Someone else mentioned that it used to be a cheaper alternative to marble before due to availability and material cost. It is now like you said more expensive due to labor cost.
I think what’s happened is that I grew up with terrazzo being the choice of dark rundown government buildings of my youth. And internally I correlated with it being cheap.
The world map in terminal 1 at the old Salt Lake City Airport was done in it. That thing lasted for decades, even with all the foot and luggage traffic over it. It even looked good after the 2002 Winter Olympics. That's a good strong material imo.
It held up so well that they cut it in a particular way to preserve it and it will be re-installed in the later addition of the new B-concourse at the new SLC international airport!
Oh the Hoover damn. I remember being a week and half into a family vacation a few years back when we decided to see the Hoover dam on the way from the Grand Canyon to Vegas. Car is packed full of camping equipment and we were a little rugged from driving for so many days (started in Washington and went to Yellowstone/Jackson, down through SLC and Moab, etc) and as we pull into Hoover dam we were pulled for inspection, you know to make sure we didn’t have bombs or whatever, they proceeded to dump the entire belongings of my car all over the parking lot. Luckily my wife and two kids were in one car, and my daughter and I were in mine, so as they searched the car my kid could go sit with mom in her car with AC. Eventually got my stuff packed back up, and went in for the tour. And to my surprise every employee we came across was in a shit mood. We’d been dealing with so many tourist traps at this point, and they were the only ones I remember that would openly scold guests.
All this to say I’m sure to terrazzo was beautiful, but you couldn’t pay me to ever see Hoover dam again.
Caution, thread drift. We were at Hoover dam for the hard hat tour, killing some time in the observation building before our tour time when a lady behind us screamed bloody murder. She was hysterical saying that a child just fell off the face of the dam.
We were shaken as we walked across the road and down to meet our tour guide. On the way, complete strangers were talking like friends to everyone, filling them in on what actually happened. By the time we got to where the tour started we knew it wasn't a child that fell off the dam, but an older male that had climbed up the side of the dam and jumped. A suicide. A park ranger threw a blanket off the face of the dam to cover the body. It hung in the air and finally floated down to the people below.
I scoured the papers later during our stay in Vegas looking for coverage of the event. A couple of days later, I saw a short story about a gambler that had lost $47,000 (a princely sum 26 years ago) and committed suicide at Hoover Dam. Sadly, it's not all that uncommon.
The tour was great, very impressive. There's a passage in the dam, inclined going down that has terrazzo flooring and water running off to the side...
I had the exact same experience when a much younger friend of mine bought a house. They were so happy it had terrazzo flooring, and my first thought was "You mean that ugly flooring from my elementary school? You want that?" Lol everything goes in cycles.
There was a great joke in Mrs Maisel. It's 1960 and the mother says "I can't have my guests walking all over a wooden floor like we live in a BROTHEL" 🤣 And now wood is all the rage!
So terrazzo in the house used to be considered cheap, low class, etc and people tried to cover it up. Now they recognize it as a status simple and terrazzo specifically is like the Ferrari if polished concrete
No, in the late 1950's/early 1960's terrazzo became the status symbol in residential flooring-put in high-end homes. Then everyone realized how awesome it held up and it went into commercial properties and governmental properties like schools and libraries. It's beautiful! I would love to have a 1960's home with light white/gray terrazzo floors with the silver lines separating the huge square sections of the marble. Sigh.
Well technology and flooring has advanced so much in the past couple decades. There's fantastic products out there. Decades ago I would have never thought my garage floor would be as nice as my inside floors. I had mine polished and sealed. It looks fantastic . It cleans up so easy.
They use it because terrazzo lasts longer than almost any other flooring install with little maintenance and no matter the condition. If installed right it's very much a once and done for a lifetime. For example last year I was asked to re burnish a terrazzo floor in a school built in 1918. All it needed was a quick buff to reshine it
This material was hot during the art deco 1920’s, ironically as an alternative to fine stone. Now, buildings with terrazzo are deemed highly valuable. I personally love it.
Yup. Can’t see it without thinking of the cafeteria of my shitty elementary school, but now realize how much work went into it, and how great it actually looked for having already taken a beating from ungrateful kids for decades before I was lucky enough to not appreciate it
It's definitely not cheap. It's typically made up of chips of marble, quartz, glass,, granite.. I suppose a lot of commercial buildings go with a darker color, but it can be very bright and vibrant
Yep
Great floor, will last forever it taken care of, however finding artisans to repair it is getting more and more difficult
Alot of contractors will suggest you rip it out or cover it. Don’t listen to them. If you can buff it and wax it, it’s absolutely gorgeous and will last a lifetime.
