L1.

UPPER FLOORS

 In a multi-storied building, floor made at level with the plinth of the

building is known as ground floor.
 If building provided with basement or underground storey, its floor is
known as basement floor.
 Top-most horizontal or sloped structure, covering the rooms from the
top is known as roof.
 All the intermediate floors are known as upper floors.
 Selection of suitable type of floor for upper floors depends on a number
of factors like :
i. floor loads,
ii. initial cost,
iii. availability of material,
iv. Ability of labour etc.
 In hilly areas where timber is abundantly available, timber floors prove
more economical and hence mostly adopted.
 In regions where stone is easily available, floors are made of stone
patties.
 If span of the room is large; wooden, steel or R.C.C. girders are used
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below patties to span the large rooms.

 In areas where neither timber nor stone patties are locally available,
R.C.C. or R.B. slabs floors are constructed
 R.C.C. or steel beams may be used below R.C.C or R.B. slabs , if
conditions of span demand.
 Types of upper floors
 Upper floors are classified according to the system of supporting beams
and the principal construction materials, used in their construction.
Upper floors can be of the following types:
1. Timber floors −
i. Single floors
ii. Double floors
iii. Triple or framed floors
2. Reinforced cement concrete (R.C.C.) floors (slab, beam and girder, and
flat slab).
3. Ribbed floors or hollow tile ribbed floors.
4. Pre-cast R.C.C. units’ floors.
5. Steel girder and R.C.C. slab floors.
6. Steel girder and R.B. slab floors.
7. Filler joist floors.

Primary functions
1. Provide a level surface with a sufficient strength to support the imposed
loads of people and furniture plus the dead loads of flooring and ceiling.
2. Reduce heat loss from lower floor as required.
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3. Provide required degree of sound insulation.

4. Provide required degree of fire resistance.
 Timber floors
 Timber upper floors for houses and flats are about half the cost of
comparable reinforced concrete floors.
 For upper floors of offices, factories and public buildings timber floors are
not much used today because the resistance to fire of a timber floor,
plastered on the underside, is not sufficient to comply with building
regulations for all but small buildings.
 Concrete floors are used instead because of their better to fire, and better
resistance to fire and better resistance to sound transmission.

Strengthen and stability

Floor joists:
 The floor is framed, or carcassed, with softwood timber joists which are
usually 50 to 75 thick and 75 to 225 deep.
The required depth of joists depends on the dead and imposed loads and the
span.
 The spacing of the joists in usually from 400 to 600 measured from the
centre of one joist to the next.
Tables in Approved Document A to The building Regulations set out the
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required size of timber joists for given spans and with given spacing of joists
for various loads for single family dwellings of up to 3 storeys.
 To economize in the use of timber the floor joists of upper floors usually
span (are laid across) the least width of rooms from external walls to internal
load bearing partitions.
The joists in each room span the least width.
 The maximum economical span for timber joists is between 3.6m and 4.0m.
 For greater spans than 4.0 it is economic to reduce the span of the joists by the
use of steel beams.

Basic construction
 A timber suspended upper floor consists of a series of beams or joists
supported by load bearing walls sized and spaced to carry all the imposed
loads.

 Joist sizing – three methods can be used:

1. Building Regulations Approved Document A – structure. Refs. *BS 6399-1

code of practice for dead and imposed loads (min. 1.5kN/m 2 distributed,
1.4kN concentrated).
* TRADA publication – Span Tables for Solid Timber Members in
Dwellings.

2. Calculation formula:

BM =

Where
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BM = bending moment
f = fibre stress
b = breadth
d = depth in mm must be assumed
 3. Empirical formula

D= + 50

Where
D = depth of joist in mm above assumes that joists have a breadth of 50mm
and are at 400 spacing

 Timber floors may be of the following types:

1. Single timber floors.
2. Double timber floors
3. Framed or triple timber floors.

1. Single timber floor.

 This is the cheapest type of timber floor.
It consists of timber joists and 25mm to 30mm thick wooden boarding.
Boarding is also called planking.
 This floor can be provided over rooms not wider than 3.6m.
Timber wall plates are fixed on both the longer walls and timber joists
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are made to rest on the short span of the room at centre to centre spacing
of nearly 300 mm to 500mm.
 The bridging joists if used for spans more than 3.6m, become very deep
and thus prove uneconomical.
Depth of the joists is designed according to the loads coming over them
and also on consideration of limiting the deflection.
  The joists are not allowed to come in contact with masonry work or
mortar, to prevent their decay and rot.
A gap of 50mm is left at the ends of the joists so that proper circulation
of air round the joist ends may be maintained.
 If ceiling is proposed to be fixed to the joists they should be designed in
such a way that excessive deflection does not develop.
Timber boarding or planking is fixed to the bridging joists with the help
of nails.
 Boarding consists of 25mm to 30mm thick and about 200mm wide
wooden planks.
Planks remain attached to each other either through simple but joint,
rebate joint, or tongued and grooved joint.
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 Strutting of bridging joists
 When span of the bridging joist exceeds about 2.5m, its depth becomes
excessive and as such to prevent the tendency of the joists to buckle and tilt
sideways, the joists are strutted or connected to each other, at mid span of
the joists.
 Strutting is used in timber suspended floors to restrict the movements due to
twisting and vibration which could damage ceiling finishes.
Strutting should be included if the span of the floor joists exceeds. 2.5m and
is positioned on the centre line of the span.
 Strutting also provides strength to the joists to some extent.
Strutting may be of the following two types:
i) Solid strutting. Fig. 21.2(C)
ii) Herring bone strutting. Fig. 21.2.(A)
 Solid strutting consists of 25mm to 50mm thick short timber pieces which
are fixed between the joists in a continuous row at right angles to the span of
the joists.
 All the strut pieces are held together in position by a tension rod placed by
the side of strut pieces and passing through all the bridging joists and
tightened at the ends. Depth of the strut pieces is kept 20mm to 30mm less
than the depth of the joist.
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 Herring bone strutting consists of a system of inclined timber pieces, fitted

diagonally between the bridging joist, and their ends nailed to the joists.
Strutting pieces are 25mm x 50mm , 40mm x 50mm in section and provided
in such a way that they cross each other at middle space between the joists.
 The ends of these pieces are suitably splayed so that they may fit between
the joists. At the end, wedges are provided between the wall and the end
joists.
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 Method of fixing ceiling
 In order to make the underside of the floor flat and to improve the
appearance as a whole, when viewed from underside, ceiling is provided.
 The ceiling may consist of plaster boards, sheets of asbestos, jack board or
floor boards.
These boards may be directly fixed to the bridging joists or special ceiling
joists may be laid and ceiling attached to it.

