Basics in Building Construction

Building Components And Types

Lesson 20 : Ground Floors

Common Flooring And Their Construction

Tiled Flooring

This type of flooring can be divided into the following types, depending upon the type of tile used; the tiled flooring can be divided as

1. Glazed tile flooring
2. Terrazzo tile flooring
3. PVC tile flooring

Tiled floors are elegant in appearance, easy to clean, non absorbant, durable and easily repairable but costs high. Another disadvantage of tiled floors is that they are slippery when wet. Due to their light weight they can be advantageously adopted at upper floors.

1. Glazed tile flooring

Today various patented ceramic glazed floor tiles are available in the market under the trade names, spartek, johnson. cera etc. They are avail­able in various shades and designs to suit the interior decoration.

Method of laying

1. The sub base of cement concrete is laid and allowed to harden. The surface should be scratched to provide key to future layer.
2. Cement mortar 1:3 is laid over the sub grade to a thickness of 10 to 12 mm and is allowed to harden for a day.
3. The next day neat cement slurry is spread over the bedding mortar course. The tile is placed in position and tapped gently with the help of a wooden mallet during fixing the tile. Care should be taken to see that the joints are on a straight line.
4. The joints should be as thin as possible. They should be racked to a depth of 3 mm using a wire brush or mason’s knife. Cement slurry of colour similar to that of the tile is applied and the surface is wiped clean.
   
5. The entire flooring should be cured for 7 days.

2. Terrazzo tile flooring

These tiles are readily available in the market in standard sizes. The tile is composed of cement' mortar 1:3 backing layer and 5 to 6 mm thick wearing layer of cement, marble chips mixture .

Method of laying

1. The sub base of cement concrete is laid and allowed to harden, duly scratching the surface so as to afford a good key for further layer.
2. Over this sub base 30 mm thick layer of 1:3 lime mortar is spread and allowed to dry for a day. The next day neat slurry of cement is spread and the tiles are fixed by gently tapping with wooden mallet.
3. The joints should be as thin as possible. The next day they should be racked to a depth of 4 mm by wire brush and again grouted with fresh slurry which should be similar in colour with that of the tile.
4. The entire floor is kept wet for 7 days and thereafter should be ground with grinding machine.
5. Finally after obtaining a glossy finish the entire surface should be washed with soap water and oxalic acid water.

3. PVC tile flooring

Poly vinyl chloride tiles have smooth surface which makes it easy to clean. They are elegant, tough, non-absorbant, resilient, easy and quick in construction and resist abrasion. They are available in single colour and in combination of attractive colours. They are much advantageous for upper floors as they are light in weight. They are very suitable for bed rooms, dining rooms, Iiving rooms etc., but it is not advisable to. use them in wet areas like bath rooms, kitchens etc. Another disadvantage of PVC flooring is that it is not fire resistant.

Method of Laying

1. The base either of RCC or wooden flooring is cleaned well and the surface is made smooth and perfectly dry.
2. On the prepared base specified adhesive is applied with the help of rollers.
3. The adhesive is allowed to set slightly and the PVC tiles are fixed in the desired pattern. The surface is rolled lightly with light wooden rollers. Excess adhesive should be wiped out and the floor should be left to set finally.
4. When the surface is fully dry, the entire area should be washed with light soap water and can be put into use.
5. Instead of PVC tiles, PVC sheets which are available in the form of rolls of 1.00 m width can also be used. With the use of sheets it is easier to lay the flooring and the number of joints shall be minimum.
6. The floor should be waxed frequently to retain its new look.