FLOORS AND

FLOORINGS

FLOOR
Structural component made to provide a

level surface

It is a horizontal sanitary surface that

supports the occupants of a building,

furniture and equipment.

STRUCTURE OF A FLOOR.
The floor is divided into three
components
Sub floor, base course or floor base
Floor covering or simply, flooring

Floor may be ground floor or upper floor

Problems of strength and stability are usually

minor ones at ground, because full support

from ground is available at all points
Major problem of ground floor is damp
exclusion and thermal insulation
Ground floor may either rest directly on the
ground (solid floor), or may be supported a
little distance above the ground (suspended
floor)

Requirements
Adequate strength and stability
Adequate fire resistance
Sound insulation
Damp resistance
Thermal insulation

SUBFLOOR
The floor under the
flooring is called
thesubfloor.
This provides the
support
for the
flooring.
Special purpose
subfloors
likefloating
floors,raised floors
orsprung floorsmay
be laid upon another
underlying subfloor
which provides the

FLOORING
Flooringis the general term

for a permanent covering of a

floor, or for the work of
installing such a floor covering.
Floor coveringis a term to generically
describe any finish material applied
over a floor structure to provide a
walking surface.
Materials almost always classified as
floor covering includecarpet, area
rugs, and resilient flooring such
aslinoleumorvinylflooring.
Materials commonly called flooring
includewood flooring,ceramic
tile,stone,terrazzo, and various
seamless chemical floor coatings.

UPPER FLOORS
TYPES
Jack arch floors
Reinforced cement concrete floors
Filler joists floors
Precast concrete floors
Timber floors
Ribbed or hollow tiled floors

Jack arch

Filler joists floors

Timber floors

Ribbed or hollow tiled floor

FLOORING MATERIALS
The choice of material for floor covering

is affected by factors such as cost,

endurance, noise insulation, comfort and
cleaning effort.
Some types of flooring must not be
installed below grade (lower than ground
level), and laminate or hardwood should
be avoided where there may be moisture
or condensation.
The sub-floor may be finished in a way
that makes it usable without any extra
work.

SELECTION OF FLOORING
MATERIAL
depends upon below factors:
Initial Cost
Appearance
Cleanliness
Durability
Damp Resistance
Sound Insulation
Thermal Insulation
Fire Resistance
Smoothness
Hardness
Maintenance

SOFT
COVERINGS
Carpetis a floor covering
woven or felted from natural
or man-made fibre.

Fitted carpetis attached to

the floor structure, extends

wall-to-wall, and cannot be
moved from place to place.
Rugs are smaller than the

room in which they are

located and are generally
placed over the wood
flooring.
They may be attached to the

flooring below by adhesive

or other methods.

WOOD
FLOORING

Many different species of wood

are fabricated intowood

flooringin two primary forms:
plank andparquet.
Hardwoodsare typically much

more durable thansoftwoods.

Laminateis a floor covering that

appears similar to hardwood but

is made with a plywood or
medium density fibreboard
("MDF") core with a plastic
laminate top layer.
Bamboo flooringis a floor

manufactured from the bamboo

plant and is a type of hardwood
flooring, though technically not a
wood.

HARD WOOD FLOORING

RESILIENT FLOORING
Resilientflooring is

made of material
that has some
elasticity.
It includes many
different
manufactured
products
includinglinoleum,
sheetvinyl,vinyl
composition tile
(VCT),cork(sheet
or tile),rubber, and

Cork flooring
Cork is the outer bark of cork oak trees

available in the form of cork carpet and cork

tiles
Such type of floor is perfectly noiseless, and is
used in libraries, theatres, art galleries,
broadcasting stations etc.

TILES FLOORING
Square, hexagonal

and other shapes

Made of clay, cement
concrete or terrazzo
Terrazzo is a specially
prepared concrete
surface containing
cement and marble
chips

MOSAIC FLOORING

Mosaic flooring is made of small pieces of

broken tiles of china glaze or of cement,
or of marble , arranged in different
patterns

This pieces are cut to desired shapes and

sizes.

