Update: Alas, appears to be discontinued. Daltile snuck these in on me: Authentic terrazzo tiles. Terrazzo is a wonderful authentic retro product for mid-century renovations — and this is the first product of its kind that I have seen. To be sure, buying terrazzo tiles is gonna be a lot easier than trying to find someone to lay a complete (albeit seamless) terrazzo floor. These terrazzo tiles are available in many color ways, as either 12″-, 16″-, or 24″-squares. The 24″ squares are almost an inch thick.
It looks like Daltile is specifying these for living area floors — not bathrooms or kitchens or places where water would likely spill and the terrazzo could get slippery. And, you can put them on walls. Remember, this is essentially polished marble — the terrazzo are ‘marble chips’. In my mind, terrazzo always has been a floor most appropropriate for warm climates … it’s a cold surface. In fact, get yourself a 24″ square of this tile – and you could use it to roll out pie crusts, I bet! Many thanks to reader Kimberly — a new homeowner (woo hoo!) for spotting these tiles first, I saw them in her flickr photostream. Can’t wait to see your house, K!
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Sad to discover Daltile discontinued their terrazzo line. Are there other good sources of terrazzo tile? I like Wassau, but was hoping to find another option (as the original terrazzo in my entryway has large marble chips and I was hoping to find something similar). Any suggestions?
I don’t know the answer to this one…
As a late fyi, I’m pretty sure the DalTile terrazzo was sourced from Wassau.
I purchased a box of Cortina Grande and had it laid in my bathroom. It looks awful. You can see the seams, some places developed gaps, and glue continually oozes up even though it has been months. It was laid by a professional flooring person, but I bought the tile on my own from a commercial distributor.
I was so disappointed, and I really wanted to do the same type of tile in my kitchen, but now I am nervous about also looking bad. How did anyone else get it to look so good?
Shannon, I have had Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze in my kitchen for about 10 years now. It’s great. Initially I had to have some tiles replaced because there were particles left underneath them when they were installed and they started cracking; I am not an expert but it’s my understanding the subfloor must be very very smooth in the case of my tiles because they are very rigid.
However, that does not sound like it’s your issue. I think you need to go back to your installer and get their input. Good luck.
Shannon- You have to have terrazzo tile installed by a professional terrazzo installer – not just a professional flooring installer. I mean, an installer who is specifically trained in terrazzo. It is a very difficult, intensive and tedious product to work with. I have laid tile myself- but would never attempt it with terrazzo. It’s no DIY and I would be suspect of any tile guy who claims to know how to do it. Unless an installer can show or prove to me he’s installed it successfully before, I’d not hire him. This is not to say you didn’t- I’m just imperating terrazzo is not your every day flooring. And, I wouldn’t use it in a bathroom- it really is meant for expansive spaces. I’m sad it didn’t work out for you, because I just love the stuff and wish there were more of it on people’s floors.