This document discusses different types of flooring materials and their properties. It describes various flooring options like brick, flagstone, concrete, tile, wood, and terrazzo. The key factors that influence the selection of flooring materials are initial cost, appearance, durability, moisture resistance, sound and thermal insulation, fire resistance, and maintenance requirements. Different flooring types suit various needs based on their strengths and weaknesses. The document provides details on constructing and laying different flooring types like brick, concrete, tile and terrazzo floors.

1. FLOORINGS
S.S.A.S.I.T, SURAT GTU
1

2. The construction at the bottom of each room is floor.
The purpose of the floor is to provide a level
surface,capable of supporting the occupants of the
building ,furniture and sometimes internal partitions.
The floor constructed at the plinth level at about 45
to 60 cm above the ground level is called ground
floor.
while the floors at each storey above the ground floor
are known as upper floors.
The storey constructed below the ground floor is
called basement while the top most floor is called
terrace.
2
INTRODUCTION

3. COmpONeNTS aND maTeRIaLS OF a
FLOOR
A floor is composed of two essential components:
1.sub-floor,base course or floor base.
2.floor covering or simply flooring.
The materials used for floor finish or flooring are:
-Mud Or Murrum
-Bricks
-Flag Stones
Concrete
-Mosaic Tiles
-Terrazzo
-Marble
-Granolithic Finish
-Wood Or Timber
-Asphalt
-Rubber
3

4. • Mud flooring • Bricks flooring
4

5. • Flag stones • concrete
5

6. • Mosaic tiles • Terrazzo flooring
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7. • Marble • Granolithic
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8. • Wood or timber • Asphalt
8

9. • Rubber • PVC
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10. eSSeNTIaL ReqUIRemeNTS OF
a FLOOR
-Adequate strength and stability
-Adequate fire resistance
-Sound insulation
-Damp resistance
-Thermal insulation 10

11. SeLeCTION OF FLOORING maTeRIaL OR
FLOOR FINISh
The various factors that effect the choice of
flooring materials are as follows:
-Initial cost
-Appearance
-Cleanliness
-Durability
-Damp resistance
-Sound insulation
-Thermal insulation
-Fire resistance
-Smoothness
-Hardness
-Maintenance
11

12. Following Are The Factors That Affect The Choice Of A Flooring
Materials:
(1)Initial Cost: The Cost Of The Material Should Be In Conformity
With The Type Of Building And Its Likely Use.
(2)Appearance: Covering Should Give Pleasing Appearance, I.E. It
Should Produce A Desired Color Effect And Architectural Beauty.
Floorings Of Terrazzo, Mosaic, Tiles And Marble Give Good
Appearance.
(3)Cleanliness: The Flooring Should Be Capable Of Being Cleaned
Easily, And It Should Be Non-absorbent. It Should Have Effective
Resistance Against Absorption Of Oil, Grease Etc.
(4)Durability: The Flooring Should Have Sufficient Resistance To
Wear, Temperature Changes, Disintegration With Time And Decay,
So That Long Life Is Obtained. From This Point Of View, Flooring
Of Marble, Terrazzo, Tiles, Concrete, Mosaic Etc. Are Considered
To Be Of Best Type.
12

13. (5) Damp Resistance: Flooring Should Offer Sufficient
Resistance Against Dampness, So That Healthy Environment
Is Obtained In The Building. Flooring Of Concrete, Terrazzo,
Mosaic Etc. Are Preferred For This Purpose, While Flooring Of
Cork, Wood, Rubber, Linoleum, Brick Etc. Are Not Suitable For
Damp Conditions.
(6) Sound Insulation: Flooring Should Insulate The Noise.
Also It Should Not Be Such That Noise Is Produced When
Users Walk On It. Cork Flooring, Rubber Flooring And Timber
Flooring Are Good From This Point Of View.
(7) Thermal Insulation: The Flooring Should Offer
Reasonably Good Thermal Insulation So That Comfort Is
Imparted To The Residents Of The Building. Floor Covering Of
Wood, Rubber, Cork. P.V.C. Tiles Are Better For This Purpose.
13

14. (8) Fire Resistance: This Is More Important For Upper Floors.
Flooring Material Should Offer Sufficient Fire Resistance So
That Fire Barriers Are Obtained Between Different Levels.
(9) Smoothness: The Flooring Material Should Be Smooth,
And Should Have Even Surface. However, It Should Not Be
Slippery.
(10) Hardness: It Should Be Sufficiently Hard So As To Have
Resistance To Indentation Marks, Imprints Etc. Likely To Be
Caused By Shifting Of Furniture, Equipment Etc.
(11) Maintenance: The Flooring Material Should Require
Least Maintenance. However, Whenever Repairs Are Required,
It Should Be Such That Repairs Can Be Done Easily, With Least
Possible Expenditure.
14

