FLOORING

Purpose of flooring is to get level, good hard and beautiful surface for living. Directly the floors resting on the ground are known as ground floors whereas the floors of each storey are known as upper floors.

Ground Floor

These floors should have good damp resistance apart from giving good finished surface. The ground surface is well rammed and a layer of red earth or sand is placed which is compacted. Below floor finish level and rammed, A layer of broken bricks, stones etc. is provided up to 150 mm. To get good compaction whereas ramming the surface is kept moist. Then 1 : 4 : 8 concrete of 100 to 150 mm thickness is provided as base course. Floor finish is laid over this bed.

The types of flooring used are following:

  1. Brick                                  2. Mud and moorum   

  3.Mosaic                                4. Terrazo

  5.Cement concrete                  6. Flag stone

  7. Marble                               8. Tiles

  9. Rubber                              10. Timber 

  11. P.V.C.

1. Mud and Moorum Flooring: in low cost housing, especially in villages these floorings are used. Mud or moorum layer is provided over the hard layer of earth filling. At least once a weak the floor needs a thin wash of cow dung.

2. Brick Flooring: This is also a cheap floor construction. Commonly It is used in factories and godowns. Bricks are laid flat or on edges. Bricks of good quality must be used for the construction. On sand bed or on lean concrete (1 : 8 : 16) bed Brick layer is provided. In both cases joints are rendered and finished and flush with cement mortar.

3. Flag Stone Flooring: Laminated sand stones or slates of 20 mm to 40 mm thick in the form of rectangles of size 450 mm × 450 mm or 450 mm × 600 mm or in the form of slabs of 300 mm × 300 mm or are used as floor finishes. Over concrete bed the stone slabs are laid on 20 to 25 mm thick mortar spread. With rich mortar the joints are to be finished.

4. Cement Concrete Floors: It is modestly cheap and durable floor and therefore used in residential, commercial and industrial buildings commonly. It consists of two courses-base course and wearing coat. Over well compacted soil Base course is laid. Its thickness is 75 mm to 100 mm usually. It consists of lime concrete containing or lean cement concrete mix (1 : 4 : 8) 40% of 1 : 2 lime mortar and 60% of coarse aggregate of 40 mm size. Wearing coat of 40 mm is laid after base coarse is hardened. It consists of panels of 2 m × 2 m ,1 m × 1 m, or 1 m× 2 m. By using glass, wooden or asbestos strip separators of 1.5 mm to 2.0 mm thickness alternate panels are laid with 1: 2: 4 concrete. Cement slurry wash is given before laying wearing coat panels to get good bond between base coarse and wearing coat. Another alternate panel are laid after 3-4 days of lying of one set of panel. By tamping the surface with wooden floats and tapping with trowels, till cement slurry appears on top, top of these panels are finished. It needs curing for 7 to 14 days. Many times red-oxide finishing coat is provided to get good appearance.

5. Terrazo Flooring: Terrazo finishing coat is applied over concrete flooring to get nice appearance. Terrazo finish consists of 75 to 80% of surface marble chips embedded in cement mortar.Marble chips are mixed in cement in the proportion 1 : 1.25 to 1 : 2 and approximate 6 mm terrazo topping is laid. The top is rolled and tamped. During tamping additional marble chips are spread to get proper distribution of marble chips on the surface. it is cured for 2-3 days after drying it for 12 to 20 hours.

Then in the following three steps grinding is made:

Ist grinding-By Using coarse grade (No. 60) carborundum stones.

IInd grinding-By Using medium grade (No. 120) carborundum stones.

IIIrd grinding-By Using fine grade (No. 320) carborundum stones.

During grinding plenty of water is used. Cement grout of cream-like consistency is applied after each grinding and cured for 6-7 days. After final grinding and with plenty of water curing the floor is washed and then with dilute oxalic acid solution. Then floor is finished with polishing by using wax polish and machines.

6. Mosaic Flooring: in different patterns set in lime-surkhi or cement mortar It consists of a finishing coat of small pieces of broken tiles of marble arranged or of China glazed. Base coarse is concrete flooring and on it 30 to 40 mm mortar layer is provided. Broken pieces of China glazed or marble are set to get different attractive patterns on this mortar layer the top is rubbed with carborundum stone to get smooth and polished surface after 20 to 24 hours of drying.

7. Marble Flooring: Marble slabs are cut to get marble tiles of 20 to 25 mm thickness. They are laid on floors likewise other tiles. With power driven machine surface is polished to get shining and even surface. In hospitals and temples this type of flooring is widely used.

8. Tiled Flooring: This is an alternative to terrazo flooring, commonly used in office, residential and commercial buildings. Tiles of cement, clay or terrazo of standard sizes are manufactured under controlled conditions in factories. On the concrete base, 25 mm to30 mm thick mortar is laid and these tiles are placed and pressed with wooden or trowel mallet. Care is taken to see that before placing tiles, neat cement slurry is applied to bottom side and sides of tiles to get good quality bond. Next day joints are cleaned of loose mortar and raked up to 5 mm depth. Then to get uniform colour on the top surface that is filled with coloured cement slurry. Grinding and polishing is made as in the case of terrazo flooring after curing for 7 days.

9. Timber Flooring: in dancing halls and in auditoriums timber flooring is used. Timber plates may be placed on concrete bed directly or may be provided over timber frame work. In latter case it is compulsory to provide right ventilation below the floor. This flooring is costly.

10. Rubber Flooring: sheets or Tiles of rubber with fillers such as, asbestos fibre cotton fibres or granulated cork are manufactured in variety of colours and patterns. These tiles or sheets may be fixed to concrete or timber floors. These floors are pretty and noise proof. But they are costly.

11. P.V.C. Flooring: Poly-Vinyl-Chloride (PVC) is a plastic which is available in different shade and colour. Nowadays tiles of this material are widely used. Adhesives are applied on concrete base as well as on bottom of PVC tiles. Then the tile is pressed gently until the oozing of adhesive is seen with 5 kg wooden roller. The oozed out adhesive is wiped and the floor is washed with warm soap water. The floor finish is pretty attractive, smooth and can be cleaned easily. However it is costly and slippery.