 Following may be the methods of fixing ceilings:

I. The ceiling boards are directly nailed to the underside of the bridging
joists.
In this case ceiling is liable to crack or open at joints because of
vibrations in joists due to usage.
This type of ceiling is not sound-proof. See Fig. 21.2(A)and (C)
upper figure
II. In this method, instead of fixing ceiling to the underside of each
bridging joist, every third or fourth bridging joist is made deeper and
ceiling is attached to these deeper joists.
This method is costlier, as some of the joists will have to be provided
deeper.
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The type of ceiling is not liable to crack, but is more sound-proof. See
Fig.21.2 (B) upper figure.
III. In this method, ceiling is supported completely independent of the
flooring.
Separate ceiling beams are laid parallel to the bridging joists at an
interval of two to three bridging joists.
 Upper surface of these joists is kept slightly below the upper surface
of the bridging joists.
Ceiling beams also remain projected below the level of under surface
of the boarding joists.
Ceiling joists are now attached to the underside of ceiling beam and at
right angle to them.
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 2. Double timber flooring
 Where the span of a timber floor is greater than the commercially available
length of timber and where, for example , joists span parallel to a cross wall,
it is convenient and economic to use a steel beam or timber beam to support
timber joists.
 This combination of a beam and the joists is described as double floor.
Steel beams are generally used because of their smaller section.
The supporting steel beam may be fixed under the joists or wholly or partly
hidden in the depth of the floor.
 To provide a fixing for the ends of the joists, timber plates are bolted to the
flange of the beam and the joists, timber plates are bolted to the flange of the
beam and the joists fixed to the plates as illustrated in figure below.
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 Double timber floors are used when short span of rooms exceeds 3.6m.
In this case room is divided into 2 to 2.5m wide panels by providing
intermediate beams, known as binders, along the short span of the room.
  In this way the whole room gets divided into panels which have length equal
to short span of the room and width equal to clear spacing between the
binders which vary from 2 m to 2.5m.
 Each panel is then bridged by providing bridging joists at c/c spacing of 30
to 50cm.
Bridging joists rest either on binders at both the ends or one end rests on
binder and the other end are lastly covered by timber boarding in the same
ways is done in case of single timber floors.
 The ends of binders rests on wooden or stone blocks fixed on the longer
walls.
 Bridging joists can be fixed to the binders by following two ways:
1. Binders are notched or cogged at the places where bridging joists are to
rest.

Depth of notch should not exceed rd depth of the bridging joist.

Bearing of the joist i.e. width of the notch should be at least 25mm.
This method of fixing joists carries both advantages and disadvantages.
Advantage is that over-all depth of the floor gets decreased and,
consequently, more head room is available.
Disadvantage is that cutting of notches affects strength of the binders on
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compression side. See Fig. 21.5(b)

2. Timber pieces known as fillets are attached on either side of the binders
and bridging joists are made to rest on these fillets.
This method is preferred as it does not reduce the strength of the binder.
See Fig 21.5(c).
 3. This method is just reverse of method (1).
 In this case, ends of bridging joists are cut instead of notching the
binders.
 Cut end of the bridging joists are made to rest directly on the
binders.
Cut ends of the bridging joists also reduce the overall depth of
the floor.
 If span of the binder is quite large say 5 to 6m and load being
transmitted to it is very large, steel girder or R.C. C girder of
appropriate size may be used in place of timber binder.
 Double timber floors are stronger and more rigid than single
timber floors.
They have better sound insulting properties.
 Ceiling fitted to the binders and ceiling joist is not liable to
crack.
This floor is costlier than single floor. See Fig. 21.5 (c).
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 Strutting between joists:
 When timber is seasoned it shrinks, and timber such as floor joists, which is
not cut on the radius of the circle of the log, does not shrink uniformly.
The shrinkage will tend to make the floor joists twist, or wind, and to
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prevent cracking of a plaster ceiling, which this twisting would cause, timber
strutting is used.
 The type most commonly used is that known as herringbone strutting.
This consists of short lengths or softwood timber about 50 x 38 nailed
between the joists as in Fig.151.
  The strutting is fixed between all the joists right across each room from wall
to wall.
Wedges and blocks of wood are fixed between the end joists and the wall as
in Fig. 151, to tighten the system of strutting.
 Alternatively a system of solid strutting is sometimes used.
 This consists of short lengths of timber of the same section as the joist which
are nailed between the joists either in line or staggered, as in Fig. 151.
 This is not usually so effective a system of strutting as the herringbone
system, because unless the short solid lengths are cut very accurately to fit to
the sides of the joists they do not firmly strut between the joists.
 As with herringbone strutting the end joists are blocked and wedged up to
the surround wall.
Usually one set of struts is used for joists spanning up to 3.6m. and two for
spanning more than 3.6m.
A single set of struts is fixed across the floor at mid span.
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 End support for floor joists:
 For stability, the end of floor joists must have adequate support from walls
or beams.
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If the floor is to be durable, timber joists should not be built into external
walls where the ends may be persistently damp and suffer decay.
 Timber joists should not be built into or across separating or compartment
walls where they may encourage spread of fire.
Floor joists are, therefore either built into internal and external walls or they
are supported on hangers, or corbels projecting from the face of walls.
  Timber floor joists that are built into walls should bear on a wall plate of
timber or metal, which serve to spread the load from the floor along the
length of the walls and as a level bed on which the joists bear.
 Timber wall plates are of sawn softwood 100 x 50mm fixed at the top course
into brick work, and laid with one 100 faced horizontal.
The wall plate is bedded level in mortar to take the ends of the joists which
are nailed in position to the timber plate and the wall is then raised between
and above the floor as illustrated in Fig. 152, which illustrates joists built
into an internal load bearing brick wall.
 When timber joists are built into the inner skin of a cavity wall the joists
must not project into the cavity and it is wise to treat the ends of the joists
with a preservative against the possibility of decay due to moisture
penetration.
 The ends of joists built into a cavity wall may bear on a timber wall plate
which should also be treated with a preservative.
 The wall plate is bedded on the block work inner skin.
As an alternative, a mild steel bar 75 x 6 may be used.
 This metal wall plate is tarred and sanded and bedded level in mortar and the
joist ends bear on the plate as illustrated in Fig. 153.
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 Instead of using a timber or a metal wall plate the joists may bear directly on
the brick or block wall with tile or slate slips in mortar packed under each
joist end to level the joists.
 This is a somewhat laborious procedure and the slips may be displaced and
the joists move out of level during subsequent building operation.
  Timber joists may be built into a solid external wall if the wall is thick
enough to prevent penetration of moisture to the joist ends and where the
wall is protected externally with slate or tile hanging.
 As a precaution against the possibility of decay due to unforeseen moisture
penetration it is wise to protect the joist ends and timber wall plates with a
preservative.
 Where timber floor joists are supported by solid external walls through
which rain might penetrate to the ends of joists built into the wall, and where
joists are supported by separating walls as in the cross wall form of
construction, it is common to support the joists in galvanized pressed steel
joist hangers made for the purpose.
 These hangers, illustrated in Fig.154 are built into brick or block courses so
that they project and support the ends of joists as illustrated in Fig.153.
 Either the hangers are built in as the brick or block wall is raised and the
joists fitted later, or the joists, with the hangers nailed to their ends, are
given temporary support as the brick or block work is built, and the hangers
built into horizontal courses to accurately locate them in position.
 Metal hangers may be used to support joists on the inner skin of a cavity
wall providing the span of the floor and the loads on the floor are not such as
to be likely to cause so great an eccentric load likely to overturn the wall.
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 As an alternative to hangers, timber floor joists may be supported by a