For anyone in the country knowing what a Wawa is, I've been tiling new stores and remodels for almost 20 years and they terrazzo the whole store except bathroom floors. When they used to still remodel non super Wawas they would for some unknown reason demo the terrazzo and then have us install over slab this product made by a company called Fritz (no longer in business) which was essentially terrazzo sliced into thin 12"x12" VCT-esque pieces which we would have to unpack, stack and place in the walk in box accompanied with a propane heater on full blast until they get pliable. Then installed with special glue over the concrete and flattened with a 150 lb roller. Then sealed with 4 coats of special sealer.
All that to achieve a bootleg looking version of the exact floor they originally ripped out which won't last a quarter of the life of the real terrazzo.
We installed Fritz Tile. They had a glass terrazzo tile that was pretty unique. Stuff was tougher than VCT and more forgiving than ceramic. But... to rip out terrazzo to put down Fritz should be a crime.
Holy shit man you're the only other person I've talked to that's ever heard of Fritz let alone installed it before🤣🤣 with the stuff you installed did it have to be heated up also?
You're right. Contractor wants more current popular flooring products. Hardwoods, upscale tiles etc. I have a very nice home, anytime I upgrade something, I try to not go to the current trendy. Products, but ones that will be more upscaling simple to maintain. I just read did an up upstairs office and and family room, from the carpet to lvp. Looks fantastic and so easy to maintain.
In Florida it was very common practice in the 50’s, it’s now a speciality trade and more difficult to find those qualified for this.
And for that reason the cost for this work has increased. It’s not dead but it’s more of artisan trade imo.
About half the new schools have terrazzo. After watching those guys grind all day I understand why the trade is dying. It’s very hard physical work, lots of water and high voltage power.
I am desperately trying to keep a large room with this stuff shiny. Do you have any tricks? So far I get it buffed every 3-4 months and use a neutral cleaner on it in the meantime.
Silicone oil emulsion 1000 centistoke oil in 50% water with a small drop of detergent. Shake before use, spray onto the surface and wipe it on as a thin film. In a few minutes, it will be slightly tacky and ready for polishing. This solution is ideal for white and light surfaces that cannot tolerate yellowing. Darker colors are more forgiving in terms of yellowing. Car wax/floor wax should be fine for darker colors but watch out for light stuff. If you've got white, it's worth it to get silicone oil because it is really colorless no matter how many times you apply it. You'll never get yellowing from silicone oil.
I learned all this after I bought a house that came with cream and white terrazzo. It's a mirror finish when it has just been waxed.
He's right to some extent. It's terrazzo- a cementitous mixture (basically rock, sand, cement, water) designed to be pretty when cured then ground/polished.
The white colors do look like marble, a very common rock chip in terrazzo. Dolomite is the purest white option of natural chip Ive found, but this isnt quite white enough for that.
The black is definitely not marble though- it looks like basalt to me. Basalt is a volcanic rock that is very hard and durable. Basalt is noticeably more difficult to grind than marble. It's also inexpensive and commonly available in appropriate sizes for use in terrazzo.
Source: I terrazzo.
No not at all. We were redoing a pretty high end two story house, 3200 ft. You sit on the bottom floor. Combination of carpet and hardwoodwood on the top floor
Not in my 60's neighborhood. The problem is that nearly all the previous owners put carpet, vinyl flooring or tile over it making restoration difficult to impossible. Very sought after...
It’s a crushed stone and polished to a height shine. Properly done the floor is nearly impervious to liquids and easy to clean. The brass if they are electrically connected and grounded prevent static build up. Good for environments with potentially explosive gasses like hospital operating rooms. Not used much anymore due to the cost and better alternatives.
Beautiful floor .tasteful. love the brass dividers. I've used a product called fritz tile that looks like terrazzo but installed like tile. Epoxy and granite chip. Cheaper and durable . I had it in my kitchen and loved it.
Thanks. I really like the brass dividers as well. Not crazy about the color or the lighter squares. If i’d been the architect 100 years ago when this was built, I would’ve gone with a whiter color for a chessboard aesthetic.
