LVP v engineered hardwoods and terrazzo question

I think it's beautiful and timeless. We're looking at a white oak for the hardwood in the rest of the house so the contrast would look something like this



It's so clean and I think would really wake this house up.

Following also. Building a new house and wife wants LVP upstairs instead of carpet.

Venable terrazzo does excellent work and is in Baton Rouge.

quote:

---

I love terrazzo. I'm very curious how difficult it is to find an installer and how expensive it is compared to the other options.

---

There will be an installer in just about every decent sized city because it is still used in a lot of commercial projects. It is more expensive than just about any residential flooring option unless you are looking at something like solid Maccaser Ebony. We did a kitchen reno and did terrazzo in a the kitchen, breakfast nook and a transition area to the great room which was about 800 ft^2 and it was just over $34k. This was basic thinset single color terazzo with glass/marble aggregate. This included removing the old hardwood, grinding the slab and putting on a primer.

They make terrazzo tile which runs from very cheap to very expensive, the cheap stuff looks cheap but the expensive stuff looks great but the savings is actually pretty limited. The one we really liked was $22 per square just for the tile. If you are looking at the expensive stuff I think it is worth the extra for the monolithic pour just to have no grout lines. It is by far the easiest floor I have ever had in terms of cleaning.

Unless you have OT baller money it is a floor you have to be willing to commit to for the long haul but it can easily last longer than you will.

well there you have it. it looks badass even being a multiple decades' old tech.

now i just want this even more.

quote:

---

Put LVP with a foam backing in a renovation last year. It’s held up

---

Is there a reason you went with foam versus cork?

quote:

---

So I have a question. My parents had a terrazzo floor throughout our house growing up but it didn't seem to be a single pour. There were what appeared to be thin aluminum frames about every yard. The floors were rock stars and I didn't appreciate them growing up but my mom had the guy who installed them come out every couple years and polish them.

---

First, I did not research this like I would have if I had hired the contractor because our architect and designer doing the reno dealt with all of the nuts and bolts. Your childhood home almost certainly had cement-based terrazzo which required the aluminum expansion joints. They would also have been used for any color changes. Almost all terrazzo now is epoxy-based so expansion joints are not required at near the frequency they are in cement-based terrazzo. Ours was poured over stable concrete that had been in place for over 20 years with no cracking this long with the flexibility of the epoxy allowed the single pour. As I understood it when you need them in epoxy-based terrazzo they use a color-matched sealer so while you can see the joint it doesn't have any cracks for dirt and is not as visible as the aluminum joints.

You can do some really interesting designs and borders if you want. We decided it would be too busy for our kitchen but borders would look great in rectangular rooms that are large enough to visually handle it. Obviously, that costs more and I have no idea about the upcharges.

I've never considered terrazzo for residential floors.

Does it not look like a hospital or school hallway? Lol

quote:

---

I've never considered terrazzo for residential floors.

Does it not look like a hospital or school hallway? Lol

---

It was trendy in high-end residential construction in the late 60s and 70s. It is seeing a resurgence again mainly in high-end residential construction due to the cost. In the 70s it was often seen in an entire downstairs today it is usually seen in places that it would be normal to see tile: bathrooms, kitchens, foyers and mudrooms. With the almost limitless types and colors of epoxy and aggregates you can choose from today it is easy to exactly color match the terrazzo to your decor. You simply look at it as tile without many of the cons tile has, the main issue is the cost and it has to be poured on slab. It is also trading for use as a backsplash and countertops, normally this is precast but can be poured in place. One advantage is the countertop to backsplash transition can be a cove moulding which leaves no grout lines or areas to clean, just a smooth transition from horizontal to vertical.

It is an excellent flexible material that I would bet would be in far greater residential use if it weren't for the cost.