A heritage terrazzo floor in a 1928 Melbourne home. Cracked, dull, three coats of failed wax. Replace? Never. Here's what we did.
The brief
Original terrazzo entry hall and kitchen, 28 m² total. Decades of foot traffic, two failed wax stripping attempts, three visible cracks across the slab, and chips around the doorways. The owner wanted heritage character preserved. No replacement, no resin overlay.
Day 1: strip and assess
Old wax came off with industrial alkaline stripping. We mapped every crack and chip, then mixed colour-matched epoxy fills using crushed marble of the same shade as the original aggregate. Cured overnight.
Day 2: diamond grinding
Started at 30 grit to flatten the surface and bring the cracks and fills to the same level as the surrounding stone. Then 70, 120, 200, 400, and 800 grit honing passes. Each pass clarifies the marble aggregate further.
Day 3: polish and seal
Final polishing at 1500 and 3000 grit to bring up the mirror gloss. Penetrating sealer applied in two coats wet-on-wet. Cured for 48 hours.
The result
The floor reads like new, but it's the original 1928 terrazzo, with all its character. The epoxy fills are completely invisible. The aggregate is sharper than it ever was, because modern diamond polishing exposes the marble more cleanly than the 1920s grinding methods could.
Why it was worth it
Replacement quote was triple our restoration cost. Heritage value preserved. Floor is now sealed and protected for another 50+ years.
If you've got a heritage terrazzo floor in a Melbourne home, it can almost certainly be saved. Send us a photo.