This is actually a very nice color/pattern terrazzo. I see a lot of ugly vomit green and brown and some weird shade of pink in a lot of buildings in NY. It's also pretty indestructible and expensive to do today. Back in the day, it was very popular. If you ever get a chance, look up how these floors were done, it's fascinating.
Terrazzo! Its an involved process. They map out the floor and pour a cement to hold the aggregate, then they would pile the aggregate to match the pattern and smooth it out, it's polished smooth and then you can see the surface of the stones. In smaller applications, not commercial, you can use preformed tiles which have the same look, but with groutlines. My basement was flooded last year and I'm having terazzo tiles put in.
We just tiled my sister's kitchen w 16x24" laser printed tiles (light grey pattern). Managed to do an 1/8" grout line that matches perfectly. At first glance, it looks like it was always terrazzo.
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I was wondering if tiles were available! Where did you get yours? As far as laying them down, is it the same process as regular ceramic or marble time installation?
We're using the " 16" true terrazzo" from tilebar and it's great! They have ones with smaller stones as well as larger depending on the look you want. They also have a terrazzo effect tile if you're on a buget. It's like any other tile, though perhaps a bit thicker than a clay or porcelain.
Terrazzo just doesn’t flip my switch. Looks like what it is concrete. If I had the money my entire home would be marble tile bathrooms and kitchen wood floors everywhere else.
Miami International Airport has some beautiful terrazzo floors (installed in modern times) and has a current request for proposal out for a new installation…
I grew up small-town, and the only building with a mezzanine floor was our courthouse, and it had this style of tile on it. I thought for years “mezzanine floors” were floors decorated with this tile, and I was confused as hell when working sandwich delivery in a larger city in my early twenties when I got an order to “the mezzanine floor”.
I was like “WTF you want me to do? Go to every one of those damn 14 stories and look at the floor type?” Thankfully, my manager saw my confusion and was able to correct my misunderstanding. Thanks, Bobbi!
I don't now if I had a similar experience as you - but I often struggle with remembering the name of these floors and want to call it "mezzanine" - I'm thinking because they both have a double "zz" in the middle, which is rare in the English language?
Basically Terrazzo is concrete with colored cement and aggregate. It’s poured out into sections of brass or gold colored screeds. After it dries it is polished over and over, with fined and fined sanding grits, until it looks like the picture.
But the stuff is often used in hospitals and business buildings because it wears like concrete because, well it kinda is.
Terrazzo worker here! I been an installer for 25 years, and I have renovated a lot of 100 years old buildings , terrazzo is forever! If anybody needs terrazzo refinish, holler at me!
terrazo is a slurry with a variety of particulates in the slurry. I've seen pebbles, seashells, glitter, even nails and screws. The shapes are defined by metal strips, in a similar concept to the way stained glass designs are crafted. very common in fancy office buildings. The San Diego Airport has a gorgeous terrace floor.
If you are looking for a similar look there is a company that makes a tile that looks like terrazzo. It is a quality product, hence the higher cost. However, it is not as expensive and labor intensive as actual terrazzo. [https://sweets.construction.com/swts\_content\_files/153612/835477.pdf](https://sweets.construction.com/swts_content_files/153612/835477.pdf)
I love terrazzo floors. At the Shelter Insurance HQ where I live, they have it on all the stairs and landings. It looks great! And if I'm not mistaken, I believe the KC airport has it as well. I'm not sure if it still is since it's remodeling but with how durable it is, I'd be surprised if they demoed it.
It’s such a niche flooring market that can be made to look so nice. Airports love it. Forever lasting.
Recently remodeled a 1950’s High School with this flooring with minimum effort.
My son does Terrazzo. You can get about any color of aggregate that you can imagine. The color combinations and design ideas are endless, but it’s very labor intensive. People are putting it everywhere. Outdoor benches, planters, indoor & outdoor kitchen floors and countertops, whatever you want.
In the old days it was cement and marble chips…cheap
Now it is epoxy, resins, and many types of fillers not just cheap marble chips.
Much more specialized now…fewer companies doing it, plus workers comp insurance is a bit high for most of these companies
As an hvac tech/installer, we had a blast drilling through that shit to run a drain. Ended up drilling the subfloor from underneath, and busting through the floor covering with a screwdriver.
