Named after the Italian town where it was first initiated Terrazzo began as a “poor man’s marble floor.” Workers would retrieve the waste marble chips from the quarries and rock mills and then set them in clay for their own lodgings. in many instances they created patterns which became widely renown and the process was named after the town of Terrazzo. Goat’s milk was used a a sealer to give it a “wet marble” look until powered floor polishers became popular.
Today companies specializing in Terrazzo floors use a three-layer method:
1. Foundation: This is a concrete slab about 3″ – 4″ thick to give the floor a solid base. The forms are much higher to allow for the next two layers.
2. Sandy Concrete with Dividers: To a joint in the floor for compression and/or to change color or designs brass or other metal, strips are inserted. Then a sandy-mix concrete is poured and leveled off.
3. Marble Chips: For the last layer, marble chips are mixed with an epoxy and poured. This is much like engineered stone for countertops.
In the 1970’s epoxy replaced cement as a binder both for strength and color. This opened up a wide variety of colors and allowed the layer to be poured thin which making it a lightweight flooring. In addition this form of terrazzo resists cracking and goes down a lot quicker.
After the mix has dried the surface is polished with high-speed grinding machines, much like large floor buffers. Then the floor is sealed and buffed to a high polish that resembles the look of the old goat’s milk terrazzo.
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