Types of floors, advantages, disadvantages

1. BY
RIMPI BARO
LECTURER, CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
PANDIT DEENDAYAL PETROLEUM UNIVERSITY, GANDHINAGAR
BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
FLOORING

2. INTRODUCTION
• Floors are horizontal elements of building structures which
divide building into different levels for the purpose of creating
more accommodation with in the restricted space, one above
the other and also provide support to the occupants, furniture
and equipment of a building.

3. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD FLOORING
• It should be durable
• It should be easy to clean
• Noiseless
• Have Good Appearance
• Free from dampness
• Fire Resistant
• Low Maintenance cost

4. Components of a Floor
The floor system divided into two
sections:
I. Sub-floor or Base course (Floor
base)
II. Floor covering or Flooring
The Floors supported directly on the
ground are known as Solid floors.

5. Components of a Floor
The floors supported above the ground level is known as Suspended floors.

6. TYPES OF FLOORING
• Mud flooring
• Brick flooring
• Stone flooring
• Cement Concrete flooring
• Terrazzo or Mosaic flooring
• Marble flooring
• Tile flooring
• Wooden flooring

7. MUD FLOORING
• Mudhasbeentheeasiestformofmaterialavailableforbuildingconstruction.Ithasbeenadoptedforvariouselementsinthehouseindifferentforms.Flooringsinmudhave
mostlybeenadoptedinvillagehousingasbesidesbeingeconomical,mudisreadilyavailableandtheflooringiseasytoconstructandmaintain.

8. Mud flooring
• Cheap, hard, fairly impervious, easy to construct
• Used in low cost housings
• Good thermal insulation property; remains cool in summer and
warm in winter
• Method : Over a well prepared ground, a 25 cm thick selected
moist earth is spread and rammed to get a thickness of 15 cm;
Small quantity of chopped straw is mixed in moist earth to
prevent cracks; cow dung is also mixed

9. BRICK FLOORING
• BrickshavebeenthemainstayofbuildingconstructioninIndiasincetimeofMohenjadaroandHarappa.Ithasbeensuccessfullyusedforfoundations,walls,floorsetc.Brick
flooringisadvantageousinareaswherebricksareavailablelocally.Suchflooringsareeasytoconstructwiththehelpoflocalmasonandarealsoeconomical.

10. Brick flooring
• Subgrade is compacted properly; 10-15 cm of lean cement
concrete (1:8:16) or lime concrete is laid over subgrade - base
course
• Bricks are laid on 12 mm thick mortar bed; all joints are full
with mortar
• Properly cured.

11. BASKET WEAVEBASKET WEAVEHERRINGBONEHERRINGBONERUNNING BONDRUNNING BOND
RUNNING ANIXED STACKRUNNING ANIXED STACK STACK BONDSTACK BOND
PIN WHEELPIN WHEEL
PATTERNS FOR BRICK FLOORING

12. RUNNING BONDRUNNING BOND PIN WHEELPIN WHEEL
HERRINGBONEHERRINGBONE PROMENADEPROMENADE

13. ADVANTAGES
There are various reasons for the benefits that brick flooring products provide in visual terms,
their strength and ability and their practical purposes. Here are some of the benefits of what
brick flooring will provide when used as paving:
•They provide elegance and character with the
old world look rustic charm
•They are fade resistant
•They resist wear and tear
•They are slip resistant
•They are very durable with long lasting attributes
•They are fire resistant
•They are maintenance free
•They will not crack or chip

14. APPLICATION

15. STONE FLOORING
• Stoneareavailableinplentyacrosstheentirestretchofthecountry.Manyofthesearesuitableforprovidingfloorsinresidentialconstruction.Stonessuitedforthepurposeshould
bestrongandabletoresistabrasionandimpactbesidesgivingapleasingappearance.For e.g. marble, granite.

16. Advantages
• This is the olden method since
followed due to the durability
• This can be used in all the part
of the house
• The roughness depends on
the type of stone flooring

17. disadvantageous
• This is one of the costliest
types
• It requires more
professionals for the careful
installation

18. CEMENT CONCRETE FLOORING
• Cementconcreteflooringisoneofthemostcommontypesofflooringprovidedinhouses.Thistypeofflooringisquitedurable,easytoconstructand
maintainbesidesbeingeconomicalascomparedtotile,marbleandothersuchtypeoffloorings.

19. Cement concrete floor
• Base course: 7.5 cm -10 cm thick lean cement concrete (1:3:6
or 1:5:10) or lime concrete laid over well compacted soil
• Topping surface of 1:2:4 cement concrete of thickness 4 cm

20. TERRAZZO FLOORING OR MOSAIC FLOORING
• TerrazzoflooringisyetanothertypeofflooringthathasbeencommonlyusedinIndia.Asthistypeofflooringgivesapleasinglook,ithasbeenextensivelyprovidedinliving
rooms,bedroomsetc.