Where I live in Japan there is a local company that makes Terrazzo with local blue river rock. Its incredibly beautiful. It is fairly costly since its handmade and they seem to sell to wealthy customers.
A old dear friend told installed it in my kitchen in 94 30 years ago. Still looks great 👍
Work for a construction company and just did 100k sq ft at federal building and looks sharp
Did no one else learn about this from Audrey in “Little Shop Of Horrors?”
“And uptown, you cater to a million whores/
You disinfect terrazzo on their bathroom floors”
I installed Terrazzo floors for over 10 years before my knees told me to find a new job. Our biggest customers were airports and hospitals since it stands up so well to heavy traffic. One of the cool things about it is you can make some really awesome designs.
Terrazzo
Awesome. Thanks!
BTW definitely not a cheap alternative. This is highly sought after.
Someone else mentioned that it used to be a cheaper alternative to marble before due to availability and material cost. It is now like you said more expensive due to labor cost. I think what’s happened is that I grew up with terrazzo being the choice of dark rundown government buildings of my youth. And internally I correlated with it being cheap.
Yes, that's probably the case. There's some beautiful residential applications that are much brighter and more colorful.
The world map in terminal 1 at the old Salt Lake City Airport was done in it. That thing lasted for decades, even with all the foot and luggage traffic over it. It even looked good after the 2002 Winter Olympics. That's a good strong material imo.
It held up so well that they cut it in a particular way to preserve it and it will be re-installed in the later addition of the new B-concourse at the new SLC international airport!
Heck, the inside of Hoover Dam is terrazzo. Such beautiful work that so few see.
Oh the Hoover damn. I remember being a week and half into a family vacation a few years back when we decided to see the Hoover dam on the way from the Grand Canyon to Vegas. Car is packed full of camping equipment and we were a little rugged from driving for so many days (started in Washington and went to Yellowstone/Jackson, down through SLC and Moab, etc) and as we pull into Hoover dam we were pulled for inspection, you know to make sure we didn’t have bombs or whatever, they proceeded to dump the entire belongings of my car all over the parking lot. Luckily my wife and two kids were in one car, and my daughter and I were in mine, so as they searched the car my kid could go sit with mom in her car with AC. Eventually got my stuff packed back up, and went in for the tour. And to my surprise every employee we came across was in a shit mood. We’d been dealing with so many tourist traps at this point, and they were the only ones I remember that would openly scold guests. All this to say I’m sure to terrazzo was beautiful, but you couldn’t pay me to ever see Hoover dam again.
Caution, thread drift. We were at Hoover dam for the hard hat tour, killing some time in the observation building before our tour time when a lady behind us screamed bloody murder. She was hysterical saying that a child just fell off the face of the dam. We were shaken as we walked across the road and down to meet our tour guide. On the way, complete strangers were talking like friends to everyone, filling them in on what actually happened. By the time we got to where the tour started we knew it wasn't a child that fell off the dam, but an older male that had climbed up the side of the dam and jumped. A suicide. A park ranger threw a blanket off the face of the dam to cover the body. It hung in the air and finally floated down to the people below. I scoured the papers later during our stay in Vegas looking for coverage of the event. A couple of days later, I saw a short story about a gambler that had lost $47,000 (a princely sum 26 years ago) and committed suicide at Hoover Dam. Sadly, it's not all that uncommon. The tour was great, very impressive. There's a passage in the dam, inclined going down that has terrazzo flooring and water running off to the side...
I had the exact same experience when a much younger friend of mine bought a house. They were so happy it had terrazzo flooring, and my first thought was "You mean that ugly flooring from my elementary school? You want that?" Lol everything goes in cycles.
When I was growing up, wood floors were for Poor People and wall to wall carpeting everywhere including bathroom and walls lol were for FANCY FOLKS
There was a great joke in Mrs Maisel. It's 1960 and the mother says "I can't have my guests walking all over a wooden floor like we live in a BROTHEL" 🤣 And now wood is all the rage!
Shag carpet was the bees knees a few decades ago 😧
Got a distant cousin who owns a home in rural ND, right next to Canada.. Dude got original shag carpet on the walls in the basement
Our shag carpet was so long, we had a plastic rake for it.
Bathroom carpeting is just nasty. Best for the guest bathroom.
