BC-1 (Unit-1)

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A hub exclusively created by, for and to the architectural students!
THEORY REFERENCE NOTES
COURSE: B.Arch
SEMESTER: SEMESTER – 1
AUTHOR NAME: Ibrahim sir
BUILDING
CONSTRUCTION-1
CONTENT
S.No CHAPTERS PAGE#

1. PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPERS
2. NOTES – UNIT:1
CREDITS
Source: Internet, Civil Content writer:

engineering textbooks,
architectural textbooks,
JNAFAU library
Editor: Ibrahim sir
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PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPERS (2013 – 2019)

Theory
✓ Write short notes
o Flat roofs
o Jack Arch roofs
o RCC roofs
✓ List out various factors to be considered in the selection of
flooring materials for a building.
✓ Write short notes on floor finishes
✓ With the help of neat sketches explain the following:
o Brick on edge flooring
o Terrazzo flooring
✓ Write short notes
o Madras terrazzo roofs
o Jack Arch roofs
o Floor finishes
o Shahbad stone flooring
Drawing
✓ Draw the Madras terrace roof of size 3.5m x 3.5m with wall
thickness of 60cm. Draw the plan and section with suitable
scale,
✓ Draw the following types of flat roof at a scale of 1:20
o Madras terrace roof of span 3.5m
o RCC jack arch of span 4m
✓ Draw plan and sectional elevation of the following timber
floors using suitable scale:
o Single joist floor
o Triple joist floor
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✓ Sketch and explain the construction details of Madras terrace

roof to a suitable scale,
✓ Draw to a suitable scale, sections of a typical madras terrace
roof and jack arch roof for a span of 3m
✓ Draw the following types of flat roof at a scale of 1:20
o Madras terrace roof of span 3.5m
o RCC jack arch of span 3.5m
✓ Draw the timber upper floor for a room of 3m x 4,5m showing
construction details to appropriate scale.
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UNIT-7
SYLLABUS:
Construction techniques of the past:
Ground and upper floors: solid floor, brick flooring, floor
finishing and floor coverings, Basement floor.
Wooden ground and upper floors: Terms defined, bridging
joists, binding joists, binders, beams and girders, solid and
herring bone strutting, floor boards, ceiling joists, trimming
floors to accommodate fire place. Details of fire place.
Flat roofs: Madras terrace, Jack arch, elementary knowledge

about R.C.C roof and floor slabs.
The purpose of a floor is to provide a levelled surface capable of

supporting the occupants of a building, furniture, equipment and
also internal partitions. The function of a building vary according
to the situation of the floor in the building and the nature of the
building itself.
The floors resting directly on the ground surface are known as
ground floors, while the other floors of each storey situated above
the ground level are known as upper floor.
A good floor must satisfy the following requirements:
1. Adequate strength and stability
2. Adequate fire resistance
3. Sound insulation
4. Damp resistance and
5. Thermal insulation.
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MATERIALS USED FOR GROUND AND UPPER FLOORS:

Materials used for construction of ground floor base are:
▪ Cement concrete
▪ Lime concrete
▪ Stones
▪ Bricks
▪ Wooden blocks (for wooden flooring only)
The materials used for floor finish or floor covering are:
a. Mud and murram
b. Bricks
c. Flag stones
d. Concrete
e. Terrazzo
f. Mosaic
g. Tiles
h. Marble Granolithic finish
i. Wood or timber
j. Asphalt
k. Rubber
l. Linoleum flooring
m. Cork
n. Glass
o. Plastic or P.V.C
SELECTION OF MATERIAL
Following are the factors affecting the choice of a flooring
material:
a. Initial cost: The cost of the material should be in conformity
with the type of building and its likely use.
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b. Appearance: Flooring should produce a desired colour effect

and architectural beauty.
▪ Floorings of terrazzo, mosaic, tiles and marble give good
appearance.
a. Cleanliness: Flooring should be non-absorbent and should be
capable of being cleaned easily. It should have effective
resistance against absorption of oil or grease
b. Durability: Flooring should have sufficient resistance to wear
and tear, temperature changes, disintegration with time and
decay.
▪ Flooring of marble, terrazzo, tiles, concrete and mosaic is
considered to be of good durability.
c. Damp resistance: Flooring should offer sufficient resistance
against dampness, so that healthy environment is obtained in
the building.
▪ Flooring of concrete, terrazzo, mosaic is preferred for this
purpose.
▪ Flooring of cork, wood, rubber, linoleum, brick is not
suitable for damp conditions.
d. Sound insulation: Flooring should insulate the noise.
▪ Floorings of cork, rubber and timber are suitable.
e. Thermal insulation: Flooring should offer reasonably good
thermal insulation so that comfort is imparted to the residents
of the building.
▪ Floor covering of wood, rubber, cork, PVC tiles are better for
this purpose.
f. Fire resistance: Flooring material should offer sufficient fire
resistance so that fire barriers are obtained between different
levels of a building.
▪ Concrete, tiles, terrazzo, mosaic, marble have good fire
resistance.
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g. Smoothness: Flooring material should be smooth, and should

