Floors & Floor Construction

1
Floors Floor Construction

• What lies beneath the surface that we see?
• Concrete slab is it on grade, or on a frame?
• Wood joist construction what direction do the
  pieces run?
• Steel frame steel decking how easy or
  difficult is it to make alterations in this
  surface?
• Why are these different materials used? What are
  the pros and cons of using them?

2
Floors

• What is a floor required to do?
• A building's primary horizontal planar surface
• Support live loads people, furnishings, and
  movable equipment
• Support dead loads the weight of the floor
  itself, any non-movable,
• built-in components on the floor

3
The depth (thickness) of the overall floor
construction is directly related to the size and
proportion of the structural bays it must span
across, and to the strength of the materials used
in the floor.
4
Flooring materials

• Flooring can be made of many possible materials.
• Building code requirements may dictate the
  performance requirements of a floor material.
• The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
  specifies the degree of friction, slip
  resistance, of flooring materials used in public
  spaces.
• We are probably most familiar with wood, stone,
  concrete, sheet vinyl, ceramic tile, and carpet
  as the surfacing materials on the floors we
  encounter every day

5
The distance a piece of material has to span is
directly related to its size. The size of these
steel floor trusses is based on the distance they
must span, and the load they must carry.
6
The Prada showroom in New York city designed by
Rem Koolhas.
7
Wood floor joists and wood flooringin a house.
The direction of the floor boardsis a result of
the direction of the floor joists.
8
Wood flooring
9
Concrete flooring
10

•  Colored concrete floors were very  popular in
  the 1930's and 40's in the   desert southwest
  because they were  easy to clean and cool in the
  extreme  desert heat.
• The majority of the floors  were colored red
  and usually scored in  a grid pattern.
• Concrete floors have become very popular again,
  due to low material cost, durability, and
  expanded design possibilites through color
  additives.     

11
Concrete colors, synthetic natural pigments

• Concrete can be tinted different colors.
• When coloring concrete either natural or
  synthetic pigments may be used.
• Synthetic pigments are chemically the same as
  natural pigments, but there are other
  differences. Natural pigments tend to be less
  expensive, but their range of colors is limited
  and they don't have the tinting strength of
  synthetics.
• Natural pigments tend to produce warmer colors,
  which seem closer to the colors you see in nature.

12
Concrete flooring
13
Steel reinforcing, called rebaris placed to be
inside the concrete slab
14
Steel rebar are numbered, 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 16, et
cetera.Each number equals that many eights of an
inch.A number 12 rebar is 12/8, or 1 ½ in
diameter
15
Raised access flooring

• Raised access flooring consists of load bearing,
  easily removable panels supported above the
  building slab on pedestals. The cavity created is
  used to house services which may be safely
  concealed and protected but which remain readily
  accessible for maintenance, alteration and
  expansion.

16
Raised access flooring
17
Glass

• Glass is a practical and beautiful material that
  is strong enough to be used structurally, even
  as  flooring.Floor panels are usually
  manufactured from two or more layers of annealed
  glass laminated together.  Sandblasting or
  screen printing to the top surface not only gives
  anti-slip properties but also design
  opportunities.

18
Glass interior wall panels
19
Glass flooring
20
Glass flooring
21
Glass block flooring
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Glass flooring
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Wood frame construction of floors
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Wood frame construction
25
Wood floor system
26
Wood joists, (2 x10s) on brick foundation, on
concrete footing
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Steel construction
28
Steel framing

• Recently, steel framing has begun to make strong
  inroads into the residential building market.
• The move to steel in home construction has been
  fueled by rapidly increasing lumber prices and a
  need to conserve timber products.
• Steel homes use nearly the same framing
  techniques employed in wood-framed buildings, and
  construction costs run about the same. Unlike
  wood, however, steel is impervious to termites.
  It provides added resistance to fire and
  earthquake.
• Steel ceiling joists can span greater distances
  than wooden ones, allowing new design
  possibilities for architects and builders.

29
Steel in house construction
30
Steel skeleton for a house.Most of the pieces of
steel used here are called light gauge steel,
meaning that the pieces are relatively thin, and
light.
31
Steel skeleton for a house.These steel pieces
are much larger than those used in the previous
images. These are I sections, made of thick,
heavy steel plate.
32
Tile a small, thin, modular piece of material.

• Porcelain floor tile
• Quarry tile
• Metal tile
• Travertine tile
• Granite tile
• Marble tile
• Limestone tile
• Slate tile
• Cork tile
• Glass tile
• Carpet tile

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Cork flooring
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Vertical Sections
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Elevations
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Plan (Plan-Section)
37

• an informative web site is
• www.howstuffworks.com
• type in 'how house construction works' into their
  search function.