Terrazzo consists of chips of marble, granite, quartz, glass, shell, or other suitable materials. It uses either a cement or epoxy matrix as the binder. Metal strips divide sections, make color transitions, design decorative patterns or logos and allow for movement or crack mitigation.

Because these intricate designs require a large variety of aggregates and epoxy colors as well as custom-bent metal divider strips, floors with complex designs cost more. Terrazzo flooring cost for single-color floors with simple divider strip patterns will always be much lower than for intricate floors.

Terrazzo is quite slippery and can cause falls, so it may not be a good flooring choice for families with especially young or elderly members. Ask your contractor about applying non-slip additives to the surface.

The size and installation date of the flooring are an indicator of the presence of terrazzo asbestos. You will find that tiles installed between 1920 and 1980 tend to have asbestos. More often than that, terrazzo tiles that are square or rectangular shaped have a tendency of developing asbestos.