Their terrazzo tile is NOT a vinyl product. It's real terrazzo made with an epoxy matrix, in 1/16" thick tiles. I've used it in stores before, but never in a home.

As for the ceramic, it depends what you get with reference to the slip factor (what's known as coefficient of friction- CoF). If you use something like textured porcelain, the slip factor isn't even a... factor! :-) AS for the cantilevered steel, you'd need to have soft joints where the tile goes from wood to concrete, anyway, so that should be enough to take up the movement you're talking about.

What Bill said, and I have used the 1/8" Fritztile in staores and homes. Requires polishing on occasion to keep it looking good, but a fine product.

Thanks much for the input; good to hear. Last question before committing (and assuming we can find an experienced installer): any idea why this product is so under the radar for residential applications? Between being unique and competitively priced, we're just a little worried that the lack of advertising / reviews / etc. means that there's some big reason that lots of people steer away from it. If I'm wrong on this, I really want to hear it. Thanks again.

There are products 'for the masses' and then specialty products targeted for the discerning consumer. Fritztile falls into the category of a specialty product, just as does genuine linoleum and cork; you won't find much advertising for any of those flooring alternatives.

Any resilient installer who can provide the flat and smooth substrate required for any resilient material and use the adhesive recommended for the application will be able to give you a successful installation. Interview the actual installer who will be doing the job or contract with a company who has experience with Fritztile and will stand behind the installer and the installation 100%. Not easy to do...but worth the time and footwork.

BTW, if the Kentile is solid vinyl Colonial Brick pattern or Terresque and will come off your concrete reasonable clean, they can be resold on Ebay and people will pay well for the opportunity to own those.

Colin (or any fritztile users),
Very interested in how your fritztile turned out! We just came across this product and it appears to be just what we're looking for (terrazzo without pouring concrete!) to effect a mid century look in our 60's high-rise condo. Any info/pictures greatly appreciated. Many thanks,
kristen & michael

kristin & michael - the fritztile is (finally!) going in this week; we'll post some pictures when it's finished... Interested to hear if you went with it....

Hi, I know this thread is a bit old, but did floorobsessed or anyone else end up using the FritzTile? I would love to see pictures!

PS, Is there a way to contact a member directly on gardenweb? Send them a personal message or something?

When I inquired with Expanko, the sister company of Fritztile following is the response I received on January 2, 2019.

"Fritztile was closed for business. At this time no one has purchased the line.

I apologize for the inconvenience."

As other’s have mentioned about this being an old thread, it still comes up when searching for Fritztile. I came across this company about 2yrs ago, but we weren’t ready at the time for flooring. Now that we are, the company has gone out of business. I’m hoping to find a company that may have purchased their remaining stock. Anyone else have any luck? Or can post pictures of your Fritztile floor?? Thank you!

Jkhellard - Your kitchen is beautiful! Is that with the Fritztile? How is it with scuffs and scratches? And what type of cleaner do you use??

Thank you Nina! Yes it is Fritz Tile. I had the flooring installed in 2014 when I purchased my home. I do have a dog and his nails tend to scratch the polish. Typically I mop it with a non-Alkaline cleaner or steam mop it regularly. To cover any marks or scratches I will use Mop & Glo as needed. But every 1 1/2 to 2 years, it gets stripped, resealed and polished.

These floors hold up to traffic, animals and spills great. Fritz Tile did close down in December of 2018. I do not know if the parent company has a comparable product now.

You may want to look at Terrazzio.com I am getting ready to order 4'x4' terrazzo tile with the metal stripping.

Any idea of cost per sq ft? I am about to reno a MCM house and struggling with flooring.

It’s approximate $15.00 p/sf I think it was $14.65 p/sf. The installation was fairly complicated and difficult but we absolutely love the end result. Our house is 1400 ft.² and we did every room except for one bathroom. The installation takes a highly skilled person that works with large format tile. Our house is on a raised foundation, the prep required a self leveling material before they could lay the tile. There are very specific instructions per the manufacturer otherwise they will not guarantee the tile. The manufacturer calls for all Laticrete products in the installation process. One of the beauties of the product is it’s only 3/8” thick and it flexes, it’s not static like ceramic or porcelain. Best scenario is if it’s laid when the temperature is above 70°F. When the tile came on the crate it was arched in the middle so they had to lay it out and set heavy mortar bags on it to flatten it out and that did work.

Wow. That is stunning!! Thank you for answering my question and sharing your photos.

Wow-this thread lives! It’s been 10+ years now and it’s exceeded expectations. Took a crew of four a week to install. had to remind them to silicone grout all the perimeter edges, and had to deal it myself. Sealing is easy and I do it about every 4 years. A shame to hear fritztile closed down.

Hey colintucker9 May I ask what you seal and top coat with? I'm getting ready to install some Fritztile. But with the company out of business I cant find out what kind of sealer to use. Also in their paperwork they say to top coat with DurO-Gloss and all I can find is a product called DurA-Glass. Any advice on what you use is much appreciated.

Sliceof1960: You're lucky! I got here because I was trying to find a link for shopping. I ordered samples a couple of years ago, and we're finally getting to the project I was considering using it for...guess I won't!

