-

Chapter 4.4

FLOORS AND FLoORINGS

iJNiAIALAIAIA AAAIAAIAAIAIAAAIAIAIIANIK
AlMIMiMMIR

4.1 FLOORS

Definition
Floors are the horizontal elements of a building structure
which divide the building into different levels for the purpose
of creating more accommodation within a rest ricted space
ane above the other and provide support for the furnitures,
cupants and equipment of a building.
44.2TYPES OF FLOORS
Floors are classified into two categories namely,
. Timber floors 2. Compositefloors

-Timber floors
Inthis type offloors, only timber is used as a material.

Pollowing are the types of timber floors.

a.
Basement or ground floor of timber
D.
Single joist timber floors
C.
Double joist timber floors
.
amed or triple joist timber floors.
a.
sasement Sround
or * floor of timber this

ypepe This
However,

of floorin is not s used in

not much
India.
halls,

flooring 1is used

*od in carpenter
halls,
dancing

4.33
auditoriums etc. Timber flooring 1s best suited in
nl.
damp climate. In timber flooring prevention of aces of
most important and hence all
dampno mpness is
possible measures
sures shola
should be
taken to check the dampeness.
The detail of construction is as shown in fig.4.26.
Floor boards
Floor level
ZZnnIIIIIIILLITINIIIZ
Joists
Wall-
G.L plates
7/N

Cement concrete

Fig. 4.26 Construction of ground floor of

timber
i. The entire below the timber flooring is covered
area

with an
impervious material like cement concrete or
asphalt to prevent dampness.
. Sleeper walls of one brick or 1% brick thick are
constructed at centre to centre
distance of 1.2 to 1.8
l.
Wall-plates provided along the wall as we
are

along the sleeper walls and

they reduce the spa" of
bridging joists and serve as end supports 1O the
bridging joists.
iv. On wall
plates rest the ends of bridging jo1sts hich

are usually provided at a centre to istanceo"

centre dis
about 30 cm.
V. The hollow rleve
space between the concrete ana i
is filled up with selected
earth.
4.34
 joist
timber ors
Single

h.
These
consist of single joists which are placed
floors
This type can be adopted a below
the
floor boards.

for maximum span

When the span exceeds 2.4 m the
m.
f a b o u t
joists are
.oned by herringbone strutting as shown in
strengthened
fig.4.27
A

Plan
Air gap
Wedges
Boarding Floor boards

ZZAÁTZZZZZANTIZA

LBridging joists Strutting

15 x 6 em Bridging Joist
Wall plate
10x 7.5 cm Section 'BB'

Section 'AA'
timber floor
Fig. 4.27 Single joist
C. Double
joist timber floors known
as

In this intermediate
supports,

type of floors tlooringis

Dindersa raree provided

prov for bridging the
joists.
This

4.35
 3.50
adopted where the span
varies between
and 7.50 m. The
and+

wooden or stone blocksand.

end of bindersrest on placed at
1.80 to 2.4 m as shoun
centre distance of own in fig.4.28
a centre to

Binding Joists @ 30cm c/c-

ZZLLRAIIIIAZETI
-Bridging joist

Bording

Binders-

Plan

Boarding Bridging joist_

BindersS
-Celling joists Fillet
SECTION - 'CD'
Fig. 4.28 Section 'CD'
double joist timber 10
The wooden or
stone blocks are
wallfor
sufficient length and embedded in
ss the
placed across the
depth. The binders are
place
shortest span and the aDgl
right a.

to the bridging
binder. Fillets are joists are
placed a to Supp suppo

the bridging joists. placed along the binder

4.36
 ed timber floo

of floors,
this type of
floors, girders are provided for intermediate
In
In binders. Girders are
Npports
the generally placed ata
otre distance
d ists of 3 m. Thus, the
to
c e n t r e

components of thiss
Qentre
as shown in fig.4.29, girders, binders,
fiooring a r e

This type of floor is suitable for

bridging
floor boards.
o s t sa n df l o o r
spanes
m.
then 7.50
greater
Wall plate Girders-

RLLLLE
Wall
3m
Plan
Fig. 4.29 Framed timber floors 26m
Composite floors
Floors posed of more than one material are known as
mposit
Cmposite flooxOors. The
types of composite floors are
a.
Double flagstone floors
.
Filler joists floors
ack arch floors
. R.C.C! floor

