Three different floors are sold as terrazzo in Singapore. Poured terrazzo is cast, cured and ground on site by a specialist, and gives one continuous floor with no grout lines, after a long and dusty job. Terrazzo tiles are precast terrazzo or terrazzo-look porcelain, laid like any other tile. Terrazzo-effect vinyl, such as our Urban Stone Series, goes over your existing tiles in dry rooms. If you need a floor with no joints, only the poured kind will do. If you want no hacking and the least disruption, the vinyl is built for that.
What exactly is terrazzo?
Terrazzo is chips of marble, granite or glass set in a cement or epoxy base, then ground flat and polished. The name now also covers factory-made terrazzo tiles, and tiles and vinyl printed to look like it.
Some people who grew up in older Singapore homes know it as "mosaic" flooring. That is a different thing from the small tiles in our mosaic tiles guide.
| Route | What it is | Joints | Your existing floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poured terrazzo | Chips in a cement or epoxy base, poured, cured and ground on site by a specialist | No grout lines | Usually comes up so the base can be prepared |
| Terrazzo tiles | Precast terrazzo, or porcelain printed to look like it | Grout lines, like any tile | Hacked, or tiled over if it is sound |
| Terrazzo-effect vinyl | Our Urban Stone Series: a terrazzo design on 5mm vinyl | Bevelled joints that read like tile joints | Stays, if it passes the overlay check |
Is poured terrazzo worth the wait?
It is the real thing. The chips and their cement or epoxy matrix are poured across the floor, left to cure, then ground and polished in place. You get one continuous surface with no grout lines, which nothing else on this page can give you.
The catch is time and mess. Pouring, curing and grinding usually takes a week or more, and grinding is dusty work in a home you live in. It is a specialist trade, and not one we offer. If this is the floor you want, a terrazzo specialist is the right call, and we would rather say so than sell you something else.
Polished terrazzo is also slippery when wet. Near a kitchen sink or a bathroom door, ask the specialist about a less polished finish.
Terrazzo tiles: precast or porcelain?
Precast terrazzo tiles are made the traditional way, with real chips in a cement or resin base, ground in the factory. Cement-based ones are porous and are usually sealed. Terrazzo-look porcelain prints the pattern onto a dense porcelain body that takes in very little water and needs no sealing.
Both are laid like any other tile, with grout lines. Larger formats mean fewer joints, and a grout colour close to the base colour lets the pattern run across them. Our floor tiles guide covers how tile size changes a room.
Hafary, one of the two suppliers we buy tile from, carries terrazzo ranges. We supply tiles from Hafary and Soon Bee Huat, our own crew lays them, and we bring samples to the site visit so you see them in your own light. Tile is quoted per project, and the range is on our tiles page. Hacking out the old floor in an HDB flat needs a renovation permit, and wet areas are waterproofed with a membrane before tiling. For grip ratings on the tile itself, see homogeneous versus porcelain tiles.
Which terrazzo fits your home?
Four questions. The answer weighs what each route asks of your home.
Your best-fit route appears here.
Is terrazzo vinyl flooring any good?
Our Urban Stone Series includes terrazzo-effect designs. It is 5mm vinyl, made in tile formats of 610x305, 300x600 and 450x900mm, with four-sided micro-bevelled edges so each joint reads like a real tile joint. It is 100% waterproof, Singapore Green Label certified, and carries our 25-year material warranty. Supply and install is S$4.00–S$4.40 psf.
It goes over your existing tiles with no hacking, as long as they are firmly bonded, level within 3mm across any 1.8m span, and free of cracked or lifting pieces. The floor rises by about 5–7mm, and our crew measures every door and trims any that would drag, on the day, at no extra charge.
Be clear on what you are buying. Those bevelled joints make it read as terrazzo tiles, not poured terrazzo, so if a floor with no joints is the point, vinyl is the wrong product. The chips are printed, so nothing catches the light the way polished stone does. It is for dry rooms, not showers or floors that get hosed down. Our marble vinyl guide covers the same series in its marble designs.
