Detailed below is a Terrazzo renovation I recently completed at Melville & Sons which is a newly refurbished wine bar and restaurant in the old part of Norwich city centre just outside the gates of the Cathedral Close. One of the features of the bar is a specially imported Italian Terrazzo slab bar top which as you can see from the photos was not looking its best.
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The bar top hadn’t been adequately sealed at installation and so it quickly became dull, deeply etched and stained from drinks, fruit juices and red wine in particular. My client had tried various cleaning methods to restore the finish and weren’t able to improve its appearance which was spoiling the overall look of this high-end establishment.
I paid a visit to the bar and ran extensive product testing on the Terrazzo to establish the most effective way to clean and protect the terrazzo from acidic fluids going forward. From the results of the tests I worked out the best methods and products to restore the bar top and from that I was able to email over a detailed quotation for the work later that day.
Happy they had found a solution a date was scheduled to do the work which would have to be first thing in the morning whilst the bar was closed.
Refinishing a Terrazzo Tiled Bar Top
Work started by cutting back the terrazzo surface with a coarse 6-inch 50-grit diamond pad fitted to a handheld polisher. A dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was used to lubricate the pad and add further cleaning power. The resultant slurry was then removed and the process repeated with a 100-grit and then 200-grit diamond pads with water to thoroughly deep-clean the surface and provide a good key for the acrylic sealer.
Sealing a Terrazzo Bar Top
The Terrazzo was speed dried using a hot air gun before carefully sealing with six coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go applied lengthways along the bar. The hot air gun was deployed again after each coat to ensure a full cure between coats.
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Once complete the bar top looked re-vitalised and as new as it was when installed. The client was over the moon that his very expensive bar top now looked every bit the outstanding feature it should have been after the refurbishment.
For aftercare I advised use of correctly diluted Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner or Tile Doctor Stone Patina Spray for ongoing maintenance. Both products are ph neutral so won’t impact the sealer and Stone Patina spray in particular will help to maintain the lustre on the stone.
Source: Terrazzo Bar Top Cleaning, Sealing and Polishing in Norwich