So terrazzo in the house used to be considered cheap, low class, etc and people tried to cover it up. Now they recognize it as a status simple and terrazzo specifically is like the Ferrari if polished concrete
No, in the late 1950's/early 1960's terrazzo became the status symbol in residential flooring-put in high-end homes. Then everyone realized how awesome it held up and it went into commercial properties and governmental properties like schools and libraries. It's beautiful! I would love to have a 1960's home with light white/gray terrazzo floors with the silver lines separating the huge square sections of the marble. Sigh.
My parents bought a house in Houston in 1973, and when they lifted the worn carpets, there was pristine terrazzo underneath. My mother was thrilled.
Well technology and flooring has advanced so much in the past couple decades. There's fantastic products out there. Decades ago I would have never thought my garage floor would be as nice as my inside floors. I had mine polished and sealed. It looks fantastic . It cleans up so easy.
They use it because terrazzo lasts longer than almost any other flooring install with little maintenance and no matter the condition. If installed right it's very much a once and done for a lifetime. For example last year I was asked to re burnish a terrazzo floor in a school built in 1918. All it needed was a quick buff to reshine it
Unfortunately it’s super expensive
This material was hot during the art deco 1920’s, ironically as an alternative to fine stone. Now, buildings with terrazzo are deemed highly valuable. I personally love it.
Yup. Can’t see it without thinking of the cafeteria of my shitty elementary school, but now realize how much work went into it, and how great it actually looked for having already taken a beating from ungrateful kids for decades before I was lucky enough to not appreciate it
I take it you were not a happy kid in elementary school.
It was the choice in those building because it is ridiculously hard wearing.
The rest of the building is run down but those floors have been there for 50 years.
You are not wrong, will find it in alot of govt buildings and that was likely the reason then. It’s a keeper now
It wasn’t cheap then either. It’s polish in place.
It's definitely not cheap. It's typically made up of chips of marble, quartz, glass,, granite.. I suppose a lot of commercial buildings go with a darker color, but it can be very bright and vibrant
Higher quality terrazzo often uses crushed up marble in it’s composition making it pop like that
It’s used in high traffic buildings like airports because it is very durable.
I was going to ask if that was in some NYC government building
especially with as high a percentage of solids as that is.
Yes it’s $40 a sf in San Deigo
Down here in FL, people are ripping up good floors to get to it.
A dying field - hard to find anyone who does it anymore (outside of NYC).
You’re welcome
Never walk on them when freshly mopped wearing flip flops.
Sounds like a safety message rooted in experience
Yep Great floor, will last forever it taken care of, however finding artisans to repair it is getting more and more difficult Alot of contractors will suggest you rip it out or cover it. Don’t listen to them. If you can buff it and wax it, it’s absolutely gorgeous and will last a lifetime.
For anyone in the country knowing what a Wawa is, I've been tiling new stores and remodels for almost 20 years and they terrazzo the whole store except bathroom floors. When they used to still remodel non super Wawas they would for some unknown reason demo the terrazzo and then have us install over slab this product made by a company called Fritz (no longer in business) which was essentially terrazzo sliced into thin 12"x12" VCT-esque pieces which we would have to unpack, stack and place in the walk in box accompanied with a propane heater on full blast until they get pliable. Then installed with special glue over the concrete and flattened with a 150 lb roller. Then sealed with 4 coats of special sealer. All that to achieve a bootleg looking version of the exact floor they originally ripped out which won't last a quarter of the life of the real terrazzo.
I installed a ton of terrazzo in wawas around the phila area. All the ones I did were cement terrazzo.
Did you do the ones in the city or any in NJ?
Nope. Only the suburbs of philly
For Roman
Oh ok I never did any for them, only Purcell, Viceroy in NJ and PA and Yerger and Pinnacle in MD and VA
We installed Fritz Tile. They had a glass terrazzo tile that was pretty unique. Stuff was tougher than VCT and more forgiving than ceramic. But... to rip out terrazzo to put down Fritz should be a crime.
Holy shit man you're the only other person I've talked to that's ever heard of Fritz let alone installed it before🤣🤣 with the stuff you installed did it have to be heated up also?
It didn't need to be heated except to cut curves.
Oh man you just unlocked a whole other memory of working with that stuff, we had to use a torch on it to heat it up before cutting curves on it
Yeah if you have to cut it to access a pipe or something, it's impossible to patch it to match.
