Floor

This article is about the floor of a room. For other uses, see Floor (disambiguation).

File:Floor Glass Auckland Skycity.jpg

Floors may include mosaic or other artistic expression.

A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal, or any other material that can hold a person's weight.

The levels of a building are often referred to as floors and are described in the article storey. This article describes the structure of floors.

Floors typically consist of a subfloor for support and a floor covering used to give a good walking surface. In modern buildings the subfloor often has electrical wiring, plumbing, and other services built in. Because floors meet many needs, some essential to safety, floors are built to strict building codes.

Special floor structures

Where a special floor structure like a floating floor is laid upon another floor then both may be referred to as subfloors.

Special floor structures are used for a number of purposes:

• Balcony, a platform projecting from a wall
• Floating floor, normally for noise or vibration reduction
• Glass floor, as in glass bottomed elevators
• Nightingale floor makes a noise when an intruder walks on it
• Raised floor, utilities underneath can be accessed easily
• Sprung floor, improves the performance and safety of athletes and dancers

Floor covering

Main article: Flooring

File:Flooring.jpg

An example of a floor.

Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface. Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Both terms are used interchangeably but floor covering refers more to loose-laid materials.

Materials almost always classified as floor covering include carpet, area rugs, and resilient flooring such as linoleum or vinyl flooring. Materials commonly called flooring include wood flooring, laminated wood, ceramic tile, stone, terrazzo, and various seamless chemical floor coatings.

The choice of material for floor covering is affected by factors such as cost, endurance, noise insulation, comfort and cleaning effort. Some types of flooring must not be installed below grade (lower than ground level), and laminate or hardwood should be avoided where there may be moisture or condensation.

The subfloor may be finished in a way that makes it usable without any extra work, see:

• Earthen floor adobe or clay floors
• Solid ground floor cement screed or granolithic

There are a number of special features that may be used to ornament a floor or perform a useful service. Examples include Floor medallions which provide a decorative centerpiece of a floor design, or Gratings used to drain water or to rub dirt off shoes.

Subfloor construction

The subfloor provides the strength of a floor. Many floors have no separate floor covering on top. The subfloor may also provide services like underfloor heating or ducts for air conditioning.

A ground-level floor can be an earthen floor made of soil, or be solid ground floors made of concrete slab. Floors above may be built on beams or joists or use structures like hollow core slabs.

Ground floor construction

Main article: Solid ground floor

Ground-level slab floors are prepared for pouring by grading the base material so that it is flat, and then spreading a layer of sand and gravel. A grid of rebar is usually added to reinforce the concrete, especially if it will be used structurally, i.e., to support part of the building.

Upper floor construction

Floors in woodframe homes are usually constructed with joists centered no more than 16 inches or 40 centimeters apart, according to most building codes. Heavy floors, such as those made of stone, require more closely-spaced joists. If the span between load-bearing walls is too long for joists to safely support, then a heavy crossbeam (thick or laminated wood, or a metal I-beam or H-beam) may be used. A "subfloor" of plywood or waferboard is then laid over the joists.

Utilities

Main article: Building services engineering

In modern buildings, there are numerous services provided via ducts or wires underneath the floor or above the ceiling. The floor of one level typically also holds the ceiling of the level below (if any).

Services provided by subfloors include:

• Air conditioning
• Communication fibers
• Electrical wiring
• Fire protection
• Thermal insulation
• Plumbing
• Sewerage
• Soundproofing
• Underfloor heating

In floors supported by joists, utilities are run through the floor by drilling small holes through the joists to serve as conduits. Where the floor is over the basement or crawlspace, utilities may instead be run under the joists, making the installation less expensive. Also, ducts for air conditioning (central heating and cooling) are large and cannot cross through joists or beams; thus, ducts are typically at or near the plenum, or come directly from underneath (or from an attic).

Pipes for plumbing, sewerage, underfloor heating, and other utilities may be laid directly in slab floors, typically via cellular floor raceways. However, later maintenance of these systems can be expensive, requiring the opening of concrete or other fixed structures. Electrically heated floors are available, and both kinds of systems can also be used in wood floors as well.

Issues with floors

Wood floors, particularly older ones, will tend to 'squeak' in certain places. This is caused by the wood rubbing against other wood, usually at a joint of the subfloor. Firmly securing the pieces to each other with screws or nails may reduce this problem.

Floor vibration is a problem with floors. Wood floors tend to pass sound, particularly heavy footsteps and low bass frequencies. Floating floors can reduce this problem. Concrete floors are usually so massive they do not have this problem, but they are also much more expensive to construct and must meet more stringent building requirements due to their weight.

The flooring may need protection sometimes e.g. a gym floor alternately used for seating in a graduation ceremony. A gym floor cover can be used to reduce the need to satisfy incompatible requirements.

Floor cleaning

Main article: Floor cleaning

Floor cleaning is a major occupation throughout the world. Cleaning is essential to prevent injuries due to slips and to remove dirt. Floors are also treated to protect or beautify the surface. The correct method to clean one type of floor can often damage another, so it is important to use the correct treatment.

See also

Floor plan Floor numbering

Sidewalk

External links

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