzo has a lot of slip resistance. Check out the results we got from this terrazzo restoration for a cost less then new tile.

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Front Door View After

Front Door View Before

Terrazzo After

Terrazzo Before

Hall Before

Hall After

Living Room After

Terrazzo After

Bed Room Before

Bed Room After

Terrazzo Restoration After

Living Room After

Living Room Before

Terrazzo Restoration Naples, Fort Myers

2011-03-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.safedry.com/

877-824-0501

SafeDry just completed a couple of jobs in Naples and I wanted to share the great pictures and a video from those jobs. The first job we will show was a 1959 floor we did in three days. The floor had some problems due to rug backing that stained the terrazzo floor. We did not completely remove the stains, but with our 400 pound HTC grinder we made the floor look great. We removed around ninety percent of the staining. We also had a lot of buildup caused by an old topical finish. These coatings darkened the terrazzo floor a lot. All that darkening was completely removed. You will see the spotting from that coating in one of the pictures.

The coatings also caused a lot of yellowing or browning to the terrazzo floor. When SafeDry does terrazzo restoration we do not coat the floor. That is why our floors stay looking great for many many years. One of my customers wanted to know why one SafeDry page they found said we do seven or eight steps and another said eleven to fourteen steps. The reason is simple. For one we now do thirteen to sixteen steps, but SafeDry is always testing new steps and processes. We recently added two more steps because our testing showed they made a bid difference in the finished product.
At SafeDry we know that the people in Naples and Fort Myers love quality terrazzo. The cost of restoring terrazzo is very affordable. Under normal conditions you can expect terrazzo restoration to last seven to ten years. We also just added a new terrazzo sealer that can last just as long and repels water and oil based stains. This product can repel water on the surface of your terrazzo for many hours.

Terrazzo restoration is seeing a great resurgences in the past few years and as a result there are a lot of new diamond polishing products. Some are little known and come with inherent problems. At SafeDry We did not give up after encountering these problems. We instead tried to figure out how to overcome these problems. When you watch our videos, or look at our terrazzo restoration pictures you will see our HTC grinder and little else. The reason for that is that we do not want to show people how to duplicate what we do. Few will ever buy an HTC grinder so that is part of how we make terrazzo floors look great, but we use diamonds in many other ways to get the best terrazzo shine possible. Enough with all that. Here are the pictures and video I promised. Like I said the first terrazzo floor looks great.
Give us a call with any questions you may have. 1-877-824-0501, or email me @ joe@SafeDry.com.

Terrazzo Restoration Naples Video

Terrazzo Restoration Orlando, SafeDry 877-824-0501

2011-02-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

877-824-0501

www.SafeDry.com

This video is from a job we did near Orlando. The floor was in rough shape, but turned out looking great. We treated the terrazzo stains a week before we started the job. This helped remove them for good. The terrazzo cost for the restoration was very reasonable. Terrazzo floors can outlast any other flooring. When you look at the low cost of maintenence and beauty of terrazzo flooring, resteration is a no brainer. Terrazzo restoration cost can very, but if you give us a call we can give you a close idea. You can also have a free on site estimate.

The terrazzo floors in this house are over 50 years old. They look better then any flooring you could install today. It is no wonder terrazzo flooring is being installed today and even terrazzo tile and countertops are in. Give us a call with any quwstions you may have.

Terrazzo Restoration Winter Haven

2011-02-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

www.SafeDry.com

877-824-0501

This blog is of a terrazzo restoration just finished in Winter Haven Florida. We got some great terrazzo restoration pictures. Florida has a lot of old terrazzo. This terrazzo flooring is nearly fifty years old. We spent three days on this job and despite its bad condition, we had great results.

All terrazzo floors are different in their own way. Even if they were poured next door to each other the weather was different on the day they were poured, or the terrazzo was mixed differently, or the marble was broadcast or mixed at a new rate. At the very least they have lived a their own lives. Some with tile others with carpet and vinyl while some had nothing or all these on them.