timber wall plate carried on iron corbels built into walls as illustrated in Fig.
155, or on brick courses corbelled out from the wall as illustrated in Fig.155.
 The disadvantage of these two methods of support is that they form a
projection below the ceiling. Since the advent of metal joist hangers, corbel
bracket and corbel course support for joists have been little used.
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 L2. Lateral restraint for walls:
 Where a timber floor gives lateral restraint to a wall to stiffen it, the timber
joists have to be firmly anchored to the wall to give positive support.
 Metal ties are screwed or bolted to the ends of joists and the turned down
end of the ties built into the wall as illustrated in Fig. 70 or restraint type
joist hangers are used as illustrated in Fig. 156.
 Where a timber floor gives lateral support to a wall parallel to the span of the
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joists then ties are secured across the joists and the ties anchored to the wall
as illustrated in Fig.70.
 Similarly, concrete floors giving lateral support are built in with at least 90
bearing at ends.
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 Lateral restraint in external, compartment (fire) separating (partly) and

internal load bearing walls must have horizontal support from adjacent
 floors to restrict movement. Exceptions occur when the wall is less than 3m
long.

Methods
1. 90mm end bearing of floor joists, spaced not more than 1.2m apart ..
2. Galvanized steel straps spaced at intervals not exceeding 2m and fixed
square to joists.

3. Joists carried by BS 5628–1 approved galvanized steel hangers.

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4. Adjacent floors at or about the same level. Contacting with the wall at no
more than 2m intervals.
  Wall stability to right angles to floor and ceiling joists this is achieved by
building the joists into masonry support walls or locating them on approved
joist hangers.
 Walls parallel to joists are stabilized by lateral restraint straps.
Buildings constructed before current stability requirements (see Building
Regulations Approved Document A – Structure) often show signs of wall
bulge due to the effects of eccentric loading and years of thermal movement.
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 Notches and holes:
 So that notches and holes cut in timber joists, do not seriously weaken the
strength of the floor, the following limitations are given as practical
guidance to meetings the requirements of the Building Regulations for small
domestic building.
 Notches and holes cut in timber floor joists for water, heating and gas
service pipes and for electrical cable should be no deeper than one-eighth of
the depth of the joist and not cut closer to a support than 0.07 of the span,
nor further away than one-quarter of the span as illustrated in Fig. 157.
 Similarly holes cut in joists for pipes or electrical cable should be of no
greater diameter than one-quarter of the depth of the joist, should be drilled
on the neutral axis and not less than 3 diameters apart measured from centre
to centre and located between 0.25 and 0.4 times the span from supports as
illustrated in Fig.157.
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 Floor boards:
 The surface of the floor may be formed by nailing boards across the floor
joists. As with raised timber ground floors, the boards are usually 19or 21
thick and have tongued and grooved edges.
 The boards are cramped up, and nailed and the heading joints of boards are
staggered as described for raised timber ground floors.
 Boards of wood, chipboard or plywood are often used as a base or carpet of
plastic sheet finishes instead of narrow boards, for ease of handling and
fixing and to minimize joists between boards. Whole sheets or chipboard or
plywood are used, with either square edge joints or tongued and grooved
joints.

3. Framed or triple timber floors.

 This type of timber floor is required to be provided on big halls where short
span of the room or hall exceeds 7.60m.
 In this floor, the whole of areas is divided into panels by providing girders
along the short span of the hall at centre to centre spacing of less than 7.60m
and more than 3.60m. thus with the help of girders the room gets divided
into panels of 3.60m to 7.60 m wide and length equal to short span of the
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room.
 If centre to centre spacing of girders is kept, say 5m each, panel will be 5m
wide and length equal to short span of the room.
  Each panel is then further divided into still smaller panels by providing
binders at right angles to the girders at 2m to 2.5 m centre to centre. Spaces
between two adjacent binders which is 2m to 2.5m wide, is further bridged
by laying bridging joists over binders at centre to centre spacing of say
300mm to 500mm.
 These gaps are lastly covered by usual floor boarding, by nailing them to the
joists. In short, floor loads and flooring boards transmit load to the binders,
and binders in turn transmit to girders which lastly transmit loads to the long
walls of the room.
 The simplest way of framing this floor is by fixing binder over girder
bridging joists over binders and lastly floor boards over bridging joists.
 But by this method, the overall thickness or depth of the floor becomes too
large. In order to reduce the depth of the floor, binders are framed into the
girders by means of tusk and tenon joint.
 Upper surface of the binders is kept below the top surface of the girder.
Bottom surface of the binders is also kept slightly above the bottom surface
of the girder.
 Now bridging joists are fixed above the binders at right angles. i.e. parallel
to the girders. The upper surface of the girders and bridging joists is kept
same and the floor boarding is fixed to them as shown in Fig. 21.8.
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 For fixing ceiling, ceiling joists are fixed at the bottom side of binders in
such a way that bottom surface of girders and ceiling joists is at the same
horizontal plane.
 Ceiling boards may now be fixed to the frame-work of girders and ceiling
joists, as shown in Fig.21.8.Binders from opposite side should not be
attached to the girders at the same point as it would weaken the girder
considerably.
  The binders should be attached to the girders in a staggered fashion.
Suitable gap should be left between the girder ends and the walls, so that
free circulation of air may be maintained.
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 Trimming
 When openings have to be left in the timber floors, bridging joists have to be
cut and, alternative, arrangement made to support the cut joists.
 Cut bridging joists are known as trimmed joists and the joist over which
trimmed joist are supported is known as trimmer joists.
 Trimmer joists rests on the large-sized bridging joists known as trimmed
joists and the joists over which trimmed joist are supported is known as
trimmer.
 Trimmer joists rests on the large-sized bridging joists known as trimming
joists. Fig 21.10 shows an opening made in the timber floor.
 Trimming joists support one or two trimmer joists to which trimmed joists
are fixed.
Trimmer and trimming joists have slightly greater section than the bridging
joists.
 Trimming members – these are the edge members of an opening in a floor
and are the same depth as common joists but are usually 25mm wider.
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 Fire safety
 Structural floors of dwelling houses of two or three storeys are required to
have a minimum period of fire resistance of half an hour.
 Timber floors with tongued and grooved boards or sheets of plywood or
chipboard at least 15 thick, joists at least 37 wide and a ceiling of 12.5 mm
plasterboards with joints taped and filled, will both have a resistance to fire
of half an hour.

