Solid ground floor

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Detail of solid ground floor and foundation. Foundations.png
Detail of solid ground floor and foundation.

A solid ground floor consists of a layer of concrete, which in the case of a domestic building will be the surface layer brought up to ground floor level with hardcore filling under it.

Contents

The advantage of a solid ground floor is the elimination of dry rot and other problems normally associated with hollow joisted floors. The disadvantage is that the floor is less resilient to walk upon and may be more tiring for the user. Solid ground floors are usually found or situated in a kitchen but will be necessary for other rooms where wood blocks and other similar finishes are required.

Finishes

Cement screed

The concrete floor may be topped with a 25 mm thick cement and sand screed trowelled to a smooth finish. The usual mix is 1:3 and a colouring agent may be added to the mix to obtain a more attractive finish. The mix should be as dry as possible and the sand should be coarsely graded and clean to avoid shrinkage and cracking which might occur with a wet mix. The floor finish is carefully cured after laying.

Granolithic

Granolithic is composed of cement and fine aggregate mortar, the aggregate being granite chippings, which will give the hard wearing quality of the finish. It will be laid with screed, troweled or floated to an even and fine finish. Granolithic paving will be suitable in areas which are to receive hard wear although its appearance would not normally be suitable for internal domestic work.

PVC tiles

Polyvinyl Chloride Tiles- These are another commonly used floor finish. After the floor has been laid with screed, these tiles are fixed with adhesive. They are attractive, smooth and cool, and damage can be repaired very easily as they are made in small square size, usually 150 mm to 225 mm. Though due to poor workmanship and dust this type of floor finish fails through lifting. [1]

Terrazo

Terrazo consists of a colored element binder or matrix and marble chips mixed to specified proportions. The finish is hardwearing, attractive and resistant to chemical attack. Ebonite strips divide the terrazo into bays to avoid shrinkage and expansion.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concrete</span> Composite construction material

Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most widely used building material. Its usage worldwide, ton for ton, is twice that of steel, wood, plastics, and aluminium combined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floor</span> Walking surface of a room

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrazzo</span> Cementitious composite material, usually used in flooring

Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder, polymeric, or a combination of both. Metal strips often divide sections, or changes in color or material in a pattern. Additional chips may be sprinkled atop the mix before it sets. After it is cured it is ground and polished smooth or otherwise finished to produce a uniformly textured surface. "Terrazzo" is also often used to describe any pattern similar to the original terrazzo floors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grout</span> Building material

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Damp proofing in construction is a type of moisture control applied to building walls and floors to prevent moisture from passing into the interior spaces. Dampness problems are among the most frequent problems encountered in residences.

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Screed has three meanings in building construction:

  1. A flat board or a purpose-made aluminium tool used to smooth and to "true" materials like concrete, stucco and plaster after they have been placed on a surface or to assist in flattening;
  2. A strip of plaster or wood applied to a surface to act as a guide for a screed tool ;
  3. The material itself which has been flattened with a screed. In the UK, screed has also come to describe a thin, top layer of material, poured in situ on top of the structural concrete or insulation, on top of which other finishing materials can be applied, or the structural material can be left bare to achieve a raw effect.
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ARDEX GmbH is a manufacturer of special materials for the building trade with its global headquarters based in Witten, Germany. The company is operated as an independent family-owned business by Mark Eslamlooy, CEO ARDEX Group and CEO of ARDEX Germany. In 2018, the ARDEX Group, represented by 18 successful brands, made a turnover of €850 million with 3,300 staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granolithic</span>

Granolithic screed, also known as granolithic paving and granolithic concrete, is a type of construction material composed of cement and fine aggregate such as granite or other hard-wearing rock. It is generally used as flooring, or as paving. It has a similar appearance to concrete, and is used to provide a durable surface where texture and appearance are usually not important. It is commonly laid as a screed. Screeds are a type of flooring laid on top of the structural element to provide a level surface on which the "wearing flooring" is laid. A screed can also be laid bare, as it provides a long-lasting surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">External wall insulation</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Types of concrete</span> Building material consisting of aggregates cemented by a binder

Concrete is produced in a variety of compositions, finishes and performance characteristics to meet a wide range of needs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-leveling concrete</span>

Self-leveling concrete has polymer-modified cement that has high flow characteristics and, in contrast to traditional concrete, does not require the addition of excessive amounts of water for placement. Self-leveling concrete is typically used to create a flat and smooth surface with a compressive strength similar to or higher than that of traditional concrete prior to installing interior floor coverings. Self-leveling concrete has increased in popularity as the degree of flatness and smoothness required for floor covering products has increased, with vinyl goods becoming thinner and floor tiles becoming larger, for example.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foam concrete</span>

Foam concrete, also known as Lightweight Cellular Concrete (LCC) and Low Density Cellular Concrete (LDCC), and by other names, is defined as a cement-based slurry, with a minimum of 20% foam entrained into the plastic mortar. As mostly no coarse aggregate is used for production of foam concrete the correct term would be called mortar instead of concrete; it may be called "foamed cement" as well. The density of foam concrete usually varies from 400 kg/m3 to 1600 kg/m3. The density is normally controlled by substituting all or part of the fine aggregate with the foam.

References

  1. "Vinyl ground floor is stylish and easy to maintain" . Retrieved 2024-05-31.

Further reading