River Falls, WI · East Twin Cities Metro Mon–Fri 8a–5p · Sat by appt Owner-operated · Veteran-friendly (715) 307-8302

Terrazzo Restoration · Twin Cities Metro · Est. 2003

Bring terrazzo back without grinding it down.

Terrazzo in schools, courthouses, churches and older civic buildings is usually on one of two programs: wax, which dulls and has to be stripped, or grind and polish, which is expensive, dusty and takes the floor out of service. We seal it instead. One coat of EPIC water-based urethane goes over the existing terrazzo, restores the depth and color, and is rated for 3 to 5 years with no polishing, no buffing and no recoating in between.

Text Dave · (715) 307-8302 What We Do
0 Grinding The terrazzo stays as it is
1 Coat Applied over the existing floor
3-5YR Between coats Manufacturer rating in normal traffic
4-5HRS To foot traffic Corridors reopen the next morning

What we install

Three scopes, depending on the condition of the floor.

Terrazzo is worth looking at in person before anyone quotes it. What is on top of it, whether the aggregate has been ground through before, and how the seams and edges have held all change the work.

Smallest scope

Spot Repair

A worn lane, an entry, or the area under fixed seating.

Terrazzo wears where the building funnels people: doorways, the middle of a corridor, the run between a cafeteria and a gym. We mask the area, sand the existing finish to dull it, clean it and recoat that section. The rest of the floor is not touched.
  • Sanded, cleaned and recoated in place
  • Masked to the edge of the worn area
  • Usually a single visit
  • No grinding and no dust

Most common

Clean & Seal

The whole floor: strip whatever is on it, clean, and seal.

Most terrazzo we see has decades of something on it, usually acrylic. All of it comes off, the floor is neutralized and pH tested, and one coat goes down over the bare terrazzo. The aggregate and color come back up through it. Gloss suits corridors and lobbies; matte keeps a more natural stone look where a shine would be wrong.
  • Existing finish fully removed and extracted
  • Neutralized and pH tested before sealing
  • Gloss or matte, traction additive available
  • No grinding, no slurry, no dust containment

Scheduled Recoat

The 3 to 5 year reapplication.

When the finish is ready, the floor is sanded and one coat goes back on. There is no stripping, because there is no wax on it, which makes this a considerably smaller job than the original restoration. Buildings that book it on a cycle never see the floor look tired.
  • Sand and one coat, no stripping
  • Scheduled into a break or a summer
  • Corridors can be done in sections
  • Much smaller than the first restoration

Why we do not grind terrazzo

Why sealing beats grinding on most terrazzo.

Terrazzo is a poured floor of stone chips in a cement or epoxy matrix, and it is one of the longest-lived floors ever installed in a public building. Most of the terrazzo in Minnesota schools and civic buildings is older than the people maintaining it and structurally has nothing wrong with it. What is wrong is the finish on top.

Grinding removes floor you cannot put back

Grind and polish takes material off the surface to expose fresh aggregate. It works, and on badly damaged terrazzo it is the right answer. But it is a one-way process on a floor with a finite thickness, it is expensive, and it puts a wet slurry and a containment problem into an occupied building. A floor that has been ground several times over its life has less left to give. Sealing takes nothing off.

Wax was never a good match for terrazzo

Acrylic sits on top of the terrazzo as a sacrificial layer, which means it dulls, gets stripped, and goes back on again. It also hides the thing that makes terrazzo worth having. Under years of build-up the aggregate goes flat and gray, and people stop seeing the floor as an asset. Stripping it back and sealing it is often the first time in decades anyone has seen what the floor actually looks like.

How long a sealed terrazzo floor holds

The manufacturer rates one coat at 3 to 5 years in normal traffic. Its published case studies run longer than that: a Minnesota school district cafeteria and main lobby, coated in 2014, needed attention on under a tenth of the coated area after five years, and the wear that did show was under high-top chairs that were missing their floor protectors. That is the manufacturer's documentation of its own product, not our job, but it is a useful sense of what a high-traffic school floor does over time.

The 6-step job

What the work looks like, step by step.

