Initial Cost

It is one of the most significant factors in selecting a specific floor system and wearing surface. For cost analysis of various floor systems, three costs, namely direct costs, indirect costs and annual cost of management and operations, should be considered. The direct costs involve the cost of floor system, involving the wearing surface, the supporting beams, and curing surfaces while directly applied or suspended. The indirect costs are the costs of girders, the columns and their foundations, and a few times the increased height also which might be required for thicker or heavier floorings.

The effect of annual cost of maintenance and operation on several alternate wearing surface should also be accounted within cost analysis. In multi-storied buildings, the installation of fire-fighting equipment, such as automatic sprinkler systems, might make changes in the kind of construction and decrease the overall cost. Since of numerous factors, including building code requirements, and associative availability and costs of different types of equipment, labour and materials, no specific comparisons could be arrived at. For example, wooden floors might be costlier at places whereas timber is not available, but it might be cheaper than concrete floors whereas it is available in abundance, e.g. in hilly regions.