Resistance to the passage of heat

 Timber upper floors that are exposed to outside air, such as floors over car
ports, have to be insulated against heat transfer to meet the requirements of
the Building Regulations.
 The standard U value of exposed floors has to be 0.45, the same as external
walls.

 Insulation between joists in the form of low density glass fibre or rockwool
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rolls, mats or quilts can be laid on to the ceiling finish or semi-rigid batts,
slabs or boards or fibre glass or rock wool which are friction fitted between
joists and supported by nails or wood battens nailed to the sides of joists.
 To avoid cold bridges the insulation must extend right across the floor in
both directions up to surrounding walls.
 Sound –proofing of timber floor
 Timber floors can be made sound-proof by introducing a layer of insulating
material between flooring and ceiling.
Insulating material layer does not allow the sound waves travel from floor to
the ceiling.
 For preparing base for insulating materials, timber fillets are fixed on both
the sides of the bridging joists.
Insulating boards are supported on these fillets and the hollow space
between the floor boards and the insulating boards is filled with pugging
plaster.
 Pugging plaster is prepared by mixing chopped straw, asbestos, cork, slag
wood with mortar.
Process of making floors sound-proof is also known as pugging.
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  A boarded timber floor with a rigid plastered board ceiling affords poor
resistance to the transmission of airborne sound and impact sound.
 The traditional method of insulating timber floors against sound was to
spread a layer of plaster or sand on rough boarding fixed between the joists
or sand on expanded metal lath and plaster as illustrated in Fig. 158.
 The layer of plaster or sand was termed pugging.
Pugging is effective in reducing the transmission of airborne sound but has
little effect in deadening impact sound.
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 To deaden impact sound it is necessary to lay some resilient material

between the floor surface material and this structural floor timbers.
 The combination of a resilient layer under the floor surface and pugging
between joists will effect appreciable reduction of impact and airborne
sound.
  Where the floor boards are nailed directly to joists, through the resilient
layer, as illustrated in Fig. 158, much of the impact sound deadening effect
is lost.
 Approved Documents E, giving practical guidance to the requirements of
schedule 1 to The Building Regulations for resistance to airborne and impact
sound, includes specifications for the construction of floors.
 A specification for a platform floor and absorbent blanket between joists as
pugging is illustrated in Figs 159 and 160.
 The platform floor is formed as a sandwich of tongued and grooved timber
or wood chipboard, at least 18 thick, bounded to a sub-base of at 19 thick
plasterboard or material of the same weight, laid on a resilient layer of
mineral fibre, density between 60 and 100kg/m 3 and at least 25 thick, spread
over floor base of timber or wood chipboard at least 12 thick which is nailed
to the joists.
 This platform or sandwich floor is very effective in deadening impact sound
due to the close contact of the floor surface with the resilient layer.
The pugging in this first specification is of mineral fibre, at least 100thick
and with a density of at least 12kg/m 3, laid on top of a ceiling at least 30
thick of two layers of plasterboards with joints staggered.
 Other specification use what is called a ribbed floor of tongued and grooved
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timber or wood chipboard at least 18 thick, with the chipboard joints glued.
In one specification the boards are laid on or bonded to a base of
plasterboard at least 19thick or material of the same weight.
 The plasterboard base or boarded floor is nailed to battens, at least 50
nominal in width, that bear on to resilient strips between them and the top of
each joist.
The resilient strips are at least 25 thick with a density of 80 to 100 kg/m 3.
  In these two specifications the resilient strips, laid continuously between the
battens and the joists deaden impact sound from the floating floor finish.
 The pugging between joists in the second specification is of an absorbent
blanket of mineral fibre, at least 100 thick and with a density of a least
12kg/m3 laid on a ceiling of plasterboard at least 30 thick in two layers with
joints staggered.
 The pugging in another specification is of dry sand or fine gravel width a
weight of at least 80kg/m2 laid in a ceiling of expanded metal lath covered
with least 19thick dense plaster.
 To provide a level floor surface it is necessary to fit the floor boards by
nailing to battens or by fixing the boards to a firm level base of plasterboard
or similar material, so that the boards can cramped together.
 The boards are bonded to the plasterboard base with strips or pads of
adhesive to keep them flat, as the tongues in the edges of the boards are
cramped up into the grooves of adjacent boards, to produce level floor
finish.
 In this operation it is plainly simple to cramp up the joints between large
chipboards than the much less wide timber boards, which are only used
when they are to be the finished floor surface joints between boards should
be staggered as illustrated in Fig. 160.
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 To minimize flanking transmission of sound from the floor surface to the

surrounding walls, as trip of resilient fibre material is fixed between the
edges of platform and ribbed floors and surrounding solid walls as illustrated
in Fig. 160, and a gap, of at least 3 is left between skirting’s and floating
floors.
  To limit the transmission of airborne sound through gaps in the construction
it is important to seal all gaps at junctions of wall and ceiling finishes and to
avoid or seal breaks in the floor around service pipes.
 The materials used as resilient layer in platform floors and as strips under
ribbed floors, are fibre glass or rockwool in rolls or mat and the materials
used as absorbent pugging between joists are fibre glass or Rockwool in the
form of rolls or semi-rigid slabs.
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 Timber Beam and Design
 Joist and Beam sizing – design tables and formulae have limitations.
Therefore where loading, span and/or conventional joist spacings are
exceeded calculations are required.
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 BS 5268: structural use of Timber and BS EN 338: Structural Timber –

Strength Classes, are both timber species.
 The following example serves to provide guidance on the design process for
determining joist size, measurement of deflection, safe bearing and
resistance to shear force.
  Total load (W) per joist = 5m x 0.4m x 2.25kN/m2 = 4.5kN

Or

 Bending moment formulae are as shown.

