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Terrazzo is a faux-marble flooring or countertopping material.
Production
Terrazzo workers create attractive walkways, floors, patios, and panels by exposing marble chips and other fine aggregates on the surface of finished concrete. Much of the preliminary work of terrazzo workers is similar to that of cement masons. Attractive, marble-chip terrazzo requires three layers of materials. First, cement masons or terrazzo workers build a solid, level concrete foundation that is 3 to 4 inches deep. After the forms are removed from the foundation, workers add a 1-inch layer of sandy concrete. Before this layer sets, terrazzo workers partially embed metal divider strips in the concrete wherever there is to be a joint or change of color in the terrazzo. For the final layer, terrazzo workers blend and place into each of the panels a fine marble chip mixture that may be color-pigmented. While the mixture is still wet, workers toss additional marble chips of various colors into each panel and roll a lightweight roller over the entire surface.
When the terrazzo is thoroughly dry, helpers grind it with a terrazzo grinder, which is somewhat like a floor polisher, only much heavier. Slight depressions left by the grinding are filled with a matching grout material and hand-troweled for a smooth, uniform surface. Terrazzo workers then clean, polish, and seal the dry surface for a lustrous finish.
Historical
Originally created by Venetian construction workers as a low cost flooring material, the workers used marble chips from upscale jobs to create Terrazzo. The workers would usually set them in clay to surface the patios around their living quarters. Consisting originally of marble chips, clay, goat milk (as the sealer), production of Terrazzo became much easier after the 1920s and the introduction of electric industrial grinders and other power equipment.
Newly-set Terrazzo will not look like marble unless it is wet. That's where the goat's milk comes in, acting as a sealer and preserving the wet and marble-like look.
The central, common pavillion in the cadet area at the United States Air Force Academy is made of terrazzo tiles, among a checkerboard of marble strips. The entire area is referred to as "The Terrazzo".
Archaeological
Archaeologists use the word terrazzo to describe the floors of early neolithic buildings (PPN A and B, ca. 9.000-8.000 BC) in Western Asia, that are constructed of burnt lime and clay, coloured red with ochre and polished. The embedded crushed limestone gives it a slightly mottled appearance. The use of fire to produce burnt lime, which was also used for the hafting of implements thus predates the use of pottery by almost a thousand years. In the early Neolithic settlement of Cayönü in eastern Turkey ca. 90 m² of terrazzo floors have been uncovered. The floors of the PPN B settlement of Nevali Cori measure about 80 m². They are 15 cm thick, and contain about 10-15 % lime.
These floors are almost impenetrable to moisture and very durable, but their construction involved a high input of energy. Gourdin and Kingery (1975) estimate that about 5 times the amount of wood is needed to produce the required amount of lime, but recent experiments by Affonso and Pernicka have shown that only the double amount is needed. But that would still amount to 4.5 metric tons of dry wood for the floors in Cayönü, in what is an only sparsely wooded environment today.
Other sites with terrazzo floors include Nevali Cori, Göbekli Tepe, Jericho, and Kastros (Cyprus).
References
- U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook. 'Cement Masons, Concrete Finishers, Segmental Pavers, and Terrazzo Workers', http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos204.htm
- W. H. Gourdin/W. D. Kingery, W.D., The Beginnings of Pyrotechnology. Neolithic and Egyptian Lime Plaster, Journal of Field Archaeology 2, 1975, 133-150.
External links
"Terrazzo"