Terrazzo Floor How To Make

Make sure you know how to clean buff and burnish these floors before you take on the job of caring for one.

Terrazzo floor how to make.

Terrazzo is made of marble chips and was once known as the poor man s marble floor. Terrazzo floors date back to the 1700s when they were first found in italian homes offices schools and stores. Terrazzo floors combine chips of marble and other stone products with cement or epoxy to form a strong durable flooring surface. Terrazzo is a combination of crushed pieces of many substances including quartz marble and granite that is immersed in a cement like base.

Terrazzo flooring consists of small marble chips glass pieces or colorful stones embedded in a concrete base and polished to a high shine. Terrazzo floors are labor intensive to create and time consuming to install. To control the look of the finished product terrazzo installers start with standard mixes established by the national terrazzo and mosaic association and then make samples for their clients. Terrazzo isn t limited to flooring anymore it s also a sturdy solution to make furniture tabletop kitchen countertop and backsplash.

It is usually ground and polished which transforms it into a smooth surface often used to create textured flooring. People want to coordinate with other flooring such as carpet or tile or even stone says dave roberson of the david allen company the ewells installer. Flooring today comes in all shapes and sizes but one of the most favored is terrazzo floors. Whether you choose to do an in situ pour of terrazzo or opt for pre made terrazzo floor tiles a professional installer will usually finish the entire floor by sanding it then polishing and sealing it thus creating a seamless floor even with the tile option the grout between tiles will be completely level with the terrazzo tiles.

In the past trained artisans usually installed terrazzo floors. Terrazzo is a very resistant material which makes it the perfect choice for flooring high traffic areas such as airports hospitals malls even if it s traditionally used for floor and wall treatments. Start off by using the coarsest grade of grinding stones first then gradually work your way up to the fine grade stones making sure that you pass each and every section of the floor. Like stone these floors tend to be fairly porous if left unsealed.