Custodian’s Guide


Custodian’s Guide

Follow these instructions to keep you terrazzo floor clean and long lasting. These are minimum maintenance suggestions:

CAUTION:

Before deviation from the instructions, contact your local Terrazzo Contractor for advice. Always keep rinse water, mops & pails clean!

Daily:

Sweep using yarn-wick brush treated with sweeping compound. Hand work stubborn stains and scuff marks with neutral cleaner diluted in warm water.

Weekly:

Damp mop lightly soiled floors with neutral cleaner. Heavily soiled floors should be scrubbed with a mechanical buffing machine and neutral cleaner. Mop up residue with clean water before it dries. Allow to dry and buff with a dry brush.

Semi-Annually:

Strip all old sealer and any finish coats. Reseal clean floor.

WARNING!!

It is important that any sealer or dressing be listed by underwriter’s laboratories for slip resistance.

The preceding minimum maintenance suggestions have proven over time to provide the owner with the lowest maintenance cost of any floor system.

Some options to the above include the following:

Apply high luster finishes on top of the sealer to the desired sheen. These normally require the added expense of spray-buffing to maintain the sheen. Terrazzo, unlike other floors, does not require this for wear protection.

There is another process that would produce a sheen without the application of sealers. As you clean your floors with the neutral cleaner / water solution, your final mop picks up the majority of this cleaner, but still some remains on the surface. After several such procedures, the residue of cleaner will become buffable and result in a sheen with buffing after each washing. This method of achieving a sheen never requires the stripping action, thus, reducing your maintenance costs. This is not recommended in areas exposed to staining materials.

As of late, some owners have been testing new technologies from the marble and granite industries to produce super high gloss finishes without day to day recoating. These include diamond pads for mechanical honing and polishing as well as crystallization/vitrification products. As of this time the long term maintenance cost of these systems is not known by this Association.

Note: In the event that your floor becomes heavily soiled, consult with your local terrazzo contractor or this association for directions before using any miracle cleaner suggested by someone not familiar with terrazzo. Ignoring this warning could prove harmful to your floor surface.