Some dozen years ago, one of our member contractors had a conversation with the owners of a convention center about their flooring.
Like Glass vs. Plastic
Gary French, National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association’s Technical Director, explained why epoxy terrazzo has much better resistance to falling objects and heavy loads than tile. The tiles may be breaking more because of brittleness than a lack of compressive or tensile strength, he said.
“Basically, the tile is like glass as compared to an epoxy that is a plastic,” said Mr. French, a 40-year veteran of the flooring industry.
“Tile has its place, and you can do a lot with it,” Mr. Michielutti noted. “But it depends on how the floor is used. Regardless of how well tile is installed, terrazzo is absolutely much better with handling stress and impacts.”