TERRAZZOCHOOSING THE RIGHT AGGREGATE

CONCORD TERRAZZO COMPANY & TERRAZZCO® BRAND PRODUCTS

TERRAZZOW H A T I S T E R R A Z Z O ?

I S A F L O O R I N G M A T E R I A L C O N S I S T I N G O F C H I P S O F M A R B L E , G L A S S O R O T H E R D E C O R A T I V E A G G R E G A T E S

T H A T I S T H E N S E T I N C O N C R E T E A N D P O L I S H E D F O R A S M O O T H F L O O R F I N I S H .

THE EASY PARTChoosing the resin color

One of the great features about terrazzo is its design flexibility. That is because one can choose any color imaginable. Many epoxy resin colors on the market today can be tinted to any preference.  

THE HARD PARTChoosing your aggregates

There are different factors to consider when selecting an aggregate for your terrazzo floor.

There are 3 key factors that will shape how your floor look and feel:

- Color - Size - Hardness 

COLORWhen making decisions about a terrazzo's overall design, choosing an aggregate color is not so difficult. 

TERRAZZCO® Brand Products and many aggregate suppliers have a wide selection of products to choose from.

Marble chips come in almost any color from the whitest of whites to the blackest of blacks.  Even recycled glass produces a vibrant selection of colors to choose from.

When picking out the right aggregate color, find a color that compliments the color of the resin. Also there is no limit to how many aggregates you can add to a design so multiple colors can give your floor a unique look.

We highly suggest requesting samples to get the right match.

SIZESize can be a bit trickier, but not all that difficult either.  Today, majority of terrazzo chips come in standard sizes 0, 1 and 2; zero being the smallest and two the largest.

Larger than the standard sizes are the venetian size aggregates. Venetian chip sizes range from size 3 through 8. 

TERRAZZCO® manufactures smaller aggregates than the standard sizes called microaggregates.

Tip: When designing a terrazzo floor, instead of choosing aggregates of the same size, go with aggregates of various sizes to provide uniqueness

Tip: If there is a certain aggregate that needs to be more prominent, make that aggregate a bit larger in size than the others.

CHIP SIZE CHARTSize #

Size #0 Size #1 Size #2 Size #3 Size #4 Size #5 Size #6 Size #7Size #8

Passes Screen

1/8 inch 1/4 inch 3/8 inch 1/2 inch 5/8 inch 3/4 inch 7/8 inch

1 inch 1 1/8 inch

Retained on Screen

1/8 inch 1/4 inch 3/8 inch 1/2 inch 5/8 inch 3/4 inch 7/8 inch

1 inch 1 1/8 inch

Microaggregates

Standard Aggregate

Venetian Aggregate

HARDNESSNow for the hardest piece of the puzzle. Different aggregates vary in levels of hardness.

Why is this important?

This is important because you should avoid pairing hard aggregates with very soft aggregates. 

By pairing aggregates with similar hardness, it makes it easier to grind the surface evenly.

HARDNESS SCALEThe Mohs scale of hardness is a qualitative scale that indicates scratch resistance. A mineral is considered a harder material if it is able to scratchanother mineral.

Mohs hardness

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Mineral

Talc Gypsum Calcite Fluorite Apatite

Orthoclase feldspar Quartz Topaz

Corundum Diamond

Contact a Concord Terrazzo Company respresentative and we

can guide you in choosing the right aggregates or send you samples.

Contact us at info@terrazzco.com or 704-921-4928

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