TIMBER FLOORS

Construction Tech. By Arc. Isaac A.

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 INTRODUCTION

• Timber, being a combustible material, is

restricted by Building Regulations to small
domestic buildings as a structural flooring
material.
• Its popularity in this context is due to its low
cost in relationship to other structural flooring
methods and materials.
• Structural softwood is readily available at a
reasonable cost, it is easily worked and has a
good strength to weight ratio and is therefore
suitable for domestic loadings.
Construction Tech. By Arc. Isaac A.
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 TERMINOLOGIES
1. Common joist : A joist
spanning from support to
support.
2. Trimming joist: Span as
for common joist but it is
usually 25mm thicker and
supports a trimmer joist.
3. Trimmer joist: A joist at
right-angles to the main
spans supporting the
trimmed joists and is
usually 25mm thicker
than a common joist.
4. Trimmed joist: A joist cut
short to form an opening
and is supported by a
trimmer joist; it spans in
the same direction as
common joists and is of
same section size.

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 Joist Sizing
There are three ways of selecting a suitable joist size for supporting
a domestic type floor:
1. Rule of thumb = Span in mm +50mm = depth in mm
24
2. Calculation: BM = fbd²
6
Where BM = bending moment
f = maximum fiber stress
b = breadth (assumed to be 50 mm)
d = depth in mm.

3. Approved Document A, Tables B3 and B4.

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 Lay-out
• The most economic lay-
out is to span the joists
across the shortest
distance of the room, this
means that joists could be
either parallel or at right-
angle to a fireplace. The
fireplace must be
constructed of non-
combustible materials
and comply with Building
Regulation.
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5. JOISTS: If the floor is
framed with structural
softwood joists of a size not
less than that required by the
Approved Document, the
usual width is taken as 50 mm.
The joists are spaced at 375-
450mm center to center
depending on the width of the
ceiling board which are to be
fixed on the underside.
Maximum economy of joist
size is obtained by spanning in
the direction of the shortest
distance to keep within the
deflection limitations allowed.
The maximum economic span
for joists is between 3 500 and
4 500 mm, for spans over this
a double floor could be used.

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6. SUPPORT: The ends of the
joists must be supported by
load bearing walls.
The common methods are to
build in the ends or to use
special metal fixings called
joist hangers; other methods
are possible but these are
seldom employed.
Support on internal load
bearing walls can be by joist
hangers or direct bearing
when the joist are generally
lapped. (see Fig.II.37).

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7. TRIMMING: This is a term used
to describe the framing of joists
around an opening or projection.
Various joints can be used to
connect the members together, all
of which can be substituted by
joist hangers.
Trimming around flues and upper
floor fireplaces should comply with
the recommendations of approved
Document J. It should be noted
that, since central heating is
becoming commonplace, the
provision of upper floor fireplaces
is seldom included in modern
designs, because they are
considered to be superfluous.
Typical trimming joints and
arrangements are shown below.

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 Joints

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8. STRUTTING:
Shrinkage in timber
joists will cause
twisting to occur
and this will result in
movement of the
ceiling below and
could cause the
finishes to crack. To
prevent this
strutting is used
between the joists if
the total span
exceeds 2 400 mm;
the strutting being
placed at mid-span.
(see Fig.II.40).
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9. DOUBLE FLOORS: These can be used
on spans over 4 500 mm to give a lower
floor area free of internal walls.
They consist of a steel beam or timber
binder spanning the shortest distance
which supports common joists spanning
at right-angles.
The beam reduces the span of the
common joists to a distance which is less
than the shortest span to allow an
economic joist section to be used.
The use of a timber binder was a popular
method but it is generally considered to
be uneconomic when compared with a
standard steel beam section. Typical
details are shown in (see Fig.II.41).
If the span is such that a double floor is
deemed necessary it would be a useful
exercise to compare the cost with that of
other flooring methods, such as in situ
reinforced concrete and precast concrete
systems, which overall, could be a
cheaper and more practical solution to
the problem.
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Floor Board: T & G (Tongue & Groove)

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THANK YOU

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