15. TypeS OF FLOORS
a) GROUND FLOORS
1.BRICk FLOORING
-Commonly Used In Ware Houses, stores And Go downs
Where Heavy Articles Are Stored
-The Flooring Is Brick laid Arranged Mostly In Herring Bone
Fashion.
-The Earth Filling Under The Floor Is Compacted First And
Then 10 To 15 Cm Thick Layer Of Cement Concrete(1:4:8) Or
Lime Concrete-BBLC(1:2:4) Is Laid.
-Then The Bricks Are Laid On It And The Joints Are Filled
With Mortar. The Flooring Should Be Cured For A Minimum
15

16. Merits
-It is durable and sufficiently hard
-It is cheaper than cement concrete, wooden or mosaic
flooring
-It is non-slippery
-It is easily repairable
Demerits
It is absorbent
16

17. Flag stone Flooring
Any laminiscated sand stone available in uniform thickness
is called flag stone, also known as kotah stone.
-The stone slab for flooring may be square or rectangle with
width not less than 38 cm and thickness varying from 20 to
40 mm.
17

18. -At first 10 to 15 cm earth bed layer is prepared and
then 20 to 25 cm thick layer of bed mortar is
prepared.
-Upon it cement slurry is spreaded and then stone
slabs are laid over it ,gently pressing them with the
help of wooden mallet and a leveled surface is
obtained.
-At last the joints are filled with mortar.
A slope of 1 to 40 is necessary for flag stone flooring
for proper drainage.
18

19. Merits
-It is hard, durable and resistant to wear and tear
and as such it is used in workshops and garages
and god owns.
-It is easily repairable.
-It is easy in construction.
-It is economical where stones are available in
plenty.
Demerits
-It does not give pleasing appearance so not
suitable to provide in residential building.
-Its usage is not comfortable.
19

20. tiled Floor
Depending on the types of material used tiled flooring are as
follows:
Terrazzo flooring: The terrazzo or marble mosaic tiles are
manufactured under hydraulic pressure in factories are
available in following 3 sizes:
1)200 * 200 * 20 mm
2)250 * 250 * 22 mm
3)300 * 300 * 25 mm
The total thickness of the pile
comprises of two layers i.e the
upper layer and the backing. 20

21. The thickness of upper layer varies from 5 to 6mm and it
consists of mix of cement, aggregates and colored
pigments.
The backing of tile consists of mixture of cement and
aggregates in proportion 1:3.
After its making it is submerged in water tank for a period
of 7 days.
After laying the flooring is cured for 7 days and there
after the tiles are ground with grinding machine using
grinding stone no. 60.
Grinding is also called polishing. 21

22. Again the floor is cured and polished second time with
grinding stone no. 120
Day after the second grinding again the entire surface is
finally grouted by stone no 320.
Finally the surface is cleaned by using oxalic acid water.
22

23. Chequered tile flooring
The chequered tiles are available in following standard size:
1)200 * 200 * 20 mm
2)250 * 250 * 22 mm
3)300 * 300 * 25 mm
The method of laying the tiles is same as that of terrazzo
flooring except that the polishing of the tiles is to be done by
hand.
23

24. Glazed tile flooring
Glazed tiles are available in following standard sizes:
100 * 100 * 5 to 6 mm
150 * 100 * 5 to 6 mm
The difference is here the top surface is glazed, the laying
and other all processes are same as that of terrazzo tiles
Adhesives is applied on the base and back of PVC tiles.
After applying the adhesives the tiles are laid.
24

25. PVC Tile flooring
PVC tiles are now manufactured in variety of shades and
design and are used in residential as well as non
residential building.
It gives a decorative floor finish which is is resilient,
smooth and can be cleaned easily.
It can be laid over a prepared base which may be of
concrete, timber etc.
Here adhesives are applied on the base as well as on the
back of PVC tiles and then the tiles are laid. 25

26. After laying, the tiles are pressed suitably with wooden rollers
to ensure intimate contact with base.
Extra adhesive that oozes out is wiped off and the flooring
finally cleaned with warm soap before use.
Merits:
It is non absorbent.
It is easily repairable in patches.
It offers pleasant appearance.
It is durable.
It permits quick laying of floor.
It is resistant to wear and has fairly good stength. 26

27. Demerits:
This type of construction is very
costly and its maintenance cost
is also very high.
It becomes slippery when
becomes wet
It gets damaged when it comes
in contact with burning objects
like paper, matchstick etc.
27

