FLOORS: Ground & Upper

Floors
 What is a floor ?

• A horizontal structural platform upon which activities can be

performed in a building. It is distinct from flooring --the final wearing
surface or material applied on top of a structural floor.
• It is the FLAT surface that you stand on inside a building/The lower
surface of a room, on which one may walk.
•
A floor is an essential primary
element of a building
A floor contributes to the overall
strength & stability of a building
 Functional Requirements
∙Strength and stability
∙Adequate resistance to damp and ground
moisture
• Control of rising moisture and damp
• Capillary action of water movement in solid
ground floors
• Adequate fire safety: resistance to passage and
spread of fire
•
 Functional Requirements (continued)

∙Resilience: structural durability and freedom of

maintenance
• Impact resistance
• Avoidance of thermal movement
• Adequate thermal insulation
• Adequate sound insulation: to be of robust construction
to minimise the easy passage of sound
• Adequate resistance to ground gas penetration (Radon or
methane)
 Primary Requirements
• The stability function is the expectation that a
floor construction remains strong and stiff
enough to superintend live loads safely and bear
the dead loads and that of finishes and services
safely.
• Must perform these functions without deflecting
in such a manner as to cause damage to surface
coatings, e.g. plaster finishes or users.
Main types of Floor construction
• Where the floor construction is of concrete and it rests solely on the
sub-soil, this is referred to as a Solid Concrete Ground Floor.
• Where the floor construction spans from one wall/support to another
wall/support; this is referred to as a suspended floor (applies to both
ground and upper floors)
 Types of Floors
• Solid concrete floor
• Suspended concrete ground floor
• Suspended timber floor
• Precast concrete upper floor
•
 1. Solid Concrete Ground Floor
• Concrete ground floor: refers to a floor whose formation
level is set solely on earth instead of being suspended from
it.
• Solid concrete ground floor construction is the traditional
method, where the slab construction rests directly on the
ground, it comprises of:
• Hardcore
• Blinding
• Damp-proof membrane
• Insulation
• Concrete
 Wall tie links the Edge Insulation to
two cavity walls minimise cold bridge

Rigid floor
DPC insulation

150mm Concrete floor

EGFL

Dpm overlaps
dpc
DPM
Compacted
hardcore
Concrete fill
prevents
collapse of 45 P
cavity
Concrete Footing
 Ground floors - specific functional
requirements
• Concrete floors should be constructed so that their structural
and thermal performance is not adversely affected by
interstitial condensation.
•
• Resistance to weather and movement of ground moisture
through capillary action.

• Durability & freedom of maintenance.

• Provide a level surface of sufficient strength to superintend imposed
loads of people and furniture.
 Base to Concrete Ground Floor Slab: Compacted layer of
hardcore

• Hardcore: This refers to infill material used to make-up ground

that is considered to have low bearing properties or that which
contains compressible vegetable matter that is susceptible to
high water seepage and disproportional movement on loading
•
• Hardcore is therefore crushed and graded and filled evenly into
the excavation. It helps to spread the load over the entire floor
area by acting as a firm base on which to place a concrete
base .
•
 Hardcore
• Hardcore is clean, broken brick or similar inert material.
• Its purpose is to provide a firm base on which to place a
concrete ground slab and to help spread any point of loads
over a greater area.
• Usually hardcore material is supplied from crushing existing
demolished masonry that is already on site.
• It also acts against capillary action of moisture within the
soil.
• Hardcore is usually laid at 150mm layers to the required
depth and it is important that each layer is well compacted,
using either vibrating whacker plate or man made rammers
• Ramming is done to prevent unnecessary settlement
beneath the solid floor
• Brick or tile rubble: Unless all the precautions necessary are taken to
ensure the rubble is free from sulphate, plaster and loose wood
contamination this material can be problematic.
• Concrete rubble: mostly from demolition works, which is then
reprocessed for grading and the elimination of loose plaster and any
biodegradable content e.g. wood; quite a reliable source.
• Road planings: remnants of a recycled road surfacing material;
material binds well on compaction due to its high bitumen content
and thus recommended on ground topology susceptible to
disproportional movement.
• Gravel or crushed hard rock: good and remarkably highly
compactable material if well graded. The negative being that a poor
grading leads to difficulties in terms of compaction/consolidation. A
strict treatment of the area has to be followed to minimise future
movement due to easy seepage of moisture between the larger
grains of gravel or rock
•
 Blinding
• Blinding is used to even off the surface of hardcore if a
damp proof membrane is to be placed under the
concrete slab.
•
• Blinding prevents the membrane from being pierced
by the hardcore.

• Generally it consists of sand bed of 25 – 50 mm thick

or a 50 – 75 mm layer of weak concrete if a true
surface of reinforced concrete is required.
 Damp-Proof Membrane
• The ground floor slab is required to resist the passage of
ground moisture to the surface of the floor, and to resist
the passage of gases, such as methane and radon.