21. Terrazo or Mosaic flooring
• Surface contains cement and marble chips (of different
colours) in proportion to 1:2
• Floor finish around 6 mm thick laid above concrete topping 34
mm (1:2:4)
• Marble chips vary from 3-6 mm

22. MARBLE FLOORING
• Marbleflooringhastraditionallybeenprovidedinreligiousplaces,palaces,havelisetc,asitenhancesthelookofthestructure.Latelysuchflooringhasbeenusedextensivelyinresidentialbuildingsalso.Marbleflooringsarecostly
andcanbeusedpreferableforlivingroomsandbedrooms.

23. TILE FLOORING
• FlooringtilesinIndiahaveovertheyearsgainedpopularityoverthecementandconcreteflooring.Tilesareavailableindifferentpatterns,designsandutilityoptions.Usuallytheyare
costlierthanthecementconcreteflooringanditscostdependsuponthetypeoftilebeingused.

24. Tile floor
• Made of clay, cement concrete square, hexagonal shapes
• Used in residential buildings, offices, schools, hospitals.
• Over the lean cement concrete base, a 25 to 30 mm thick layer
of mortar (1:3) is laid; allowed to harden for 12 to 24 hours
• Neat cement slurry is spread and tiles are placed gently
pressing into them into the mortar
• Before laying tiles, thin paste of cement is applied on sides
• Flooring cured for 7 days and then grinding and polishing

25. Advantages
• This is cost effective
• It last for more duration
• Easy replacement of the
damaged portions
• Easily cleaned

26. disadvantages
• Installation process is very
difficult
• This brittles easily when
rough materials are dropped.
• Comparatively, this doesn’t
give trendy look

27. WOODEN FLOORING
• Woodenflooringismostcommonlyusedinhillyregionsofthecountrywherethetemperaturearequitelow.Atpresenttheyarealsobeingprovidedin
floorsofhighendhousingtogiveagoodappearance.

28. Wooden flooring
• Suspended type flooring: hollow space between concrete and
flooring is kept well ventilated by providing air bricks in outer
walls

29. Advantageous
• Gives classy look
• Lasts longer for years
• Easy to clean
• The wood type maintenance is
very easy
• This can be renewed by
periodical varnishing

30. disadvantages
• Cost wise this is high
• Installation difficulty is also more
• They are not resistant to heat
and sound

31. Vinyl flooring
• This type of flooring provides soft touch to the feet when roaming. This is
of white colored material, it is added with coloring reagent to enhance
the beauty and provide people with more option.

32. Vinyl flooring
• Made of plastic material called Polyvinyl chloride in the form of
tiles.
• Widely used in residential and non residential buildings
• Tiles laid on concrete base
• Adhesive is laid on base and on back of PVC, gently pressed
with help of 5 kg wooden roller
• Floor washed with warm water before use
• PVC floor is smooth and can be easily cleaned

33. Advantages
• This is inexpensive than other
type of flooring.
• They are installed with ease and
the cleaning process is done
without more effort.
• This is resistant to water

34. disadvantages
• The replacement should
be done very frequently
as they wear very soon
• The vinyl quality varies,
thus the soft one gets
brittle soon.

35. Glass flooring
• Used where it is desired to transmit light from upper floor to
lower floor and specially to admit light at the basement from
upper floor to lower floor
• Structural glass is available in the form of tiles and slabs and in
thickness from 12 to 30 mm
• Fixed in closely spaced frames
• Very costly

37. RCC Floors
• Overall thickness of RCC floors is comparatively small
• Fire proof and damp proof.
• Simple RCC slab flooring, Beam slab flooring, Flat slab flooring

38. Simple RCC flooring
• Mild steel bars reinforcement provided is placed at bottom slab,
minimum clear cover of 15 mm
• Quite suitable for spans upto 5m
• Slab is cast on steel or timber shuttering
• Concrete usually M20 mix or 1:1..5:3 is poured and well compacted and
cured

40. Beam slab flooring
• When width of room becomes more, span of slab increases,
simple RCC flooring becomes uneconomical
• Floor structure consists of RCC beams and slabs cast
monolithically.
• T beams act as intermediate supports to the slabs which is
continuous over beams

42. Flat slab flooring
• Reinforced slab built monolithically with columns without any
beams
• Slab transfers load directly to supporting columns suitably
spaced below slab
• Attractive appearance because of exclusion of beam
• Slab may be provided with drop
• Drop is that part of slab around column which is of greater
thickness than rest of slab

44. Pre cast concrete floors
• Floors can be constructed easily without any formwork
• Precast units are available in about 25 cm width, various depths and
spans and can be supported on walls
• Sides are provided with grooves to form connecting joggles for adjacent
units.
• Joints are grouted with cement mortar
• Economical, light weight, sound proof etc

46. REFERENCES
• Building construction materials techniques, P. Purushottam Raj
• Building Materials, S.K. Duggal
• Building Materials, B C Punmia
• www.civilconstructor.org