have even surface. However, it should not be slippery.
h. Hardness: Flooring should be sufficiently hard so as to have
resistance to indentation marks, imprints etc.
i. Maintenance: Flooring material should require least
maintenance. However, whenever repairs are required, it
should be such that repairs can be done easily.
TYPES OF FLOORINGS:
Mud flooring:
a. Mud flooring is cheap, fairly impervious, easy in
construction and easy in maintenance.
b. It remains warm in winter and cool in summer.
c. It is constructed by evenly spreading a thick layer of 25cm
upon the prepared bed and is rammed until a consolidated
thickness of 15cm is achieved.
Muram flooring:
a. Muram flooring has the same advantages as that of mud-
floors.
b. Upon the prepared sub-grade, a 15cm thick layer of muram
is laid. Upon this layer, a 25mm of powdered muram is
spread and water is sprinkled over the entire surface.
c. The surface is then rammed well until a creamy layer of
muram rises to the top. The surface is left for a day and then
is rammed again for three days.
d. The dry hard surface thus formed is smeared with a thick
coat of cow- dung and rammed again for two days in the
morning. Finally the surface is finished with a cement cow-
dung plaster (1:4).
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Brick Flooring:
a. Brick flooring is specially suited in warehouses, stores, go-
downs etc.
b. Well-burnt bricks of good colour and uniform shapes are
used.
c. In its construction, the sub-grade is compacted properly to
the desired level and a 7.5 cm thick layer of sand is spread
over it.
d. A base course of bricks is built by placing the bricks flat in a
12mm thick bed of cement or lime mortar.
Flag Stone Flooring:
a. Flag stone is any laminated sand stone available in the size
of 45cm x 60cm with a thickness ranging from 2 cm to 4 cm.
b. This type of work is also called paving.
c. The stone slabs are laid over a thick concrete base of 10cm
to 15cm after properly compacting the sub-soil.
d. The flag stones are then laid over 20 to 25 mm thick layer of
bed mortar.
e. Proper slope is given to the surface for drainage.
Cement concrete flooring:
a. This is commonly used for residential, commercial and even
industrial building.
b. It is moderately cheap, durable and easy to construct.
c. The floor consists of two components:
i. Base concrete
ii. Topping or wearing surface.
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Granolithic finish:
a. In industrial building, hard wearing surface is sometimes
required.
b. This can be achieved by applying granolithic finish over the
concrete topping.
c. Granolithic finish consists of rich concrete made with very
hard and tough quality coarse aggregate (such as granite,
basalt, quartzite)
Terrazzo:
a. Terrazzo is a composite material either poured in place or
precast or hydraulically pressed as tiles.
b. It is used for floor and wall decorative finishes and consists
of marble, quartz, granite, glass or other suitable chips.
c. Terrazzo is cured, grounded and polished to a smooth
surface or otherwise finished to produce a uniformly
textured surface.
Mosaic Flooring:
a. Mosaic flooring is made up of small pieces of broken tiles of
china-glazed or cement or of marble, arranged in different
pattern cut to desired shapes and sizes.
b. A concrete base is prepared as in the use of concrete
flooring, and over it a 5cm to 8 cm thick lime-stone mortar is
spread.
c. This is levelled over an area which can be completed
conveniently within working period so that the mortar may
not get dried before the floor is finished on this.
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Tiled Flooring:
a. Tiled flooring is constructed from square, hexagonal or other
shapes, made of clay (pottery), cement concrete or terrazzo
available in different sizes and thicknesses.
b. These are commonly used in residential houses, offices,
schools, hospitals and other public buildings, especially
where the floor is to be laid quickly.
Marble Flooring:
a. Marble flooring is a superior type of flooring.
b. Marble slabs may be laid in different sizes, usually in
rectangular or square shapes.
c. The marble slabs are laid over the base concrete, 20 mm
thick bedding mortar of 1:4 cement:
Timber Flooring:
a. Timber flooring is used for carpentry halls, dancing halls,
auditoriums etc.
b. They are not commonly used in residential buildings in
India, because timber flooring is also quite costlier.
c. However, in hilly areas, where timber is cheaply and readily
available, and where temperature drop very low, timber
flooring is quite common.
Rubber Flooring:
a. Rubber flooring consists of sheets or tiles of rubber, in
variety of patterns and colours with thickness varying from
3mm to 10 mm.
b. The sheet or tile is manufactured by mixing pure rubber
with tillers such as cotton fibre, granulated cork or asbestos
fibre.
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c. The sheets or tiles are fixed to concrete base or wood by

means of appropriate adhesives.
d. Rubber floorings are resilient and noise proof. However,
they are costly.
e. They are used only in office or public buildings.
Glass Flooring:
a. Glass flooring is special purpose flooring, used where it is
desired to transmit light from upper floor to lower floor, and
specially to admit light at the basement from the upper floor.
b. Structural glass is available in the form of tiles or slabs, in
thicknesses varying from 12 to 30 mm.
c. These are fixed in closely spaced frames so that glass and the
frame can sustain anticipated loads.
d. Glass flooring is very costly, and is not commonly used.
Asphalt Flooring:
a. Asphalt flooring is dustless, elastic, durable, water proof,
acid proof, attractive in appearance, non-slippery and
noiseless.
b. The construction of Asphalt flooring involves the following
operations:
i. Asphalt is heated and clean sharp sand is added in 2:1
proportion (2 parts of sand with 1 part of asphalt).
ii. Laying of the prepared mastic asphalt- it is poured on
the previously prepared concrete bed in uniform
thickness 13mm to 25mm.
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BC-1 (Unit-1)

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A hub exclusively created by, for and to the architectural students!

THEORY REFERENCE NOTES

S.No CHAPTERS PAGE#

Source: Internet, Civil Content writer:

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPERS (2013 – 2019)

✓ Sketch and explain the construction details of Madras terrace

Flat roofs: Madras terrace, Jack arch, elementary knowledge

The purpose of a floor is to provide a levelled surface capable of

MATERIALS USED FOR GROUND AND UPPER FLOORS:

b. Appearance: Flooring should produce a desired colour effect

g. Smoothness: Flooring material should be smooth, and should

c. The sheets or tiles are fixed to concrete base or wood by

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