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Answers

Can a damaged terrazzo floor be repaired?

Yes, and this is the strongest argument for terrazzo over anything printed. The aggregate runs through the body, so a damaged area is filled with a matching mix, ground back into the surrounding floor and polished with it. The seam is a change in sheen rather than a change in material. What cannot be repaired is a printed tile.
Six terrazzo processes, drawn to one scaleEach column shows the layers of one terrazzo process. Precast and cement-bound are thick; epoxy is thin; porcelain is a fired body. Dimensions are published ranges, not our measured figures.substratePrecast20 mmsubstrateCement-based12 mmsubstrateEpoxy5 mmsubstratePoured10 mmsubstrateLiquid3 mmsubstratePorcelain9 mmSections drawn to one scale from published ranges. Our measured figures are listed separately.
The six processes drawn to one scale. Layer thicknesses are published ranges.

The figures, and where each one comes from

Damage On terrazzo On a printed lookalike
Chip or hole fill, grind, polish with the floor replace the tile
Dulled surface re-ground and re-polished nothing to grind; the print is worn
Stain sealer and mechanical work the pattern is unaffected, the surface is not
A lifted tile lift and replace, neighbours are a batch lift and replace, and the match is hard

Why the processes are not interchangeable

The repair works because the wear layer and the material are the same thing. When a cement-bound floor is ground, what comes up is the aggregate, so grinding a repair back into the surrounding floor makes the two continuous at the level of the stone rather than of a film — and what remains visible is a difference in sheen for a while, not a patch. This is why terrazzo is specified in buildings that are expected to last forty years and be repaired rather than renewed: the repair budget is a maintenance line rather than a capital one. It is also the clearest difference from a printed tile, where the pattern sits on the surface and cannot be restored once it is gone.

What these figures are, and what they are not

⛔ The grindable property is stated by NTMA in its systems guidance, and the rest is how the material behaves. ⛔ We have not repaired a floor and we do not carry out repairs; no repair figure, no expected colour match and no durability-after-repair is offered, because we hold no record of any.

Measured data sheets and test reports

If you are specifying this

These are the forms we actually supply for this question, with production photographs where we have them:

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