Clearance terrazzo look tiles
The speckled chip look, as a porcelain tile rather than a poured floor. All the pattern, none of the grinding, curing and sealing that real terrazzo involves.
Buying terrazzo look tiles: what actually matters
Terrazzo is the pattern most likely to show a visible repeat
A scattered chip pattern looks random, which is exactly why the eye is so good at spotting when it is not. If a range has only a handful of printed faces, the same distinctive chip cluster reappears across the floor and the illusion collapses. It matters far more here than on a plain colour. Dry lay a decent patch before committing to a large area.
Chip scale changes the room more than the colour does
A fine, dense chip reads almost as a solid speckled colour from standing height and suits a large floor without becoming busy. A large, bold chip reads as pattern and is usually better used on a smaller area: a splashback, a powder room, a feature wall. Judging this from a close-up product photo is how people end up with a very loud living room.
How much to over-order, and why 10% is usually the wrong number
Ten per cent is the figure everyone repeats and it is only right for a simple rectangular room laid square with a large format tile. Straight lay in a plain room runs closer to 7 to 10%. A diagonal or herringbone lay wastes far more on the perimeter cuts, so 15 to 20% is realistic. Small formats and mosaics waste more again as a proportion. Rooms with lots of edges, a hob, a niche, a stepped floor, push it up. Because this stock does not come back, round up to the next whole box and then add one more: a spare box costs less than the tile and stops a single cracked tile in year three becoming a whole new floor.
Why this stock is such good value
Clearance tiles are not seconds. Everything here is first grade. It is cheap because it is finite: a line an importer is clearing, a colourway a manufacturer has stopped making, or the tail of a container that nobody wants to keep warehousing. The catch is not quality, it is that you cannot get more. On a normal tile you can go back in six weeks for another two boxes. Here you cannot, so the quantity you order is the quantity you will ever have.