 BM = =

 Where: W = total load, 4.5kN (4500N)

L = span, 5m (5000mm)
F = fibre stress of timber. 7.5N/mm2
f = fibre stress of timber, 7.5/Nmm2
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b = breadth of joist, try 50mm

d =depth of joist, unknown

 Transposing

=
  Becomes

d = =

Joist and beam sizing

 Calculating overall dimensions alone is insufficient.
Checks should also be made to satisfy:
i) resistance to deflection,
ii) adequate safe bearing and
iii) Resistance to shear.

1) Deflection – should be minimal to prevent damage to plastered ceilings.

An allowance of up to 0.003 x span is normally acceptable: for preceding
example this will be:

0.003 x 5000mm = 15mm

 The formula for calculating deflection due to a uniformly distributed load is:
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Where I =

I= = 4.75 x (10)7

 So deflection = = 14.27mm
  NB: This is only just within the calculated allowance of 15mm; therefore it
would be prudent to specify slightly wider or deeper joists to allow for
unknown future use.

2) Safe bearing: = = = 19mm.

 Therefore full support from masonry (90mm min. or joist. Hangers will be
more than adequate.

3) Shear strength

v=

where v = vertical loading at the joist end. w/12

v = shear strength parallel to the grain. 0.71 N/mm2
 Transposing –

 bd = = = 4753mm2 minimum

 Actual bd = 50mm x 225mm = 11.250mm2

 Resistance to shear is satisfied as actual is well above the minimum.
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Typical situations
 It is necessary to ensure enough timber above and/or below a notch to resist
horizontal shear or shear parallel to the grain.

 To check whether a joist or beam has adequate horizontal shear strength:

  v = (V3d (2bh2)

 Using the data provided in the previous two pages as applied to the design of
a timber joist of 225 x 50mm cross section, in this instance with a 50mm
notch to leave 175mm (h) clear:

 v = (2250 x 3 x 225) (2 x50 x 175 x 175) = 0.496 N/mm2

 Shear strength parallel to the grain* is given as 0.710N/mm2 so sufficient

strength is still provided.
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 L3. Reinforced cement concrete floors. (R.C.C. Floors)
 Plain cement concrete is quite strong in compression but very weak in
tension. Steel rods are provided in plain concrete to take up tension so that
concrete may be used for flexural purposes also.
 Cement concrete in which steel rods have been embedding is known as

reinforced cement concrete. Slab, beam, etc, are the flexural members
which are used in all upper floors.
 A simple reinforced concrete flat slab cast to act as a suspended floor is not
usually economical for spans over 5,000.
 To overcome these problems beams can be incorporated into the design to
span in one or two directions.
 Such beams usually span between columns which transfers their loads to the
foundations.
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 The disadvantages of introducing beams are the greater overall depth of the
floor construction and the increased complexity of the formwork and
reinforcement.
 To reduce the overall depth of the floor construction flat slabs can be used
where the beam is incorporated with the depth of the slab.
  This method usually results in a deeper slab with complex reinforcement
especially at the column position.

Monolithic reinforced concrete floors:

 The word monolithic means one stone and is used in building to describe
one unbroken mass of any material.
 A monolithic reinforced concrete floor is one unbroken solid mass of
between 100 and 300 thick, cast in –situ concrete reinforced with mild steel
reinforcing bars.
 To support the concrete while it is still wet and plastic, and for seven days
after it has been placed, temporary centering has to be used.
 This takes the form of rough timber boarding, plywood, block board, or steel
sheets, supported on timber or steel beams and posts.
 The steel reinforcement is laid out on top of the centering and raised 20
above the centering by means of small blocks of fine concrete which are tied
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to the reinforcing bars with wire or by plastic spacers (see volume 4).
 The wet concrete is then placed and spread on the centering, and it is
compacted and leveled off.
 It is usual to design the floor so that it can safely span the least width of
rooms and two opposite sides of the concrete are built into walls and brick
partitions ½B each end or where the floor gives lateral support to walls it
may be built in parallel to its span.
  Figure 161 illustrates a single monolithic concrete floor with part of the
concrete taken away to show reinforcement and timber centering.

Centering:
 The temporary timber, plywood, blocks board or sheet steel support for
monolithic concrete floor or roof is termed centering.
 The word centering was originally used for the timber form work on which
brick and stone arches and vaults were formed but today it is used to include
the temporary support for concrete floors even though there is no curvature
to the underside of the floor.

Reinforcement of concrete:
 A concrete floor has to carry load just as a concrete lintel does and when
loaded tends to bend in the same way.
 The steel reinforcing bars are cast into the underside of the floor with 20 of
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concrete cover below them to prevent the steel rusting and to give it one
hour protection in case of fire.
 The thicker the concrete cover to reinforcement the greater the resistance of
the floor to fire.
 When the engineer designs a reinforced concrete floor he usually calculates
the amount of steel reinforcement required for an imaginary strip of floor
 300 wide spanning between walls, as though the floor were made up of 300
wide concrete beams placed side by side.
 The engineer will first calculate the combined superimposed and dead load
that the floor has to support.
 The superimposed load is determined just as it is for timber floors and the
dead load will include the actual weight of the concrete, the floor finish and
the plaster on the soffit.
 From the loads and the span the required thickness of concrete will be
determined and then the cross-section area of steel reinforcement for every
300 width of floor calculated.
 A rough method of determining the thickness of concrete required for floors
of houses and flats is to allow 15 thickness of concrete for every 300 of
span.
 The main reinforcement consists usually of 12 diameter mild steel rods
spaced from 150 to 225 apart, and these span across the floor between walls
supporting the floor.
 The 6 diameter mild steel rods wired across the main reinforcement are
spaced at 450 to 900 apart and are called distribution rods or bars.
 These rods are tied to the main reinforcement with wire and keep the main
reinforcing rods correctly spaced whilst the concrete is being placed and
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their main purpose is to assist in distributing point loads on the floor