SHollow block and rib floors

4.37
 floors
a. Double flagstone
Flooring -R. S. Joints-

Steel beam 60 to 90 cm
Fig.4.30 Double flagstone floor

In double flagstone floors, flagstones of about 40mm thial,

are provided in two layers.

b. Filler joist floors

Flagstones -Filling of selected Earth

A X IZ ZZINNIZNTT7Z7

R.S. joint Steel beam

30 to 40 cm

Fig. 4.31 Filler joist floors

In filler joist floors small sections of rolled steel joists are
placed in concrete. These joists act as reinforcement and are
spaced at a centre to centre distance of 60 cm to 90 cm.
c. Jack arch floors

Flooring

Coneret

Brick Arch
R.S.J

-Tie rot -Cement concrete

-Well
Fig. 4.32 (a) Brick
4.38
 flooring where a plain
is adopted
his
In this
type of floor, brick arches
or
ceiling
ng is notr
cement
these arches rest on concrete
2 p u l r e d . .

c o n s t r u c t e d and
are the lower
m i l d
steel jois
steel joists.
Alanges
of
Flooring- Concrete R.S.J.

R.S. Beam

Concrete
Fig. 4.33 (b) Jach arch floor
d.R.C.C. floors

Flooring Anchor bars

Slab reinforcement
EDistribution steel|
Ringe- -Main reinforcement of beam

Fig. 4.34 R.C.C. floors

In this type of floor, steel bars and concrete are used to
form afloor. per loading
. The slab and beam are designed as
a
e Tloor and proper reinforcement as placed at
able place. The
n e slab thickness is usually
80mm to 150mm

12 mm.
steel bars diameter varies from 9mm to
A43 FLOORING
A3.1 Definition
Th looring.
termed asil0orng
exposed top surfaces of floors P Surtaces
are

4.39
 used for
flooring
Materials

materials used for flooring a

common
The
2. Brick
1. Asphalt
3. Concrete
4. Cork

5. Glass
6. Linoleum

7. Magnesite
8. Marble

9 Moorum 10. Mud

11. Plastic 12. Rubber
13. Stone 14. Terrazo
15. Tire 16. Timber
4.4.3.2 Selection of Flooring
Following factors are to be considered before selecting
the material for following.
1. Appearance 2. Cleaning
3. Comfort 4. Cost
5. Durability 6. Noise
7. Slipperiness 8. Fire resistant

1. Appearance
The flooring material should be of desired appearaln
the
and it should produce the colour effect in conformity wt
tile
use of building. Materials like terrazo, marble, mosale
give good appearance.
2. Cleaning
c a n be easl}
The flooring material should be such that it ca.
and effectively cleaned.
3. Comfort

The flooring material should be such that it give

c o m f o r

when used.

4.40
4. Cost

The cost of flooring material should be reasonable as

compared to the utility of the building.

5. Durability

The flooring material should be durable and it should be

strong enough to impart resistance to wear, tear, chemical action

etc.

6. Noise

Floorings should insulate noise ie it should not produce

noise when users walk on it. Floor covering of wood, rubber,
cork, P.V.C. tiles are suitable for this type.

7. Slipperiness

Flooring material should be smooth and should have an

even surface. It should not be slippery.
8. Fire resistant

This quality is more important for upper floors. The

material should offer sufficient fire resistance so that firé
barriers are obtained between different levels of a building.

Concrete, tiles, terrazo, mosaic and marble have this quality.

4.4.4 TYPES OF
FLOORING
Following are the various types of flooring based on the
materials used.
1. Mosaic flooring

nis flooring which consists of tiles available in variety

Ptern and colours is used commonly in operation theatres,

temples, bathrooms and superior type of buildings.
4.41
Construction method

1. A hard concrete base is laid

2. While the above layer is wet a 2 cm

layer of cem
mortar (1:2 is evenly laid.
3. Upon this small pieces of broken tiles (of chinadle
are arranged in different patterns. aglazed
4. Then, cement or coloured cement is sprinkled at
the
top and the surface is rolled by light stone roller til
an even surface is attained.

