By Sante R. Zanetti
Past President of the National Federation of Terrazzo, Marble & Mosaic Specialists

Terrazzo, from the Italian word Terrazza for terrace, was created several hundred years ago in Italy when Venetian workers from the Friuli area discovered a new use for discarded marble remnants. Marble workers began to use odd-size marble pieces remaining from the custom made marble slabs to surface the terraces around their living quarters.

My father, Gioachino Zanetti, came to England from this area of Italy in 1919. Since that time, it has become a logical practical solution for contemporary design and construction. The beauty and versatility of terrazzo offers today's architects/designers a contemporary flooring and wall material for interior design use.

The uneven, rough surfaces created when the marble pieces were set in clay to anchor them, convinced the workers that flattening the surface would produce a smoother effect, more comfortable for walking. So they began to rub the surfaces with hand stones achieving a smoother flat surface.

The workers soon advanced their technique for rubbing the surfaces by designing a long handle with a weighted end to which they could fasten their rubbing stones. Now they were able to rub the terraces whilst working in a more comfortable, upright, position, using their body weight to provide the pressure to abrade the surface faster. This tool was named the "Galera". With this crude equipment and backbreaking labour they achieved a smoother flat surface but still lacking the true marble colour that only resulted when the surface was wet.

As years passed, workers discovered that goat’s milk brought out the true colour of the marble when applied to the surface and this true colour of the marble was retained when dry. This may be the very first terrazzo sealer.

Gifted Friulani craftsmen brought the terrazzo concept to this country from Italy in the late eighteenth century and terrazzo was used extensively.

Ingenious individuals devised a method of using wood strips to divide different colours of terrazzo. These strips would be removed and this void would be filled with another material. These same people learned that by adding marble dust to this material it resulted in various colours. Thus, they could now create a design using this material.

In later years ¾” (20mm) coloured marble cubes, known as Mosaic Tessarae, were used as the division strips for separating colours. These became a permanent part of the floor and added further aesthetic qualities. Marble strips 3/4" x 3/4" (20x20mm) three feet (900mm) in length were developed providing another permanent dividing strip.

Brass divider strips became available in the mid-twenties of the 20th Century, replacing or offering a second choice to the marble cubes or strips. In the thirties, white metal strips were developed and later ebonite strips were devised. Not only were these strips designed to separate colours, but also they played an essential role in the control of localising shrinkage in the terrazzo, preventing cracks from marring the aesthetics of this beautiful surface. Soon advanced technology gave this industry various gauges of all these strips, resulting in the possibility of creatiing elaborate and intricate patterns and designs.

In the first part of the 20th Century, improvements on the Galera concept of rubbing the terrazzo smooth led to the development of petrol and electric grinding equipment to achieve a fine finish. The technology of carborundum stones on a rotating head, aided in advancing the grinding and polishing procedures to today's standard.

After years of using grey Portland cement, white Portland cement was also introduced into this industry, expanding the horizon of terrazzo colours with the mineral colour pigment additives. Now the spectrum of colour for terrazzo was unlimited.

In the early twenties, precast terrazzo tiles and other units such as stairs and toilet partitions were introduced making, terrazzo a factory made product.

From the early hand presses of terrazzo tile production to the sophisticated hydraulic, fully automatic presses and lineal grinders of today, precast terrazzo tiles and units have gained in popularity. The likehood of crazing or cracking of the finished surface has been greatly reduced, due to being able to control the cement/moisture ratio of the tile. Terrazzo, a flooring material known and proven by history to be indestructible is priced competitively with other hard-surface flooring materials - affordable by all.

Today there is hardly a supermarket of any size that does not have a terrazzo floor. This is because its hard-wearing properties, attractive appearance and comparably low costs make it a hard act to follow.

Terrazzo is considered by the modern day architect/designer as a contemporary flooring and wall material for interior use in the modern structures of our time. Terrazzo has proved itself through history as the sensible choice for floor surfaces that require resistance to heavy abuse while still retaining beauty and low maintenance cost factors. It is a flooring material that with proper care will last a lifetime.