The same sequence whether it is a school corridor, a church narthex or a courthouse lobby.

  1. Look at the floor

    What is on it, how many layers, whether it has been ground before, and how the edges and seams have held. Terrazzo hides its history under old finish, so this step decides the scope more than the square footage does.

  2. Strip what is on top

    Stripper dwells, then the floor is machine scrubbed in two directions with a slow-speed rotary. Edges, corners and the perimeter against the base get worked by hand. On terrazzo this is the step that takes the time, because decades of acrylic do not come off in one pass.

  3. Extract and neutralize

    The slurry comes up with a wet vacuum, then a citric acid scrub brings the surface back to neutral and we pH test to confirm it. Terrazzo is porous enough that a floor left alkaline will not hold a coating properly.

  4. Check the conditions

    Air temperature, humidity, floor temperature and dew point are read and recorded before mixing. Above 70 percent relative humidity the job stops. Heated buildings through the winter sit well inside the range, which is why most of this work is scheduled between October and April.

  5. Seal it

    Two technicians, one spreading and one back-rolling immediately behind, because the working window is short and terrazzo shows an uneven coat more than a patterned floor does. Traction additive goes in at this stage where the floor needs a higher slip rating, which on a school corridor it usually does.

  6. Hand it back

    The area stays closed until it is dry with the ready time posted on the door, and foot traffic goes back on in 4 to 5 hours on the fast formula. We go over maintenance with whoever cleans the building: dust mop, water, and nothing that adds a layer back on top.

Common Questions

Common questions about terrazzo restoration.

How does the cost compare to grinding and polishing?
Sealing is the less expensive of the two in nearly every case, because the labor is stripping and cleaning rather than multiple passes of diamond tooling, slurry extraction and dust containment. What moves our number is how much old finish has to come off, which on terrazzo is usually the bulk of the job. We walk the floor and give you a fixed written price before anything starts.
Will the aggregate and color come back?
On a floor that is dulled by old wax rather than physically damaged, yes, and it is usually the part people are not expecting. The chips and the color are still there under the build-up. Stripping takes the gray film off and the coat that goes on top wets the surface and brings the depth back. Terrazzo that has been ground through, cracked, or patched with mismatched material is a different conversation and we will tell you that on the walk.
Is grinding ever the better answer?
Yes. Terrazzo with deep damage, failed patches, lippage at the seams, or aggregate that has genuinely worn through needs material removed before anything goes on top. Sealing a floor in that condition locks the problem in. If that is what your floor needs, we will say so rather than quote the job we would rather do.
How long is the corridor closed?
Foot traffic returns 4 to 5 hours after the coat goes down on the fast formula, 8 hours on the slower one. Corridors get done in sections so no route through the building is closed for a full day, and most of this work is scheduled overnight or over a break anyway.
Can it be done over a school break?
That is when most of it happens. An empty building and dry winter air are both good for this work, and a two-week winter break is enough for a substantial amount of floor. Booking it takes some lead time, so the conversation usually happens a couple of months ahead of the break rather than the week before.
What about slip resistance on a school corridor?
The matte finish tests at 0.9 dry coefficient of friction and the gloss at 0.51. Where a floor needs more, a traction additive is mixed into the coating, which raises the slip rating and the abrasion resistance at the same time. Entries, stair landings and anywhere that takes snowmelt usually get it.
How is it cleaned afterward?
Dust mop, then damp mop with water or a neutral cleaner, and an auto-scrubber with a microfiber pad on the large open runs. No burnishing, no polishing, and nothing that leaves an acrylic layer behind. The floor equipment a building keeps for terrazzo mostly stops being needed.

Where we install

Terrazzo Restoration across the Twin Cities metro and western Wisconsin.

We restore terrazzo across the Twin Cities metro and western Wisconsin, in schools, churches, civic buildings and older commercial properties.

→ Get a quote for terrazzo restoration in your city

Get a quote

Find out what is under the wax.

Tell us the building and roughly how much terrazzo it has. We will walk the floor, tell you what condition it is actually in under the finish, and put a fixed written price in front of you. If the floor needs grinding rather than sealing, we will tell you that too.

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