5. This surface is left for 24 hour to dry and then it is

rubbed with pumice stone to get a smooth and
polished surface.
6. This polished surface is allowed to dry for 2 weeks
before use.
2. Granolithic flooring

This flooring is a finishing coat over concrete surface. lt

1s
adopted in places of heavy wear and tear and wnere
appearance is not required. The flooring consists of rich conci
made with very hard and ke
tough quality coarse aggregae
granite.
The o
composition of concrete finish varies witn yP
pe
ervice a floor is loor he
expected to perform. For light duty o
1X
proportion is l cement :2 sand:3 C.A.C.A is we wellgraded

granite orbasalt or limestone or quartz. The graa

of C.A.
from 10mm to
4.75 mm.
ment:
;1|
For heavy duty floors the mix proportion 1 *

sand 2
granite chips.
To
improve the wearing
' e s s a n d

replaced by fine quality so*

aggregate of crushed
granie
4.42
3.Tiledflooring
Tiles of either clay or cement concrete or terrazo are
anufactured,in square, hexagonal and various other shapes,

thickness. This flooring can be laid in shorter time.

and
size
Method of construction

a. The ground for receiving the floor is levelled, well1.

watered and rammed.

lime concrete of 15 thick

b. On this a sub-grade of
cm

or of R.C.C. is made.

C. Over thesub-grade a bedding mortar of 25 mm thick

lime mortar (1:3) or cement mortar (1:1) is laid.
hours
d. After the bedding is allowed to harden for few
a thin cement slurry is spread over the surface.

e. Then tiles with a thin cement paste on the sides are

laid over the slurry. The cement paste should be thin
and provide good adhesion.
f. Extra mortar coming out of the joints is then wiped out.
rubbed witha
8. After 2 or 3 days, the joints are well
carborundum stone to remove sight projections rising
above the surface.
h. The entire surface is then polished with a soft
carborundum stone and then with a pumice stone.
Polishing is done either by a rubbing machine or
hand.
solution
.Finally, the surface is washed with a weak
of soft soap in warm water.
4. Granite flooring

Here
flooring is similar to granolithic flooring.
uranite
the sub grade
c h i p s hard granite stones a r e placed on
concrete. The usual thickness is 35
mm.
4.43
5. Marble flooring
used in importar
This is a superior type of flooring ant public
buildings etc. Where extra
cleanli.
buildings, residential
essential. Marble slabs are rectangular
or square in sho
nlinessi
shape.
The construction is same as that of mosaic floorino

a. The marble slab is placed over base concrete of 20mm

Omm
thick bedding mortar. The bedding mortar may eithe
be of 1:4 cement:sand or 1 lime putty: 1surkhi
1
coarse sand mix.

b. After the slab is laid it is gently pressed with wooden

mallet and levelled.

c. Cement paste oozing out of the joints are'wiped away.

6. Pre-cast concrete flooring

The pre-cast units are available in different. sizes. They

are supported either on walls or rolled steel joists. The sides of
each unit contain grooves which enhance good connection with
adjacent joints.
7. Plastic and PVC tile flooring
This type of flooring is a recent development in flooring
construction. The material poly-vinyl chloride is fabricated n
the form of tiles of different
size, shapes and colour.
These tiles are laid similarly to that of the flooring
a. The tiles are laid on concrete base.
b. as
Adhesive of specified make is applied on the Da
well on the back of tile with a notched trovel.
the
C. When the adhesive is set (say after 30 minu
tile is laid and weight

pressed gently with a 5 K

Wooden roller and the
oozing out adhesive is WP
4.44
 The floor is washed with warm soap water before use.

8.Carpettile
This flooring is generally used to obtain a noiseless floor
libraries, churches, studios etc.
in case of

The construction is as follows:

a.
a. First of all a base of 3 : 1 or 4: 1 sand cement screed
finished with a wood float is prepared.

b. Over this carpet tile is laid in a simillar manner as a

lincoln covering.

9. Rubber flooring
Rubber floorings are in a large extent used in public and
industrial buildings because of their good wearing quality,
elasticity and insulating qualiting.
The material is made of pure rubber mixed with fillers
such as cotton fibre, granulated cork or asbestos fibre and

manufactured in sheets or tiles

colouring pigments. They are

of various shapes construction of the flooring is as follows.

a. A water proofed base of concrete, R.C.C. or wood is

prepared.
of a
b. The rubber tiles are then cemented by means

special adhesive.
*****

4.45