Terrazzo Workers and Finishers
Also called Terrazzo Finisher, Terrazzo Installer, Terrazzo Tile Setter, or Terrazzo Worker
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Terrazzo Workers and Finishers do
You mix cement, color, and marble chips into floors, then grind them until they shine like polished stone.
Terrazzo is a floor made by hand. You mix cement, sand, color pigment, and chips of marble, spread it over a base, press the chips in, then grind and polish the hardened surface until it gleams. You also cut thin metal strips and press them into the wet mix to divide colors, form patterns, and keep the floor from cracking. Look down in an old school lobby or an airport and you may be standing on someone's work.
It is construction, so you measure carefully, follow specifications, and meet deadlines. It is also design, since the pattern and colors have to come out right. This is a small field: about 100 openings a year, and employment is projected to change by -13% from 2025 to 2035, compared with +3.5% for all jobs.
A day in the life
You arrive early, put on safety gear, and check the plan with your crew. You might weigh out cement, sand, pigment, and marble chips on a scale, then load them into a portable mixer. You spread the mix and level it with rakes, flat hand tools called trowels, and long straight bars called screeds you drag across to flatten it. Then you push a roller over the surface to press the chips in. Once a floor poured earlier has hardened and dried, you run a polishing machine across it, then a small hand grinder for stairs and cabinet tops. You fill low spots with a matching filler paste called grout. You talk with the foreman (the person in charge of the crew), the customer, and other workers on site. Other stretches are just you, the machine, and the noise.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓like working with your hands and standing all day
- ✓care about a surface looking exactly right
- ✓enjoy mixing and measuring to a precise formula
- ✓want a job where color and pattern matter
- ✓prefer learning on the job with a paycheck instead of years of classes
You might not like it if you…
- –need a quiet, clean, indoor desk setting
- –struggle with kneeling, lifting, and hours on your feet
- –want a large, growing field with openings in most towns
- –dislike deadlines when a floor has to be finished on schedule
How people get in
- 1Finish high school or an equivalent, and take math, shop, or art classes if you can.
- 2Get a feel for the work by helping on a construction site or with a flooring, tile, or concrete crew.
- 3Look for an apprenticeship with a terrazzo or flooring contractor, where you usually earn pay while learning from experienced installers.
- 4Learn the whole sequence on the job: mixing, setting metal strips, spreading, grinding, polishing, and sealing.
- 5Consider a related training program, such as a carpet, floor, and tile worker program, if one is offered near you.
- 6Because this is a small trade, ask contractors, unions, and related workers like tile setters and cement masons where terrazzo jobs are happening in your area.
Who tends to enjoy it
Hands-on
People who like building, fixing, working with tools, machines, plants, or animals.
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Creative
People who like making things, design, writing, music, and self-expression.
Official task list
Terrazzo Workers and Finishers apply a mixture of cement, sand, pigment, or marble chips to floors, stairways, and cabinet fixtures to fashion durable and decorative surfaces. (O*NET)
- Measure designated amounts of ingredients for terrazzo or grout, according to standard formulas and specifications, using graduated containers and scales, and load ingredients into portable mixer.
- Grind surfaces with a power grinder, or polish surfaces with polishing or surfacing machines.
- Cut metal division strips and press them into the terrazzo base for joints or changes of color to form designs or patterns or to help prevent cracks.
- Blend marble chip mixtures, place into panels, and push a roller over the surface to embed the chips.
- Modify mixing, grouting, grinding, or cleaning procedures, according to type of installation or material used.
- Spread, level, or smooth concrete or terrazzo mixtures to form bases or finished surfaces, using rakes, shovels, hand or power trowels, hand or power screeds, or floats.
- Grind curved surfaces or areas inaccessible to surfacing machine, such as stairways or cabinet tops, with portable hand grinder.
- Wash polished terrazzo surface, using cleaner and water, and apply sealer and curing agent according to manufacturer's specifications, using brush or sprayer.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Coordination
- Quality Control Analysis
- Speaking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
What you'll need to know
- Building and Construction
- Design
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Administration and Management
How much Terrazzo Workers and Finishers make
The median pay for Terrazzo Workers and Finishers in the U.S. is $76,170 a year ($36.62 an hour). Most earn between $46,090 and $126,130. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in New York ($123,820) and lowest in California ($41,430).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| California | $41,430 | — |
| Florida | $49,500 | — |
| Illinois | $107,190 | — |
| Michigan | $72,450 | — |
| New Jersey | $57,550 | 100 |
| New York | $123,820 | — |
| Wisconsin | $57,930 | — |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Carpet, Floor, and Tile Worker 3 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 47-2053.00, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 47-2053. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.