uniformly over the mass of the concrete.
 In designing a reinforced concrete floor, as though it consisted of 300 wide
beams, it is presumed that it bends in one direction only when loaded.
 In fact a monolithic concrete floor bends just as the skin of a drum does,
when it is pressed in the middle.
  In presuming that the floor acts like a series of 300 wide beams the engineer
can quite simple design it. But as no allowance is made for bending across
the span, the floor as designed will be heavier and more expensive than it
need be to safely carry its loads.
 The work involved in allowing for the bending that actually occurs in
monolithic floors is considerably more than that required if it is presumed
that the floor is a series of beams 300 wide.
 Of recent years several firms have specialized in designing and constructing
reinforced concrete and in order to be competitive their engineers make the
more complicated calculation so as to economize in concrete and
reinforcement.
 Because the centering required to give temporary support to a monolithic
concrete floor tends to obstruct and delay building operations ‘self-centering
concrete floors are largely used today.
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 1. R.C.C. slab flooring.
 R.C.C. slab floors are normally provided up to about 3m span. They can be
designed for larger spans also but they generally become uneconomical.
 When ratio of length of the room to its breadth is greater than two the slab is
designed as one way slab spanning along the width of the room.
In this case since reinforcement is also provided along the width of the
room.
 Thin steel rods are also provided in direction at right angles to the main steel
bars. These bars are known as temperature shrinkage or distribution bars.
 Some of the main reinforcing bars are bent up near the supports to look after
the negative B.M. there and also to look after the shear failure of the slab.
 In ratio of length of the room to its breadth is less than two, the floor slab is
designed as a two way reinforcements slab. In such slab, main
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reinforcement are provided both along length and breadth of the room.
 No distribution steel is required in this case.
 One way slab may be only sing span or multi-span. Single span one way

slab is designed for a sagging bending moment of where w is the total

load on the slab per cm2 area and1 is the effective span of the slab.
  One way slabs may be multi-span slabs which are also known as continuous
slabs.
Continuous slabs are subjected to sagging bending moments at the mid-
spans and hogging bending moments at the supports.
 Reinforcing rods are provided near the bottom surface at and near the mid–
spans, and near the upper surface of the slab at and near the supports.
 Distributions steel rods are provided in this case at the right angles to main
reinforcing bars.
Distribution steel is provided at the rate of 0.15% of the gross sectional area
of the slab.

2. R.C.C. Beams and slab floors.

 Reinforced concrete floors have a better resistance to damage by fire and can
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safely support greater superimposed loads than timber floors of similar

depth.
 The resistance to fire, required by building regulations for most offices, large
blocks of flats, factories and public buildings is greater than can be obtained
with a timber upper floor so some form of reinforced concrete floor has to be
used.
  If span of the room is larger than say 3.5m, R.C.C. beams are provided
below the slab. R.C.C. slab in this case is designed as one way continuous
slab.
 The beam provided below the slab may be simple rectangular R.C.C. beam
or T-beam.
 In case of simple rectangular R.C.C. beam, the team is considered entirely as
a separate unit and slab is not considered as contributing any strength to it.
 But in case of T-beams a substantial part of the slab is considered as acting
as a part of the beam also and as such load carrying capacity of the beam is
enormously increased.
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 3. Flat R.C.C. slab floor.
 Whenever beams are considered slab floor is slab, directly supported on
columns without any intermediate beams.
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They are provided in theatres, factories and other public buildings.

 In this, floor columns are arranged in such a way that nearly square panels
are formed where centre points of column are joined.
ize of the panel may be as much as 7m x 7m.
  For design purpose each panel is divided into one middle strip and two
column strips in each direction and each direction and each strip in each
direction is designed separately.
 Its design and reinforcement arrangement is quite complicated but just for
the reference of the students reinforcement in such slabs is provided either in
two – way system or four-way system.
 In two way system reinforcement is provided in two directions along the
sides of the panels.
 In four way system two bands of main reinforcement are provided along the
sides of the panels and two additional bands along the diagonals of the
panels.
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 Ribbed floors
 To reduce the overall depth of a traditional cast in-situ reinforced concrete
beam and slab suspended floor a ribbed floor could be used.
 The basic concept is to replace the wide spaced deep beams with narrow
spaced shallow beams or ribs which will carry only a small amount of slab
loading.
 These floors can be designed as one or two way spanning floors.
 One way spanning ribbed floors are sometimes called troughed floors
whereas the two way spanning ribbed floors are called coffered or waffle
floors.
 Ribbed floors are usually cast against metal, glass fibre or polypropylene
preformed moulds which are temporarily supported on plywood decking.
 It is also a type of R.C.C floor in which bulk of cement concrete below the
neutral axis, which is considered useless in R.C.C. is removed and only thin
ribs are left in which reinforcing bars are put.
 If removed portion from below the neutral axis is left as such, the ceiling
when viewed from below, exhibits ribbed ceiling which does not look good.
In order to improve the view of ceiling from below, hollow tiles made of
clay, gypsum, concrete or any other material are fixed between the ribs and a
plane ceiling is obtained.
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 This type of floor is used to reduce the total weight of the floor. This type of
floor construction proves economical especially when floor is subjected to
light and medium superimposed loads.
 If ceiling of the floor has been rendered plane using hollow tiles, it is known
as hollow tiled ribbed floor.
 If space between ribs is not filled and left as such it is known as ribbed floor.
  Ribs and topping act monolithically. Thickness of topping in such floors is
never allowed to exceed 8cm. Thickness of ribs may be kept 10cm and
centre to centre distance of ribs is kept nearly 50cm.
 Flat smooth ceiling can also be obtained by fixing metal lathe at the
underside of the ribs and putting plaster over it. Hollow tiled ribbed floors
are fire-proof, sound proof and light in weight.
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 4. Self –centering concrete floors.
 These are constructed with precast reinforced concrete beams which are cast
in the manufacturer’s yard and are delivered to the building site where they
are hoisted to the level of the floor and placed in position.
 Once in position they require no support other than the bearing of their ends
on walls or beams. There are two types of self-centering reinforced concrete
floors:
(a) Hollow beam floor units, and
(b) Solid ‘T’ section beams and hollow concrete infilling blocks.

a) Hollow beam floor units:

 Hollow reinforced concrete beams, rectangular in section are precast. The
width of the beams is usually 355, the depth 130 to 205 and the length up to
5.5.
 The concrete walls of these beams are from 15 to 20 thick and the steel
reinforcement is cast into the angles of the beams.
 The depth of the beams varies with the superimposed loads and the span.
These beams are not suitable for floors carrying very heavy load such as the
floors of warehouses.
 The beams are placed side by side with their ends bearing ½B on or into
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brick load bearing walls. If the ends of the beams are built into walls the
ends should be solidly filled with concrete as the hollow beam is not strong
enough to bear the weight of heavy brick work.