I did find a link for installation, etc.

https://www.floorbros.com/install/terrazzo_tile/fritztile/Fritztile_Basic_Installation_Instructions.pdf

Hope this helps. Good luck!

slice- I bought a couple gallons of the dur o gloss maybe 5 years ago and use that. i can try to take a look at what's in it or who made it. hyde- i was in an open house last month that used real terrazzo in tile form instead of poured in place. Really nice. Wouldn't have worked for me because our subfloor looks flat but has several joints that required the flex in the fritztile. If your subfloor is actually one level, I'd go with the real tile.

Check craigslist. there is a national company that sells all kinds off repurposed products. They are now selling new 1x1 flexible tiles that I believe are Fitztile. Boxes of 50 in lots of colors. $2/sf.. They are shipped from a Dallas warehouse.

I just purchased some and so excited to put it

@HU: I just discovered that website and am seriously considering purchasing. Does anyone recommend an installer in Houston? Or can a good tile layer do this?

@colintucker: is it hard to reseal yourself?

I was doing a little nostalgic searching this morning and for some reason thought about Fritztile and decided to see what's up with it these days. I've worked for Fritz Industries for near 20 years, although I've never had anything to do with the tile division. Several years ago the company sold the tile division to Expanko. I hadn't heard that Expanko discontinued the line, so I have no info on that. I can attest to its durability, however. All of our buildings use that tile in office areas and it's held up well over the years. One of our buildings had a fire before my time, about 25 years ago. What didn't burn down was torn down and a new wall was put up on that end of the building and the bare foundation pad was left as a place to store whatever junk wasn't in use at the moment. Parts of that pad still has the tile in place even after withstanding a fire and being exposed to the elements for 25 years. Admittedly, it looks a bit shabby and could do with a good polish, but it's still there!

Can you recommend what type of polish to use? Do you need to use a machine to strip it before polishing? We have had this product in our MCM home for about 9 years. I previously have had a company strip and redo the polish but I was hoping to do it myself; with the company out of business I am not sure which products to use.

I am also trying to find the correct products to strip and refinish FritzTile. I have it in my kitchen and it is in dire need of a facelift. Does anyone know what to use?

I have FritzTile in my kitchen and could not locate any for the "FritzTile" products for stripping, cleaning and polishing them. Mine were dull and showing signs of wear. My dog had done enough running on them that you could see his nail marks in the topcoat. I went to Lowes and bought Zeb Stripper, Zeb Cleaner & Zeb Polish for floors. I also bought 3 different mop heads to keep the products separate. I had an Oreck polisher (purchased off Amazon) that I had purchased earlier for these floors as well as my stone and ceramic tile floors. They have a variety of pads that help with stripping and polishing. I just followed the directions on the stripper and was amazed how much crap came up. I stripped the floors 2 times with the aid of the polisher. You can do it with a mop, but will be a lot more labor intensive. I then mopped the floors 3 times, allowing them to dry completely between. The next day I applied the floor polish with the mop and allowed it to dry and then buffed it with the floor polisher. I put 3 coats of polish on it. They turned out amazing! The initial investment was about $400 (including the polisher and different pads for it), and over 3/4 of the Zeb materials left. So if I get 2 more stripping and polishing out of them, averages $133 each, which is way cheaper than having someone else do them. Here are some pictures of AFTER.

Wow! I’m so doing this to ours! Well, post pandemic. Too many people in school and at work while at home.

I installed a Frtiztile floor in my kitchen and I've had a lot of trouble having it sealed so that water does not seep between the tiles. I am too old to do this work myself. Does anyone know of a company in the New York City area that does good work with stripping and sealing Fritztiles?

I found this: Stripping, resealing and refinishing Fritztile 1. Strip using a mixture of eight (8) ounces of FCP-400 Floor Finish Stripper to one (1) gallon of warm water. Avoid high alkali strippers. Scrub the floor using a suitable stripping pad under a single disc floor machine. Pick up the stripping solution with a wet vac. It is advised that pads and techniques be practiced first in inconspicuous areas to ensure that the procedure does not remove the factory- applied

coating. Do not allow solutions to dry on the floor or be left on the _oor for more than 15 minutes.

2. Rinse the floor three (3) times with clean neutral pH water to ensure all of the detergent has been removed from the tile surface.

3. Follow procedures for sealing and refinishing as explained in PRECAUTIONS AND CARE AFTER INSTALLATION instructions in this document, skipping step 4.

Btw, I installed mine in 1990s and never refinished. Looking to now.

Hello jkhellard what kind polish did you use, I have the same floor?

Sorry, I see your info, your floors look great by the way.

I installed fritztile in my kitchen 33 years ago. It’s been fabulous, and as a serious cook i will add that one doesnt get tired standing on this floor surface (in contrast to porcelain tiles in a previous hme)

I’m about to refurbish the kitchen,. replace cabinets, install new countertop…But we will keep the the floors.

we will cover the floors, and then strip and repolish the tile when the job is done .

It’s no longer possible to get the products recommended by fritztile, so instead for the past 9 years i have been using products by Treewax for regular maintenance.

however i may use Zep, with a polishing machine as recommended by jkhellard (above)