• To resist moisture a damp-proof membrane is usually

formed using o.3 mm thick (1200 gauge) polyethylene
sheet laid on the blinding material with a minimum lap
of 300 mm.
 INSULATION and CONCRETE SLAB
• Building Regulations in some cold countries require the use of
insulation either above or below the concrete slab.
• The purpose of the insulation is for thermal properties of the
floor.
• It is common to construct ground-bearing concrete slabs for
dwellings on stable subsoil of plain in-situ concrete of thickness
150 mm.
• In weaker ground the concrete might be reinforced with steel
mesh fabric, particularly in the top to prevent surface cracking.
•
2. Typical Suspended Timber Ground Floor
Typical suspended timber floor slab
Sleeper wall in suspended timber floors
Typical 3D drawing of a suspended timber floor
Suspended beam and block floor
• Independent of ground floor
• Ideal for areas with high water saturation
• Also ideal for projects in Brownfield sites
• Especially if the ground may have been subjected to
different uses which lend a ground supported slab
vulnerable to deleterious materials/chemical
contamination
• Least affected by weather as the formation level is set
off the ground
• It is important to ensure that the underside is well
ventilated
•
Reinforced Concrete ‘T’ beams
Beam and Block Rib detail

150
Suspended concrete block& beam ground floor

T& G, Chipboard or MDF

dpm functions as
deck
vapour barrier
Rigid Insulation
provides thermal
resistance –enables
floor to respond
Prestressed ‘T’ quickly when heated
>75mm ventilation void
beams

Over-site
concrete or no
Aerated 100mm fines concrete
concrete blocks compacted
hardcore
Suspended & screeded concrete block &
beam ground floor
Screed finish >40mm at
least 65mm dpm functions as a
vapour barrier
Rigid Insulation
provides thermal
resistance –enables
floor to respond quickly
>75mm ventilation void when heated

50mm over-site
concrete or no
100mm
Aerated fines concrete
compacted
concrete blocks
hardcore
Suspended concrete block & beam ground
floor
Lightly reinforced
structural concrete
topping
Dpm placed on top of
rigid polystyrene blocks
act as vapour control
barrier keeping
Prestressed ‘T’ interstitial condensation
beams >75mm ventilation void to a minimum

Aerated 100mm 50mm over-

concrete compacted site concrete
blocks hardcore
Suspended floor slab: Block & beam floor
Before adding concrete floor
screed a rigid polystyrene form
insulation is laid on top of dpm
which acts as a vapour barrier

Blockwork acting as straight edge or

edge support to concrete slab
 Purpose of Floor screeds
• The term floor finish generally describes the material or materials
applied to a floor surface e.g tiles.
• Floor screeds
• Bonded screed: a monolithic construction i.e. where a concrete layer
of 12mm is applied directly to a concrete slab within three hrs of
placing the slab.
•
• Unbonded screed: screed laid on an impermeable dpm with no
bondage between the screed and the concrete base
•
• Floating screed: a layer of compressible thermal or sound insulation
material that is laid on a concrete slab, followed by a Damp Proof
Membrane and a final 65mm layer of screed.
•
Suspended concrete beam and block ground floor

Block positioned
between precast ‘T’
beams

C/C Precast T Beams equivalent to

the length of Block with a void of >
at least 75mm
 Purpose of Floor screed
• The term floor finish generally describes the material or
materials applied to a floor surface e.g tiles.
Bonded screed: a
• monolithic
construction i.e. where
• Chemical bond with a concrete layer of
12mm is applied
• structural floor due directly to a concrete
to hydration of slab within three hrs of
concrete placing the slab.
•

Bonded screed
 Purpose of Floor screeds
• The term floor finish generally describes the material
or materials applied to a floor surface e.g. tiles.
•
–Unbonded floor screed: screed laid on
an impermeable dpm with no bondage
50mm screed no At least 150mm between the screed and the concrete
bond with structural floor base
structural floor
–

Dpm enables screed to breathe

separately hence precipitation of
cracks in concrete is minimised
Unbonded screed
 Purpose of Floor screeds
• Floating screed: a layer of compressible thermal or
sound insulation material that is laid on a concrete
slab, followed by a Damp Proof Membrane and a
final 65mm layer of screed.
•

Floating floor screed

3 Upper floors
• Materials
• Timber

• Concrete
• In-situ
• Pre-Cast
 Upper floors - Timber
• Suspended timber upper floors are constructed
in a similar way to those installed at ground
level. However, joist sizes are determined by the
effective uninterrupted floor span.
 Upper floors
• Functional efficiency
• Carry on load and that imposed on them
• Minimise the passage of sound from one floor to
another.
• The requirement is more pertinent in all upper
floors but more so in:
• Separating floors - party floors (different
occupancies)
• Timber-floors
 Sound Transmission
Sound definitions (refer to Approved Document B of Building
Regulations)
• Airborne Sound
• Airborne sounds are audible noises such as: talking, music,
television etc.
• Airborne sound insulation of party floors and walls is
measured as the difference between the noise source in
one dwelling and the noise received in the adjacent
dwelling.
• The higher the airborne sound value, the better the
airborne sound insulation.
Timber floor restraint
A typical galvanised steel Joist hunger
End support for joists

Hungers spaced & positioned

along the wall to receive
joists
Steel hungers acting as end bearing restraints
Deeper beams spanning between load bearing
walls for lateral restraint

Joists fixed into

steel hungers
along the wall
Joists housing services through notches and walls. Cuts
must not be deeper than 0.125 the depth of the joist
Horizontal strutting

Horizontal strutting helps to

restrain the joist so the
floor can retain its
dimensional stability