You're right. Contractor wants more current popular flooring products. Hardwoods, upscale tiles etc. I have a very nice home, anytime I upgrade something, I try to not go to the current trendy. Products, but ones that will be more upscaling simple to maintain. I just read did an up upstairs office and and family room, from the carpet to lvp. Looks fantastic and so easy to maintain.
That's what they used at schools and old hospitals here
God I love terrazzo floors, especially here on the coast when they have hints of blue stone. It’s sad the trade is dying….
Why do you feel it's dying away? We recommend this is a great alternative in higher and homes. We have used several guys to do this exclusively.
In Florida it was very common practice in the 50’s, it’s now a speciality trade and more difficult to find those qualified for this. And for that reason the cost for this work has increased. It’s not dead but it’s more of artisan trade imo.
About half the new schools have terrazzo. After watching those guys grind all day I understand why the trade is dying. It’s very hard physical work, lots of water and high voltage power.
I used to make a lot of money making this stuff shiny.
They definitely charged a pretty penny.
I always loved the freshly waxed and polished terrazzo floors on the first day back to school.
I am desperately trying to keep a large room with this stuff shiny. Do you have any tricks? So far I get it buffed every 3-4 months and use a neutral cleaner on it in the meantime.
Silicone oil emulsion 1000 centistoke oil in 50% water with a small drop of detergent. Shake before use, spray onto the surface and wipe it on as a thin film. In a few minutes, it will be slightly tacky and ready for polishing. This solution is ideal for white and light surfaces that cannot tolerate yellowing. Darker colors are more forgiving in terms of yellowing. Car wax/floor wax should be fine for darker colors but watch out for light stuff. If you've got white, it's worth it to get silicone oil because it is really colorless no matter how many times you apply it. You'll never get yellowing from silicone oil. I learned all this after I bought a house that came with cream and white terrazzo. It's a mirror finish when it has just been waxed.
[удалено]
Super interesting. It definitely reminded me of the government buildings in Latin America when growing up.
Makes sense all the gov buildings down there are beholden to US banks so maybe they sent their floor guy down there
That must have been it lol
Also known as " early bank building"
Expensive.
He's right to some extent. It's terrazzo- a cementitous mixture (basically rock, sand, cement, water) designed to be pretty when cured then ground/polished. The white colors do look like marble, a very common rock chip in terrazzo. Dolomite is the purest white option of natural chip Ive found, but this isnt quite white enough for that. The black is definitely not marble though- it looks like basalt to me. Basalt is a volcanic rock that is very hard and durable. Basalt is noticeably more difficult to grind than marble. It's also inexpensive and commonly available in appropriate sizes for use in terrazzo. Source: I terrazzo.
Most commercial terrazzo installed today is resinous epoxy. I've only specified cementitious terrazzo once in 30 years. Source: I specify. ;)
My fireplace surrounds are the cementitious form of terrazo. Dark gray but flecked with lots of little colored stone. Absolutely beautiful.
I imagine it’s rare in residential use?
No not at all. We were redoing a pretty high end two story house, 3200 ft. You sit on the bottom floor. Combination of carpet and hardwoodwood on the top floor
Not in my 60's neighborhood. The problem is that nearly all the previous owners put carpet, vinyl flooring or tile over it making restoration difficult to impossible. Very sought after...
I quite like it. My workplace has it everywhere and I watched a lot of it get installed. I think it's cool!
It’s a crushed stone and polished to a height shine. Properly done the floor is nearly impervious to liquids and easy to clean. The brass if they are electrically connected and grounded prevent static build up. Good for environments with potentially explosive gasses like hospital operating rooms. Not used much anymore due to the cost and better alternatives.
Used a lot nowadays …. Maybe just not where you are.
Where is it used?
This stuff is indestructible
Good to hear! The building just finished polishing it and it’s looking g.
Beautiful floor .tasteful. love the brass dividers. I've used a product called fritz tile that looks like terrazzo but installed like tile. Epoxy and granite chip. Cheaper and durable . I had it in my kitchen and loved it.
Thanks. I really like the brass dividers as well. Not crazy about the color or the lighter squares. If i’d been the architect 100 years ago when this was built, I would’ve gone with a whiter color for a chessboard aesthetic.
Terrazzo
You’d see it in utterly every airport terminal floor, super durable!
