Terrazzo Floors, Types of terrazzo floors, What are terrazzo floors
Terrazzo Floors speak to types of terrazzo floors, what are terrazzo floors and why use terrazzo floors.
These are are known as exceptional durable flooring. It is made by grinding and polishing a concrete that consists of marble or granite chips selected for size and colour in a matrix of colored Portland cement or another binding agent.
The polishing brings out the pattern and colour of the stone chips. A sealer is usually applied to further enhance the appearance of the floor and may be formed in place or installed as factory made tiles.
For stair treads, window sills and other large components, terrazzo is often precast. Because of its endless variety of colours and textures, terrazzo is often used in decorative flooring patterns. The colors are separated from one another by divider strips of metal, plastic or marble. The divider strips are installed in the under bed prior to placing the terrazzo and ground and polished flush in the same operation of the terrazzo itself.
It is tradition that terrazzo is installed over a thin bed of sand that isolates it from the structural stone slab, thus protecting it to some extent from movements in the building frame.
This sand cushion terrazzo, due to its thickness, usually 2 ½ inches (64 mm) is heavy. For greater economy and reduced thickness, the sand bed may be eliminated to produce bonded terrazzo or both the sand bed and under bed may be eliminated with monolithic terrazzo.
Thin set terrazzo made from epoxy resins, polyester resins or polymer modified cements is one of the thinnest of all terrazzo installation methods.
In any of these systems, a terrazzo baseboard can be formed and finished as an integral part of the floor, thus eliminating a dirt catching seam where the floor meets the wall.
No matter which flooring system is used it is an accepted fact that these floors and the beauty of such are an attractive addition to any building.
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