28. CeMent ConCrete Flooring
This type of flooring is commonly used both in residential as
well as public buildings.
The method of laying cement concrete flooring can be broadly
divided in the following steps:
PREPARATION OF SUB-BASE-
The earth filling in plinth is consolidated thoroughly so as to
ensure that no loose pockets are left. Then 10 to 15cm thick
layer of coarse sand is spread, the layer is consolidated and
given a slope. 28

29. 29

30. LAYING OF BASE CONCRETE-
In cement concrete, mix used is 1:5:10 (1 cement: 5 sand:
10 coarse aggregate to a thickness 7.5 to 10cm.
lime concrete (1:2:4) may be used with 40mm
aggregates.
LAYING OF TOPPING-
when the base concrete layer has fully set,
entire area is divided into rectangular or square panels
by 4mm thick glass strips. the surface of base concrete is
made damp and applied a layer of cement slurry and then
concrete mix(1:2:4) is laid in required thickness. the
concrete is spread evenly by using a straight edge and
surface is tamped and floated with wooden floats till the
cream of mortar comes at top. flooring is cured for 10
days before use.
30

31. MERITS:-
Non-absorbent, Durable, Smooth And Pleasing In
Appearance, Economical, Good Wearing Properties And
Can Be Maintained Clean.
DEMERITS:-
Cannot Be Satisfactorily Repaired, Defects Cannot Be
Rectified Easily.
31

32. GRANOLITHIC FLOORING-
It is a finished coat provided over the concrete surface to
form a hard, durable and resistant to wear flooring.
It is composed of cement, sand and specially selected
aggregates of basalt and limestone suitably graded from
13mm to 40mm.
The concrete mix is usually 1:1:2 or 1:1:3 and is laid before
the base concrete is set. the surface is tamped, floated and
smoothened.
32

33. TERRAZO FLOORING
Terrazzo is a concrete surface with special aggregate of
marble chips mixed with white or colored cement in 3:1
proportion.
The 40mm Thick Flooring Consists Of 6mm Thick Layer Of
TERRAZO Topping And 34mm Thick Under Layer Of Cement
Concrete 1:2:4.
Prior to laying flooring, the whole area is divided into
suitable panels by use of dividing strips made from copper,
glass, brass or aluminum of thickness not less than 1.5mm
And Width Not Less Than 25mm.
33

34. •The aggregates are exposed by grinding the surface by
carborundum stone grade no. 60, 120 and 320 in a
successive gap of 5 days each.
•The finished surface is finally washed with dilute oxalic
acid solution.
Terrazzo flooring is another type of floor finish that is laid
in thin layer over concrete topping. It is very decorative
and has good wearing properties.
• Due to this, it is widely used in residential buildings,
hospitals, offices, schools and other public buildings.
Terrazzo is A specially prepared concrete surface
containing cement (white or grey) and marble chips (or
different colors), in proportion to 1:1.25 to 1:2.
34

35. 35

36. UppER FLOORs
Depending upon the materials used for construction
and arrangement of beam , girder etc. upper floor may
be classified in to the following types.
1. steel joist and stone or precast concrete flooring
2. Jack arch floor
3. reinforced cement concrete floor
4. ribbed or hollow tiled flooring
5. Filler joists floor
6. Precast concrete floor
7. Timber floor
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37. 37
They are the cheapest
form of wooden floors.
They are easy in
construction and are
frequently used in
domestic building.
These floors are
constructed by fixing
wooden planks about 20 to
30 mm thick to wooden
joints known as ‘bridging
joists’ spaced at 30 to 40
cm apart.
sINGLE jOIsT TImbER
FLOOR

38. Single joist timber floorsSpan(below3m)
c
a b
Joist
PLAN
Strutting
38

39. Detail at c’
Wall
Wall plate Ceiling
Floor boards
Joist
Air space
39

40. Section on ab
300 – 400 mm
Floor boards
Herring bone strutting
Wedges
Joist
40

41. 􀁠 These floors consist of single joist, which are placed below
the floorboards.
􀁠 The joists are usually placed at a centre to centre distance
of 30cm to 45cm.
􀁠 The joists are supported on wall-plates at their ends. A
space of about 50mm is kept for the circulation of air .
􀁠 Single joist timber floor can be adopted for a maximum
span of about 3.6m.
􀁠 When the span of joist exceeds 2.4m, it becomes necessary
to strengthen the joist by providing herring bone strutting.
41

42. 􀁠 In this arrangement, inclined timber pieces are firmly fixed
between the joists and the ends of these struts are nailed to
the joist.
􀁠 At the end, wedges are provided between the wall and the
joists.
42

43. 43
DOUbLE jOIsTs TImbER
FLOOR
In case the short span of
the room is more then
3.66m , double type of
timber floor may be
constructed .
The span of double floor
is restricted to 7.32m.
In this type of
construction binder
joists are provided
across the short span at
about 1.8 to 2.4 m
spacing.