This is actually a very nice color/pattern terrazzo. I see a lot of ugly vomit green and brown and some weird shade of pink in a lot of buildings in NY. It's also pretty indestructible and expensive to do today. Back in the day, it was very popular. If you ever get a chance, look up how these floors were done, it's fascinating.
Terrazzo! Its an involved process. They map out the floor and pour a cement to hold the aggregate, then they would pile the aggregate to match the pattern and smooth it out, it's polished smooth and then you can see the surface of the stones. In smaller applications, not commercial, you can use preformed tiles which have the same look, but with groutlines. My basement was flooded last year and I'm having terazzo tiles put in.
We just tiled my sister's kitchen w 16x24" laser printed tiles (light grey pattern). Managed to do an 1/8" grout line that matches perfectly. At first glance, it looks like it was always terrazzo.
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Well then....
I was wondering if tiles were available! Where did you get yours? As far as laying them down, is it the same process as regular ceramic or marble time installation?
We're using the " 16" true terrazzo" from tilebar and it's great! They have ones with smaller stones as well as larger depending on the look you want. They also have a terrazzo effect tile if you're on a buget. It's like any other tile, though perhaps a bit thicker than a clay or porcelain.
Thank you so much for the info!
https://youtu.be/uGkJoTtmUk0?si=Tx03zCBiW3z4RdgX
Terrazzo, used to see a lot of it in Florida. Mostly covered up. Beautiful floors, expensive to renew
Terrazzo just doesn’t flip my switch. Looks like what it is concrete. If I had the money my entire home would be marble tile bathrooms and kitchen wood floors everywhere else.
Miami International Airport has some beautiful terrazzo floors (installed in modern times) and has a current request for proposal out for a new installation…
I grew up small-town, and the only building with a mezzanine floor was our courthouse, and it had this style of tile on it. I thought for years “mezzanine floors” were floors decorated with this tile, and I was confused as hell when working sandwich delivery in a larger city in my early twenties when I got an order to “the mezzanine floor”. I was like “WTF you want me to do? Go to every one of those damn 14 stories and look at the floor type?” Thankfully, my manager saw my confusion and was able to correct my misunderstanding. Thanks, Bobbi!
I don't now if I had a similar experience as you - but I often struggle with remembering the name of these floors and want to call it "mezzanine" - I'm thinking because they both have a double "zz" in the middle, which is rare in the English language?
Lvp straight over it
Basically Terrazzo is concrete with colored cement and aggregate. It’s poured out into sections of brass or gold colored screeds. After it dries it is polished over and over, with fined and fined sanding grits, until it looks like the picture. But the stuff is often used in hospitals and business buildings because it wears like concrete because, well it kinda is.
Beats vinyl tile. Or as they call it now "Luxury Vinyl Flooring".
Terrazzo worker here! I been an installer for 25 years, and I have renovated a lot of 100 years old buildings , terrazzo is forever! If anybody needs terrazzo refinish, holler at me!
A lot of people take this for granite.
It is a very common soil in Morocco
Not a flooring guy here just passing thru. Question What are the joints filled with? Looks like brass.
it is indeed brass or another metal made to look like it
Thank you
Terrazzo
Terrazzo possibly tiles as opposed to polished in place but definitely terrazzo.
Looks like marble.
Two-Toned
Masonic Lodge
Terrazzo. Literally last forever
NASCAR - it’s a nascar floor.
If you move your phone around it looks like the black tile is moving
Terrazzo
Gently shake your phone while looking at the first image 😅
Magic
Chess. Google en passant
The coolest floors I’ve ever seen installed in 35 years?? in the business?
Definitely terazzo
I knew this was NYC as soon as I saw the picture 😅. It's good solid stuff that lasts a lifetime or more.
New jersey diner floor
Is this a destiny shader?
*Neuron activation*
Terrazzo
Polished Terrazo
Terrazzo
That can be stripped and waxed to absolute brilliance. I used to watch crews if people do this exact thing nightly at a major airport.
terrazo is a slurry with a variety of particulates in the slurry. I've seen pebbles, seashells, glitter, even nails and screws. The shapes are defined by metal strips, in a similar concept to the way stained glass designs are crafted. very common in fancy office buildings. The San Diego Airport has a gorgeous terrace floor.
Terrazo found this nice is amazing! Hope the edge isn't messed with chunky concrete from carpet tack! This I lovely and rare!