Example of Mosaic flooring are terraces

and indoor gardens.

EXAMPLES OF MOSIAC
FLOORING

SEAMLESS CHEMICAL
FLOORING
Many different seamless

flooring materials are

available. These are
usually
latex,polyester,urethane
orepoxycompounds
which are applied in liquid
form to provide a
completely seamless floor
covering.
These are usually found in
wet areas such as
laboratories or food
processing plants.

MARBLE FLOORING

It is a superior type of flooring, used in

bathrooms and kitchens of residential
buildings and in hospitals, sanatoriums,
temples etc. Where extra cleanliness is
an essential requirement.

Marble slabs may be laid in different

sizes, usually in rectangular or square
shapes.

MARBLE FLOORING

BRICK FLOORING
Such a flooring is used in low cost

construction, specially where good bricks

are available.
This flooring is specially suited to warehouses, stores, go-downs etc.
Well-burnt bricks of good colour and
uniform shapes are used.
Bricks are laid either or flat or on edge,
arranged in herring bone fashion or set
at right angles to the walls, or set any
other good looking pattern.

BRICK FLOORING

EXAMPLES OF BRICK FLOORING

GLASS FLOORING

This is a special purpose flooring, used in

circumstances where it is desired to
transmit light from upper floor to lower
areas.

Glass flooring is very costly, and not

commonly used.

E.g. Dance floor or Home decoration.

EXAMPLES OF GLASS FLOORING

STONE FLOORING

EXAMPLES OF STONE FLOORING

RUBBER FLOORING

It consists of sheets or tiles of rubber, in

variety of patterns and colours with
thickness varying from 3 to 10 mm.

The sheets are fixed to the concrete floor

with the help of appropriate adhesives.

Rubber floorings are resilient and noise

proof.

They are costly, hence used in public

buildings or offices

EXAMPLES OF RUBBER FLOORING

SUSTAINABLE FLOORING
Sustainable flooring is produced from

sustainable materials (and by a

sustainable process) that reduces
demands on ecosystems during its lifecycle.
Some think that sustainable flooring
creates safer and healthier buildings and
guarantees a future for traditional
producers of renewable resources that
many communities depend on.

FLOORING TOOLS
Special tools used for flooring
include:
Flooring clamp, a clamp
fortongue-and-groovefloors
while nailing
Knee kicker, used to position
carpets precisely and stretch
small areas, like steps
Concrete moisture meterused
to check a concrete floor before
laying flooring on top

FLOOR FEATURES
There are a number of special features that may be
used toornamenta floor or perform a useful
service:
Floor medallionsdecorative centrepieces of a floor
design
Doormatsto help keep a floor clean
Gratingsused to drain water or to rub dirt off shoes
Tactile or rumble strips to warn of for instance a
wheelchair ramp, these would normally also be
distinctively coloured or patterned.
Light strips to show an escape route out, especially
on airplanes.

Mouldingsor

baseboardsto
decorate the
sides of a floor or
to cover the edge
of a floating floor.
Anti-Slip
DevicesThe
addition of either
granular or
rubberized
particles that will
allow wheels,
shoes, or feet

ISSUES WITH FLOORS

Wood floors, particularly older ones, will tend

to 'squeak' in certain places.

This is caused by the wood rubbing against
other wood, usually at ajoint of the subfloor.
Firmly securing the pieces to each other
withscrewsor nailswill remove this problem.
Concrete floors are usually so solid they do not
have this problem, but are also much more
expensive to construct, and much heavier,
resulting in further requirements regarding the
structure of the building.

Floor vibrationis a particularly annoying

problem with floors. Wood floors tend to

passsound, particularly heavy footsteps
and lowbass frequencies.
Floating floorscan reduce or eliminate
this problem.
The flooring may need protection
sometimes (e.g., a gym floor used for a
graduation ceremony).
AGym floor covercan be used to reduce
the need to satisfy incompatible
requirements.