 The walls of the beams are made thin so that they are light in weight for
transporting and hoisting into position. The thin walls of the beams are not
strong enough to carry the direct weight of say furniture, and over them is
 spread a layer of concrete usually 50 thick which serves to spread point
loads.
 The concrete is termed constructional concrete topping, and it is an Integra
part of this floor system. The concrete is mixed on the building site and is
spread and leveled on top of the beams. In Fig.162 a view of a hollow beam
floor is shown.
 A hollow beam floor is lighter in weight than a similar monolithic concrete
floor, but is deeper.
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 b) Solid precast ‘T’ section beams with hollow light weight concrete
infilling blocks.
 Solid reinforced concrete beams generally shaped like an inverted ‘T’ in
section are precast in the manufacturer’s yard. Figure 163 is a view of part
of a beam.
 The depth of the beams varies from 130 to 250 and they are 90 wide at the
bottom. The beams are made in lengths up to 6.0.
 Hollow precast lightweight infilling blocks are made. These blocks are
usually 225 wide and 225 or 300 long. They are made with one of the
lightweight aggregates for lightness in handling and to reduce weight of the
finished floor.
 The beams are placed at 270 centers with their ends bearing ½B on or into
brick walls.
 The hollow blocks are then placed between the beams and the floor is
finished with a 50 thick layer of constructional concrete topping. Figure 163
is a view of part of one of these floors.
 The advantage of this floor over the hollow beam type is that its units can be
handled by two men whereas hollow beam can only be hoisted by lifting
gear.
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 Steel Girder and R.C.C. slab floors.
 We know simple R.C.C. slab, under normal conditions can be used up to
span of say 3.5m. If span of the room exceeds 3.5m, the room can be
divided into panels less than 3.5m width using rolled ………
 These rolled girders. In this case, slab and beams act separately and not
monolithically. Sometimes, rolled steel girders used under R.C.C slab are
also encased in cement concrete. See fig. 21.24.

Steel girder and R.B slab Floors

 If span of the room is not very large, simple reinforced brick (R.B) work
slab may be used for the floor.
 IN R.B. work bricks are laid in such a way that continuous joints are left
both along the span and across the span. Steel reinforcing bars are put in
these continuous joints and filled either with cement mortar or cement
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concrete.
 If joints are only 2cm wide, cement mortar is used for filling the joints. If
gap is wider than 2cm, say 4cm, it is filled with cement concrete.
 In continuous joints or gaps steel rods are put only near the bottom side of
the floor. Tension is supposed to be taken by steel rods and compression by
bricks.
  If span is large or loading on the floor heavy, another layer of bricks may be
put above the previously laid layer, in which reinforcing bars have been laid.
 In villages and towns reinforced brick work slab is known as ‘tying the
lantern’. This type of floor construction is very common where good quality
bricks are easily available and cement is to be saved because of its shortage,
R.B. work is economical than R.C.C work, but it is not so strong and
impervious as R.C.C.
 If span of the room exceeds 3.5m the room floor may be divided into smaller
panels by introducing rolled joists at 3m centre to centre.

Filler joist floors

 It is such floor construction in which smaller sections of rolled steel joists
are embedded in cement concrete.
 The embedded joists act as reinforcement and are spaced at a centre to centre
distance of 50cm to 80cm. The joists may either rest on walls or on steel
beams.
 Joists and beams if used should be completely surrounded by cement
concrete.
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 Floor finishes to concrete upper floors
 The floor finishes described for solid concrete ground floors may be used on
similar concrete or screed bases, for upper floors.

Fire resistance
 The resistance to fire of a reinforced concrete floor depends on the thickness
of concrete cover to steel reinforcement, as the expansion of the steel under
heat will tend to cause the floor to crack and ultimately give way.
 The practical guidance given in Approved Document B to The Building
Regulations requires at least 20 cover of concrete for reinforcement to give a
notional period of fire resistance of one hour.

Resistance to the passage of heat

 A suspended, upper concrete floor that is exposed to outside air has to be
insulated against excessive transfer of heat, to meet the requirements of The
Building Regulations, so that the construction has standard U value of 0.45.
 The most practical way of insulating this type of floor construction is to
form a layer of insulating material under a screeded platform boarded floor
similar to that described to suspended concrete ground floors.
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Resistance to the passage

 The weight of a solid concrete floor is general sufficient to reduce intrusive
airborne sound but Provides poor resistance to impact sound.
 In Approved Document E, giving practical guidance to meeting the
requirements of The Building Regulations for the reduction of air borne and
impact sound through concrete floors, are details of solid floor with resilient
covering materials such as carpet an solid floors with floating floor finish.
  A concrete floor with its screed and plaster finish weighing at least
300kg/m3, will act as an effective barrier to airborne sound. To deaden
impact sound this type of solid floor should be covered with carpet having a
thickness of 4.5mm, including resilient underlay.
 Concrete floors, with screed and plaster finish weighing at least 220kg/m 2
should have a floating floor finish to act with the concrete base in reducing
airborne sound and to deaden impact sound.
The two floating floors are wood-based and screed-based.
 A floating wood-based floor is formed as a platform of tongued and grooved
timber boards, wood chipboard or plywood at least 18 thick nailed to timber
batten, which is laid on top of mineral wool mat at least 13 thick with a
density of at least 36 kg/m3 as illustrated in Fig. 159.
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  The rolls of acoustic insulation are laid across the top of the concrete floor
with the edges of rolls tightly butted.
The timber platform or raft is fabricated in panels of convenient size of
handling and the edges of panels are butted together by wedging to
surrounding walls laid with end joints staggered.
 To minimize flanking transmission of sound from the floor to surrounding
wall, there should be a resilient strip between the edges of the platform floor
and surround walls.
 A floating screed-based floor is formed with an acoustic layer of compressed
mineral fibre or expanded polystyrene boards laid on the concrete floor on
which a screed is spread and trowelled to a level finish ready for the floor
finish.
 The top of the insulation layer should be covered with building paper to
prevent screed running into the insulation.
 The screed should be at least 65 thick and reinforced with wire mesh to
control cracking.
To minimize flanking transmission the insulation should be continuous
between the edges of the screed and the surrounding walls.
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 L3. Pre-cast R.C.C. Unit floors
 Precast Concrete Floors are available in several basic formats and provide an
alternative form of floor construction to suspended timber floors and in-situ
reinforced concrete suspended floors.
 The main advantages of precast concrete floors are:

1. Elimination of the need for formwork except for nominal propping which is
required with some systems.
2. Curing time of concrete is eliminated therefore the floor is available for use
as a working platform at an earlier stage.
3. Superior quality control of product is possible with factory produced
components.

 The main disadvantages f precast concrete floors when compared with in-
site reinforced concrete floors are:
1. Less flexible in design terms
2. Formation of large openings in the floor for ducts, shafts and stairwells
usually have to be formed by casting an in-sit reinforced concrete floor strip
around the opening position.
3. Higher degree of site accuracy is required to ensure that the precast concrete
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floor units can be accommodated without any alterations or making good.

