Terrazzo was invented by the Venetians as they specialized in Mosaics by placing long stems of marble in hard clay. They would then grind and polish the marble. Ciottoli, or tumbled stone, was also produced mainly in the Byzantine designs, leaving large quantities of scrap behind. This scrap marble was crushed using a mallet to granulate the material and then mixed with hard clay. The clay and marble mixture was used as flooring where it was laid by hand before being ground down and polished. As the Romans invented cement, Terrazzo was used on many floors. In the late 1880’s, Terrazzo came to the United States, but the grinding and polishing was still being done by hand. Buy the 1920’s, motor driven grinders were introduced, and later electric grinders became more available. Earth Surfaces now has multiple line polishers to grind and polish Terrazzo products. Until the 1970’s, Florida homes where all built on Terrazzo floors. As the prices for manufacturing and installing Terrazzo floors went up, builders started using Cuban or ceramic tile and later used carpet. At this point, manufacturing Terrazzo for homes was not cost effective and there were less companies to do the installation. At Earth Surfaces, our operation is focused on paving slabs for Pool Decks, Lanais, Steps and also Countertops. Earth Surfaces  has a full line of Terrazzo slabs for the Terrazzo market, and we also specialize in customizing these products for our clients’ needs and designs.