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It may not be the sexiest part of a terrazzo installation process, but mechanically profiling the concrete substrate is critical for at least a couple reasons. Shotblasting process provides the necessary roughness to the concrete’s profile which aids in facilitating a bond between the concrete and the terrazzo finish. Shotblasting also opens up the concrete’s shrinkage cracks, making them visib...

Floor substrate flatness requirements for thin-set finishes like tile and epoxy terrazzo are straightforward enough... but the truth is, concrete is almost never as flat as it needs to be. Even if the Division 3 required FF has been met, this test doesn't apply to the finishes. In this short video clip, we examine the substrate flatness requirements and what is commonly done to remediate an out...

What makes concrete suitable for an epoxy terrazzo finish? View this short video to learn how concrete should be optimized to receive terrazzo, including its age, humidity, presence of admixtures, presence of shrinkage cracks, its surface profile, and its flatness. #Terrazzo #ConcretePrep

To specify terrazzo as a floor finish is to specify a process, since terrazzo is one of the few finish materials that is entirely fabricated, as well as placed, on site. The skills of the installers play a huge role in the success of this good looking and durable floor finish. Union terrazzo installers are trained to inspect the substrate and repair or prepare it as needed. They apply primer, c...

When, not if, concrete develops shrinkage cracks, it’s wise to make provisions to prevent those cracks from telegraphing through to the floor finish. This can be done with a crack suppression membrane applied over existing cracks in the substrate, or more conservatively, applied full bed over the entire floor. #CrackSuppression #Terrazzo

A little coordination goes a long way. For example, an ideal floor finish layout would align movement joints in the floor finish with those in the structural slab below. The best time to plan for this is during design. In the case of epoxy terrazzo, the divider strip grid may not be on the exact same module as the control joints in the concrete… but we can’t think of a reason not to carry a mov...

What’s your crack management strategy? When direct-bonding a floor finish to concrete, it becomes vital to have a strategy for managing movement and controlling cracks. In this short video clip, we talk about three ways to address existing control joints in concrete that provide various levels of safeguard against cracks in the concrete telegraphing through a terrazzo finish. #Terrazzo #Movemen...

Terrazzo floors, walls, and ceilings can be made even more visually striking (if that’s possible) by incorporating oversized chips, mosaics, or even large fragments of marble slab. Venetian terrazzo makes use of very large marble pieces with finer aggregate filling in the spaces between. Palladiana terrazzo, named for Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, incorporates even larger hand-...

Union terrazzo contractors aim to please, even during the design stage of a project. Designers considering a custom mix of different chip colors and sizes often want to have the benefit of samples to make design decisions or to preview the floor prior to installation. Or perhaps you’re using terrazzo for the first time and want the assurance your client will be happy with their floors. Either w...

“The chips make the floor.” Typical terrazzo installations call for at least 75% chip density, meaning 75% of what your eyes see is the polished aggregate. When you consider the variety of aggregate types, sizes, and colors, all able to be used in a single pour, the vast world of design possibilities becomes apparent. In this 2-minute video, we talk about some of the different chip types availa...

Terrazzo floors today offer many options, one of the most basic being cement and resinous systems. In this short video clip, we talk about the unique attributes and advantages of each, including required floor preparation, relative thickness for each system, bonding methods or lack thereof, availability of colors, movement characteristics, and the degree of labor involved to install. Terrazzo o...

Come on a tour with us, courtesy of Google Maps, of the Doge’s Palace in Venice, Italy, home to the largest room in Europe. Naturally, it has a terrazzo floor. The Grand Council Chamber is 174 feet long x 82 feet wide and free of interior columns… that’s over 14,000 square feet of terrazzo in this one room! The ceiling is 50 feet high. This monumental chamber was built in 1424 and rebuilt after...

For all its potential to deliver flashy and unique floors, terrazzo can also be used in more subdued design applications. A simple 30” x 60” grid of sand cushion terrazzo adorns the floor of Crown Hall, the architecture building at Illinois Institute of Technology. Architect Mies van der Rohe specified a black cementitious binder with white marble chips to quietly complement the black structura...

Sustainability rating systems like LEED may not have been around in the Renaissance, but the marble masons in northern Italy were already thinking about how to reuse construction materials in the 15th century. Recognizing the beauty and durability of marble, Italian craftsmen devised a method of placing leftover and irregular marble fragments in a binder of clay or sand, and grinding it down wi...

Z.01 Terrazzo: Sexiest material on the planet

A.33 Detail Demonstration

A.32 Top of wall detail

A.31 Roof to wall detail

A.30 Shelf angles with standoffs

A.29 Shelf angle with lipped brick

A.28 Conventional shelf angles

A.27 Veneer anchor spacing

A.26 Movement joint alignment

A.25 Rebar placement tolerances

A.24 Masonry bond beams

A.23 Grouting masonry | Low lift & high lift

A.22 Weep vent placement

A.21 Flashing drip edge - Hemmed & flush

A.20 Flashing drip edge - Notched and lapped