Short answer: Terrazzo is not a single stone. It is chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass or similar material set in a cement or epoxy binder, usually ground and polished flat. It is laid on site as one continuous surface, or made in a factory as tiles. No tile on this site records terrazzo as its material. The five Haven tiles are terrazzo looks: all five record porcelain as their material and a thickness of 10 mm; three come in 300 × 600 mm and 600 × 600 mm, and two in 600 × 600 mm only.
A photograph of a speckled face will not tell you which kind of "terrazzo tile" a listing is. This page sets out what terrazzo is made of, the three things the phrase usually means, what the five Haven product pages record, and what to ask if it is the real material you are after.
1. What terrazzo is made of
The National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association, a US non-profit trade association for terrazzo contractors and suppliers, describes the material like this: "Terrazzo can consist of marble, quartz, granite aggregate, mother-of-pearl and/or pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled glass, porcelain and mirror chips, which are mixed with cement or epoxy and polished to produce a smooth, uniformly textured surface …".
Two things in that description matter when you shop. First, terrazzo is a composite: the chips may be natural stone, but the material as a whole is a mix, held together by a binder. Second, the binder varies. The association's list of systems includes cement-based ones, such as sand cushion, bonded and monolithic terrazzo, a polymer-modified cement one, and an epoxy one, which it describes as "A nominal 1/4″ or 3/8″ thick resin matrix veneer placed upon a flat concrete slab" (about 6 or 10 mm). Each of these is laid on site over a concrete slab and then ground.
2. Poured terrazzo, terrazzo tiles and terrazzo-look tiles
"Terrazzo tiles" usually means one of three things:
- Terrazzo laid on site, poured and ground as one continuous surface, not as tiles.
- Terrazzo tiles made in a factory from real chips and binder. The European standard for them, EN 13748-1, published in the UK as BS EN 13748-1:2004+A1:2005, Terrazzo tiles – Terrazzo tiles for internal use, covers cement-bound terrazzo tiles that are factory made and sold ready to lay.
- Terrazzo-look tiles: porcelain or ceramic tiles whose face is made to look like terrazzo.
All three turn up under a search for "terrazzo tiles", which is why the Material row on a product page matters more than the name.
3. What "terrazzo look" means on these five pages
On each Haven product page, four places tell you what the tile is. The Material row reads Porcelain on all five; that is the line that answers "is it real terrazzo?". The Product type row reads Terrazzo-look tile. The Style / shape row reads Terrazzo look. The description uses "terrazzo look" or "terrazzo-look" on all five.
No product on this site records terrazzo, cement or resin as its material. The only natural stone recorded here is marble, in five mosaic sheets; the tiles here that are actually stone lists them. The five Coastal travertine looks, the three Ridge slate looks and the six Urban and Quarry concrete looks are the same case as the Haven tiles, porcelain made to resemble another material: travertine or travertine look?, slate tiles or slate look? and concrete tiles or concrete look? cover them.
4. The five Haven tiles side by side
| Tile | Colour group | Chip, in the product page's words | Sizes | Material | Thickness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haven Fine White | White | fine-grain | 300 × 600 mm; 600 × 600 mm | Porcelain | 10 mm |
| Haven White | White | subtle aggregate detail | 300 × 600 mm; 600 × 600 mm | Porcelain | 10 mm |
| Haven Grey | Grey | large pale aggregate | 300 × 600 mm; 600 × 600 mm | Porcelain | 10 mm |
| Haven In/Out | Beige | not described beyond the look | 600 × 600 mm | Porcelain | 10 mm |
| Haven Pebble In/Out | Grey | oversized-aggregate | 600 × 600 mm | Porcelain | 10 mm |
All five also record a slip rating, which each product page describes as a reference figure to confirm for the intended application. Every one of the five can be ordered as a sample piece. Terrazzo-look tiles: 5 faces compared is the page for choosing between them: chip scale, the finishes each page records, the two sizes and the length of joint per square metre. The whole group is in terrazzo-look tiles.
5. What the product record settles, and what it does not
The record settles the question this page started with: the Material row, from the supplier's documentation, records these five as porcelain, not terrazzo. It also gives the thickness and the sizes. It does not record how the face is made or how many face designs a run has. One difference shows once the tiles are laid: a look tile, like a factory-made terrazzo tile, is laid as separate pieces with a joint on a 300 or 600 mm grid, while terrazzo laid on site is ground as one surface, divided only by its metal or plastic divider strips.
The record does not answer the questions people often go on to ask when they compare real terrazzo with a look tile, such as how each one should be sealed or cared for, how it wears, or whether it suits a particular room. Those depend on the exact product and the project, not on the word "terrazzo". For the tiles here, ask us about the specific tile; for real terrazzo, ask its maker or installer, using the questions below.
6. If you want real terrazzo
We do not sell terrazzo. If that is what you are looking for, these questions help confirm what you are buying, whoever is selling it:
- What does the product record give as the material: terrazzo, or porcelain or ceramic?
- Is it laid on site, or a tile made in a factory?
- What is the binder: cement, a polymer-modified cement, or epoxy?
- What are the chips made of: marble, granite, quartz, glass or something else?
- How thick is the finished tile or topping?
- Does the maker give sealing and care instructions for it, and what do they say?
Questions people ask
Is terrazzo a natural stone?
No. Terrazzo is a composite: chips, often of marble, granite or quartz, set in a cement or epoxy binder and usually polished. The chips can be natural stone; the material as a whole is made.
Is terrazzo laid on site or as tiles?
Both. The cement and epoxy systems the association lists are laid on site over a concrete slab and ground; terrazzo tiles are made in a factory and laid as tiles. A terrazzo-look tile is neither: on this site, all five record porcelain as their material.
What holds the chips together in terrazzo?
A binder. The association's systems use cement, a polymer-modified cement, or an epoxy resin.
Does Tilekind sell real terrazzo tiles?
No. No product here records terrazzo as its material; the only natural stone recorded here is marble, in five mosaic sheets.
Where these facts come from
The material, product type, style, sizes, thickness, colour group and chip wording come from the five Haven product pages and the other product pages on this site, read on 12 and 13 October 2026. The description of terrazzo and its systems comes from the National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association's website, and the scope of EN 13748-1 from the BSI Knowledge catalogue, both read on 13 October 2026; only the catalogue entry was read, not the paid text of the standard. Nothing here is a specification for a project; the product record and the people installing the tile settle that.
References:
- National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association, home page: about terrazzo, accessed 13 October 2026
- National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association, Types & Systems: Epoxy, Sand Cushion, Bonded, Monolithic and Polyacrylate terrazzo, accessed 13 October 2026
- BSI Knowledge, BS EN 13748-1:2004+A1:2005, Terrazzo tiles – Terrazzo tiles for internal use, catalogue entry, accessed 13 October 2026
Search with Google? Add Tilekind as a preferred source and Google is more likely to show our guides in your Top stories.