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Answers

What colours can terrazzo be made in?

A cement-bound terrazzo takes its colour from the binder and the pigment: 3 to 6 per cent pigment by weight of cement, from alkali- and light-resistant mineral pigments. A resin-bound terrazzo is not limited that way — the resin can be tinted, which is why bold colour is usually an epoxy floor rather than a cement one.
The four Chinese grades of terrazzoFor each of four grades, a bar shows the maximum water absorption in per cent and a figure gives the minimum average flexural strength in megapascals. From JC/T 507-2022 table 7.12468Standard terrazzo8%min. avg. 5 MPaHigh-performance6%min. avg. 8 MPaCement artificial stone4%min. avg. 10 MPaHigh-performance cement artificial stone1%min. avg. 15 MPaFour grades, not four points on a line: each is a separate product class.Water absorption, maximum permitted. From JC/T 507-2022 table 7. Axis starts at 1% because that is the lowest grade; it is not a zero-based axis.
The four grades of JC/T 507-2022 table 7, showing the maximum water absorption of each. The axis starts at 1%, not zero, and says so.

The figures, and where each one comes from

Where the colour comes from What that allows
Cement matrix the grey or white of the cement, plus 3 to 6% mineral pigment
Resin matrix tinted resin, so saturated colour is available
The aggregate carries the pattern and most of the visible movement
Matte or polished changes how light comes off it, not what colour it is

Why the processes are not interchangeable

The 3 to 6 per cent figure is not a design preference, it is a clause. GB 50209-2010 requires the same colour layer to use pigment from the same factory and the same batch, and puts the mix at 3 to 6 per cent of the cement weight or as determined by test — and the pigment must be light-fast and alkali-resistant, with acid pigments excluded. That last part is why you do not find an acid-stable colour in a cement terrazzo: an acid pigment would be attacked by the matrix it is colouring. On a resin-bound floor the binder is the colour and the constraint is different, which is the practical reason epoxy is the system chosen when a client wants a saturated hue.

What these figures are, and what they are not

The 3 to 6 per cent figure and the same-batch pigment requirement are GB 50209-2010 clause 5.4.2; the alkali-resistant and light-fast requirement is clause 5.4.8 and JC/T 507-2022. ⛔ We have made no sample of any colour outside our published mixes and we do not claim a colour range beyond them: a photograph on screen is not a colour-match. The colourway library at /colourways/ lists the reference colourways from two published catalogues — the makers' own swatch photographs, measured by us from the images, with no sample made and no colour claimed beyond what a swatch shows.

Measured data sheets and test reports

If you are specifying this

These are the forms we actually supply for this question, with production photographs where we have them:

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