44. Double joist timber floors
Bridging joist
@ 300 mm c/c
1.8m to 2.4m
Binders
PLAN
300mm
3.6to7.5m
44

45. Methods of fixing binders with joists
BindersCogged
Joint
Fillet
Floor boards
Notched joint
Bridging Joist Bridging Joist
45

46. n this type of floors, intermediate supports known as binders, are
provided for bridging joists. Binders are generally placed at a
centre to centre distance of 1.80m to 2.40m as shown in fig .The
ends of binders rest on wooden or stone blocks.
􀁠 Double joist timber floors are stronger than the
single joist timber floors.
􀁠 They are suitable for spans of 3.60 to 7.50m.
􀁠 This type of floors has following disadvantages.
(i) The weight of floor is thrown on few points in a wall.
(ii) Depth of floor is increased by the use of binders and
accordingly height of the room is decreased.
46

47. Disadvantages
The weight of the floor is
thrown on the few points on
the wall.
Depth of the floor is increased by
use of binders and accordingly, the
height of the room is decreased.
Bridging Joist
Binders
47

48. Framed or triple joist timber floors
Binders
Girders
PLAN
Morethan7.5m
Bridging joist
3m
48

49. Girders
Details of framed timber floors
Binder Binder
Floor boards
Bridging joists
Ceiling
Tusk and tenon joint
49

50. In this type of floors, intermediate supports, known as
girders , are provided for the binders.
Thus, this type of floor consists of girders, binders, bridging
joists and floor boards as shown in fig .
Girders are generally placed at a centre to centre distance
of 3 meters.
Binders are staggered and connected to girders by tusk and
tenon joints, to decrease overall depth of floor.
The ends of girders rest on walls on concrete templates.
This type of timber floor is suitable for spans greater than
7.50.
50

51. Single joist Double joist
Triple joist
(framed)
Bridgingjoist
1.8mto2.4m
Binders
3.6 to 7.5m
Binder
Girder
More than 7.5m
Bridging
joist
Joist
Strutting
Below 3 m
51

52. • Jack arch floors
• Jack arch is an arch of either brick or concrete, supported on lower
flange of rolled steel joists (R.S.J.).
• The joists are spaced 1 to 1.5 m centre to centre, and are supported at
their ends either on the walls or on longitudinal girders.
• The rise of the arch is kept equal to 1/12th of the span.
• The bottom of the floor is not plane; this is the only disadvantage of this
floor.
• Brick Jack Arch Flooring
• Before starting the work, the RSJ should be properly secured in position.
• Only first class bricks should be used.
• Successive rings should be properly interlocked.
• Key brick should be properly and tightly secured in rich mortar.
• If lime mortar is used, RSJ should encased in cement mortar.
• Top concrete and flooring should not be laid unless the brickwork is
properly cured.
52

53. 53

54. 54

55. • cement concrete Jack arch flooring
• Cement concrete Jack Arch Flooring are made of 1 : 2 : 4 cement
concrete, supported on the lower flanges of M.S. joists.
• The construction of concrete jack arches is relatively simple. The
centering consists of a 3 mm thick mild steel plate, bent to the
shape of arch, and having pair of holes at ends, spaced at 75 cm
c/c.
• The centering plate is supported on the lower flange of joists
through a pair of 12 mm dia. Rods.
• The ends of the rods pass through symmetrical holes of the
centering plate and finally rest on the lower flange of R.S.J.
• In order to check the deflection of the centering plate, a wooden
packing block is tightly inserted between M.S. plate and Rod.
55

56. 56

57. • RIBBED OR HOLLOW TILED FLOORING
• Concrete is incapable of resisting tension which is caused
in the lower part of the thickness of the slab. This lower
part does not take in load bearing, and hence part of it can
be replaced by hollow tiles so that weight of the slab is
reduced.
• The clear spacing of ribs depends upon the size of hollow
blocks available, but it should normally not exceed 50 cm.
• The width of ribs may vary between 6 to 10 cm. The span
of ribs may be as much as 7 m.
57

58. 58
• Main reinforcement is provided at the bottom of the rib. To
resist the support moment (negative) an additional bar is
placed at the top of rib section.
• A minimum cover of 2.5 cm is provided. The depth of rib is
calculated on the basis of bending moment as well as the cost
ratio of steel and concrete.
• Depth of rib is usually kept as at least L/20 with free
support and at least L/25 with fixed support, where L is the
span of the ribs.
• Hollow tiles are available in different widths and different
depths. Sometimes, to suit the requirements of the depth of
rib, hollow tiles of required depth may be manufactured at the
site.

59. 59

60. 60