Under Tile Electricity - Shopping Centre

Before

Shopping centre terrazzo floor prior to removal and installation of electricity underneath

This client wanted to install children's rides and power sockets for the cleaners, in the mall floor. Power was to be fed from a back-of-house distribution board, and the cables fed into channels cut in the floor.

Chasing to Shop Floor

Channel chased out of concrete, broken and filled in after installing electric pipe

The channel was cut out using a hand-held water-fed saw. Extreme cutting accuracy was called for to ensure an acceptable finish once the new tiles were installed and grouted.

Cutting & Breaking

Operative breaking out screed from channel in floor

Our experience has proven that removal and replacement of tiles is rendered much easier by a full-depth cut of around 75mm. Once breaking out has been undertaken, the clean-cut vertical sides remaining enable the new tiles to be easily fitted.

Electrics & Floor Box

Terrazzo tiles and screed removed in a line with electrical conduit installed to floor box

All cables were fitted into a steel conduit lying at the bottom of the channel. Once the cables were connected and the electric installation tested, we were able to fit the replacement tiles.

Tiling

Terrazzo tiles over sand & cement screed into a trench leading to floor box

The channel floor was prepared with a bonding slurry, before being filled with a sand/cement screed over the top of the newly fitted conduit. Polypropylene reinforcing fibres small percentage of PVA were used in the 50mm bed, all finished with a 28mm terrazzo tile. After tiling was completed, we grouted up with a fast-setting resin.

Polishing & Sealing

Polished terrazzo tiles and freshly installed floor box

Once grouting was complete and cured, (around 30 minutes), we ground off excess grout leaving the joint flush with the floor. The entire run was diamond polished, and one of our large battery-powered scrubber dryers used to complete the clean-up, and help blend in the new work with the existing terrazzo.