You can see that terrazzo has a lot of resilience. That is a big reason behind terrazzo flooring's resurgence. Today they are even producing terrazzo tile. One look at our pictures from terrazzo restoration jobs and you can see why terrazzo is cumming back strong.

Dashboard ‹ My Blog — WordPress

2011-02-05T11:46:00.000-08:00

Dashboard ‹ My Blog — WordPress: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

SafeDry Terrazzo breaks ground with www.SolidflooringSolutions.com. Check us out now and in the next few weeks.

SafeDry Kicks Ooff New Terrazzo Website

2011-02-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

Check out the newest SafeDry site. www.TerrazzoFloors.net. We hope it will greatly increase our expositor. This site will be dedicated to everything terrazzo. From terrazzo installation to terrazzo restoration and terrazzo cleaning and restoration products. Check it out now.

Terrazzo Restoration Tampa

2011-02-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

877-824-0501

Hello again. This is Joe from SafeDry. This video was taken in Tampa from a terrazzo restoration job we just finished. This floor is around fifty years old, but looks better then anyone ever dreamed it could. Remember, we put nothing on this floor. All the terrazzo polishing was done with diamonds. After diamond polishing we used an impregnating sealer. I hope everyone enjoys this terrazzo restoration video and if you have any question, give me a call.

Terrazzo Restoration Tampa

2011-02-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

877-824-0501

http://www.SafeDry.com

http://www.safedry.com/This post is of a terrazzo restoration we did in Tampa. The floor had vinyl tile on it. we ground the floor and polished it using an HTC grinder. The floor was a gray Portland cement with a wide variety of marble chips broadcast into it. This terrazzo floor is around fifty years old and has never been restored in the past. As you can see the floor turned out looking great. In fact the home owner labeled the outcome, "Outstanding,".
At SafeDry we use diamonds to polish all the way up to a great shine. We do not show every step, but we never use a topical sealer or finish. Our goal is for a perfect shine with nothing added to the floor to enhance that shine. Remember this terrazzo floor is fifty years old. There is no other floor that could stand up to that many years of abuse and be restored to this level.
Many people cover their terrazzo floor. These floors are mostly marble, so why would anyone want to cover marble that can shine like this.
Many people ask how our system for terrazzo restoration differs from others. I gave an estimate this week in Venice Florida and the woman had just had her kitchen done. She showed me where the last guy had done a test area with a hand grinder and told her that was what the floor would look like. When he came to do the floor he stripped the floor, then crystallized and was done. He never used a grinder on the floor. This situation is so full of problems we can not even go into them all. We always grind and never crystallize or recrystallize. We polish up to a high shine with diamond and no tricks. We do not take shortcuts. If you recrystallize without polishing you are not creating a shine that will last.

YouTube - Terrazzo Restoration Tampa

2011-01-30T21:01:00.000-08:00

YouTube - Terrazzo Restoration Tampa: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

This is our new video from a job we did in Tampa. This terrazzo came out looking great. The home owner's response was, "Outstanding,". Check it out and let us know what you think. We used no topical sealer or finish. The shine you see is the floor and nothing else. Terrazzo restoration, if done properly, needs no help. We can make it look great.

Epoxy Floor Coating Video | Floor Coatings

2011-01-23T09:30:00.000-08:00

Epoxy Floor Coating Video | Floor Coatings: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

This is my updated blog for epoxy floor coatings. It has a lot of pictures and some great information on floor coatings. www.SafeDry.com 877-824-0501

Terrazzo Restoration Fort Myers, Sarasota, Englewood, Venice and Bradenton | Terrazzo Restoration Blog

2011-01-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

Terrazzo Restoration Fort Myers, Sarasota, Englewood, Venice and Bradenton | Terrazzo Restoration Blog: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

SafeDry's newest post. 877-824-0501 www.SafeDry.com. This blog deals with our continued commitment to be and stay on the cutting edge of terrazzo restoration terminology.