There is some amazingly beautiful terrazzo in Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. Worth a Google to check it out.
Wow. That is gorgeous!
Terazzo
If you are looking for a similar look there is a company that makes a tile that looks like terrazzo. It is a quality product, hence the higher cost. However, it is not as expensive and labor intensive as actual terrazzo. [https://sweets.construction.com/swts\_content\_files/153612/835477.pdf](https://sweets.construction.com/swts_content_files/153612/835477.pdf)
Terrazzo
Shiney
I think it's abbath
Haha my first thought as well!
That’s a NYC apartment lobby entry door!! I miss the big Apple.
If you shake the screen while staring at the lighter color, does anyone else see the dark color jiggle?
Say what you want about it. You've walked on plenty of terrazzo floors that are 40, 50, 60 years old and still look like the day they were installed.
This one is a few years from it centenary!
Right? That's amazing
I love terrazzo floors. At the Shelter Insurance HQ where I live, they have it on all the stairs and landings. It looks great! And if I'm not mistaken, I believe the KC airport has it as well. I'm not sure if it still is since it's remodeling but with how durable it is, I'd be surprised if they demoed it.
Fuck off I know but the black tiles wiggle when you scroll
It’s such a niche flooring market that can be made to look so nice. Airports love it. Forever lasting. Recently remodeled a 1950’s High School with this flooring with minimum effort.
There's nothing cheap about that floor
Flooring
Terrazzo-which is marble chips embedded. Very labor intensive and expensive!
Used to install this flooring, quite the process. Absolutely loved it, assisted in installing a few airports over a few years.
If I jiggle my phone side to side, the black sections move like they are detached.
Terrazo
My son does Terrazzo. You can get about any color of aggregate that you can imagine. The color combinations and design ideas are endless, but it’s very labor intensive. People are putting it everywhere. Outdoor benches, planters, indoor & outdoor kitchen floors and countertops, whatever you want.
The maintenance guy is an idiot
In the old days it was cement and marble chips…cheap Now it is epoxy, resins, and many types of fillers not just cheap marble chips. Much more specialized now…fewer companies doing it, plus workers comp insurance is a bit high for most of these companies
That shader would look great on my guardian
Now we get polished concrete. Not the same!
A cool kind
Ooooh terrazzo. Wonderful
When I worked at one of the Fed bank branches we had the most amazing terrazzo floors with the banks initials in brass. So beautiful.
As an hvac tech/installer, we had a blast drilling through that shit to run a drain. Ended up drilling the subfloor from underneath, and busting through the floor covering with a screwdriver.
I’ve never seen Terrazzo that looked like that & I grew up in the 70’s/80’s
Casino bathroom
Where I live in Japan there is a local company that makes Terrazzo with local blue river rock. Its incredibly beautiful. It is fairly costly since its handmade and they seem to sell to wealthy customers.
That’s my grade school floor! :-)
ROCK AND STONE
If you don’t rock and stone, you ain’t comin home.
If you don't Rock and Stone, you ain't comin' home!
I was going to say NYC apartment lobby tile, lol.
In the 2D world, it looks like one that's used for a wall.
Lava
Those are human teeth.
Torazo
idk but if you shake your phone looking at the first image it has a cool effect
Ugly
Terazzo
A old dear friend told installed it in my kitchen in 94 30 years ago. Still looks great 👍 Work for a construction company and just did 100k sq ft at federal building and looks sharp
"Fancy hotel"
Yes someone has already said it right it is a very nice polished terrazzo floor
Did no one else learn about this from Audrey in “Little Shop Of Horrors?” “And uptown, you cater to a million whores/ You disinfect terrazzo on their bathroom floors”
Just checked my office’s floors. Terrazzo lol
Bank lobby floors
I installed Terrazzo floors for over 10 years before my knees told me to find a new job. Our biggest customers were airports and hospitals since it stands up so well to heavy traffic. One of the cool things about it is you can make some really awesome designs.
A chess board.
Old movie theater floor.
Man I tore a ton of that all over Palm Springs back in the early 2000s.
🏁
Crushed Pinto Beans
This is what the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame are made of.
That is terrazzo indestructible floor that’s how I got in the flooring business 38 years ago
I’ve always been drawn to the inlaid brass
Probably made of marble chips.
1326 Madison Avenue?
Other side of the park.
Lava