Busy or calm: which pattern suits your home?
Chip size and base colour decide how the floor lives day to day. Small, scattered chips on a pale base look calm and keep a small room feeling open, but a dark crumb or a stray hair stands out on them. A busier mix, with more chips in more colours, hides crumbs and dust between sweeps.
Large chips and strong contrast make a statement in an entrance or a kitchen. Across a whole flat they can feel restless, so it is worth keeping a bold pattern to one zone.
With any printed terrazzo, porcelain or vinyl, look at several pieces side by side before you choose. A design with few variations repeats the same cluster of chips across a room, which is easy to miss on a single sample.
What if your home already has terrazzo?
Some older homes still have their original terrazzo. A specialist can grind and polish it, so get one to look at it before anyone quotes to cover it. We would rather you kept a good old floor than paid us to hide it.
If you would rather cover it, the same check applies as for tiles: the floor must be sound, firmly bonded and level within 3mm across any 1.8m span before vinyl goes over it.
Read next
- Homogeneous versus porcelain tiles for the slip ratings a wet floor needs
- Floor tile sizes and formats and how a large tile changes a room
- Marble vinyl flooring with the same Urban Stone Series in its marble designs
- Our tile supply and installation service
Common Questions
Precast terrazzo tiles are made the traditional way, with real chips of stone or glass in a cement or resin base, ground in the factory. Cement-based ones are porous and usually sealed. Terrazzo-look tiles are usually porcelain with the pattern printed on, which gives a dense tile that takes in very little water and needs no sealing. Both are laid with grout lines like any other tile. Hafary, one of our two tile suppliers, carries terrazzo ranges.
Terrazzo tiles and terrazzo-effect vinyl both work in an HDB flat. Tiles laid after hacking out the old floor need an HDB renovation permit, while a dry-area vinyl overlay goes over the existing tiles and does not need one. Poured terrazzo is specialist work with a long, dusty job, and we do not do it, so ask a terrazzo specialist what it would involve in your flat.
Polished terrazzo is, which matters near a kitchen sink, at a bathroom door or anywhere bare feet meet water. A matt or textured finish grips better. For a wet area, choose a tile with a suitable slip rating, which our homogeneous versus porcelain tiles guide explains. Our Urban Stone terrazzo-effect vinyl is no exception, since any floor is slippery when wet, and it belongs in dry rooms, not showers.
In a dry kitchen, yes. Our Urban Stone Series is 100% waterproof, and it is the series we describe as the natural fit for kitchen floors. A wet kitchen that gets hosed down, a shower or a bathroom floor needs tile over a waterproofing membrane instead. Vinyl can still run through the dry rooms of the same flat, with a transition profile where it meets the tile.
Our Urban Stone Series, which includes terrazzo-effect designs, is S$4.00–S$4.40 psf supplied and installed over existing tiles. Terrazzo tiles are quoted per project, because the tile, the format and the work under it all vary, so WhatsApp Kayler at +65 8118 5520 for a same-day supply-and-install estimate. Poured terrazzo is priced by specialists, and we do not do it. The site visit is free.
It can be. Some older homes still have their original terrazzo, and a specialist can grind and polish it. That is not work we do, but it is worth a specialist's opinion before anyone quotes to cover the floor. If you would rather cover it, the floor has to pass the same check as tiles do before a vinyl overlay: sound, firmly bonded and level within 3mm across any 1.8m span.
Tiles are sold without a product warranty. Our 25-year material warranty covers our LVT vinyl range only. That range includes our Urban Stone Series and its terrazzo-effect designs, so the 25-year material warranty applies to the vinyl route and not to the tile route. Weigh that alongside the look, the joints and the downtime when you choose.
Weighing up a terrazzo floor?
Tell Kayler which rooms and whether you can hack. We will bring samples to a free site visit, and say plainly if poured terrazzo from a specialist is the better answer.
WhatsApp Kayler or call Kayler on +65 8118 5520