  Laying of R.C.C. slabs and beams require lot of form-work and time.
 No further construction can be done over R.C.C. structure, unless it has
acquired its full strength and we know, under normal conditions, R.C.C.
takes 28 days in developing its full strength.
 Keeping all these difficulties in view it was thought by the scientists that all
these structural elements can be pre-cast at factory, fully cured and made
ready for use.
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Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee has developed the

technique of pre-casting the structural units.
 In this system, all the elements are cast separately and provisions are made
while casting so that they may be assembled together to form a full-fledged
structure.
  In pre-casting the units, every effort is made to reduce the weight of the
element, and also sizes are restricted so that they can be easily handled and
assembled.
Channel units are mostly used for slab purpose.
 When pre-cast channel units are used to form the floor slab, ribbed ceiling
is developed.

Precast floors
 The function of any floor is to provide a level surface which is capable of
supporting all the live and dead loads imposed.
 Reinforced concrete with its flexibility in design, good fire resistance and
sound insulating properties is widely used for the construction of suspended
floors for all types of buildings.
 The disadvantages of in situ concrete are:
1. Need for formwork
2. Time taken for the concrete to cure before the formwork can be released
for reuse and the floor available as a working area.
3. Very little is contributed by a large proportion of the concrete to the
strength of the floor.
Floors composed of reinforced precast concrete units have been
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developed over the years to overcome some or all of the disadvantages of

in situ reinforced concrete slab.
To realize the full economy of any one particular precast flooring system
the design of the floors should be within consideration; coupled with the
advantages of repetition.
 CHOICE OF SYSTEM.
 Before any system of precast concrete flooring can be considered in detail
the following factors must be taken into account.
1. Maximum span
2. Nature of support
3. Weight of units.
4. Thickness of units
5. Thermal insulation properties.
6. Sound insulation properties.
7. Fire resistance of units.
8. Speed of construction.
9. Amount of temporary support required.
 The systems available can be considered as precast hollow floors or
composite floor; further subdivision is possible by taking into account the
amount of temporary support required during the construction period.

Precast hollow floors.

 Precast hollow floor units are available in a variety of sections such as box
planks or beams; tee sections, 1 beam sections and channel sections (see Fig.
IV.1).
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 The economies which can be reasonably expected over the in situ floor are:
1. 50% reduction in the volume of concrete.
2. 25% reduction in the weight of reinforcement.
3. 10% reduction in size of foundations.
 The units are cast in precision moulds, around inflatable formers or foamed
plastic cores.
  The units are laid side by side with the edge joints being grounded together;
a structural topping is – not required but the upper surface of the units are
usually screened to provide the correct surface for the applied finishes (see
Fig. IV.I).
 Little or no propping is required during the construction period but usually
some means of mechanical lifting is required to off load and position the
units.
 Hollow units are normally the cheapest form of precast concrete suspended
floor for simple straight spans with beam or wall supports up to a maximum
span of 20.00m.
 They are not considered suitable where heavy point loads are encountered
unless a structural topping is used to spread the load over a suitable area.
 The hollow beams or planks give a flat soffit which can be left in its natural
state or be given a skim coat of plaster; the voids in the units can be used to
house the services which are normally incorporated in the depth of the floor.
 The ribbed soffit of the channel and tee units can be masked by a suspended
ceiling; again the voids created can be utilized to house the services.
 Special units are available with fixing inserts for suspended ceilings service
outlets and edges to openings.
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 Composite floors
 These floors are a combination of precast units and in situ concrete.
The precast units which are usually prestressed or reinforced with high yield
steel bars are used to provide the strength of the floor with the smallest depth
practicable and at the same time act as permanent form work to the in situ
topping which provides the compressive strength required.
 It is essential that an adequate bond is achieved between the two components
- in most cases this is provided by the upper surface texture of the precast
units; alternatively a mild steel fabric can be fixed over the units before the
in situ topping is laid.
 Composite floors generally take one of two forms:
1. Thin prestressed planks with a side key and covered with an in situ
topping.
2. Reinforced or prestressed narrow beams which are place at 600m centres
and are bridged by concrete filler blocks, the whole combination being
covered with in situ topping. Most of the beams used in this method
have a sheer reinforcing cage projecting from the precast beam section
(see fig. IV.2)
 In both forms temporary support should be given to the precast units by
props at 1.800 to 2.400m centres until the in situ topping has cured.
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 COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS
 Precast hollow floors are generally cheaper than composite, in situ concrete
is not required and therefore the need for mixing plant and storage of
materials is eliminated.
 The units are self centering, therefore temporary support is not required, the
construction period is considerably shorter and generally the overall weight
is less.
 Composite, floors will act in the same manner as an in situ floor and can
therefore be designed for more complex loadings.
The formation of cantilevers is easier with this system and support beams
can be designed within the depth of the floor giving a flat soffit.
 Services can be housed within the structural in situ topping, or within the
voids of the filler blocks.
Like the precast hollow floor, composite floors are generally cheaper than a
comparable in situ floor within the limitations of the system employed.

Hollow block and waffle floors

 Precast concrete suspended floors are generally considered to be for light to
medium loadings spanning in one direction.
 Hollow block or hollow pot floors as they are sometimes called, and waffle
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or honeycomb floors can be used as an alternative to the single spanning

precast floor since they can be designed to carry heavier loadings.
 They are in fact ribbed floor consisting of closely spaced narrow and
shallow beams giving an overall reduction in depth of the conventional
reinforced concrete in situ beam and slab floor.
 Hollow block floors
 These are formed by laying over conventional floor soffit form work a series
of hollow lightweight clay blocks or pots in parallel rows with a space
between these rows to form the ribs.
 The blocks act as permanent formwork giving a flat soffit suitable for plaster
application and impart to the floor good thermal insulation and fire
resistance.
 The ribs formed between the blocks can be reinforced to suit the loading
conditions of the floor, thus providing flexibility of design (see fig. IV.3).
 The main advantages of this system are its light weight, which is generally
less than comparable floors of concrete construction, and its relatively low
cost.
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  Hollow pot floors are in essence a ribbed floor with permanent formwork in
the form of hollow clay or concrete pots.
 The main advantage of this type of cast in –situ floor is that it has a flat
soffit which is suitable for the direct application of a plaster finish or an
attached dry lining.
 The voids in the pots can be utilized to house small diameter services within
the overall depth of the slab.
 These floors can be designed as one or two way spanning slabs.
The common format being the one way spanning floor.
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Waffle or honeycomb floors

 These have greater span and load potential per unit weight than flat slab
construction.
This benefits a considerable reduction in dead load, to provide cost
economies in other super-structural elements and foundations.
  The regular pattern of voids created with waffle moulds produces a honey
combed effect, which may be left exposed in utility buildings such as car
parks.
 Elsewhere such as shopping malls, a suspended ceiling would be
appropriate.
 The trough finish is also suitable in various situations and has the advantage
f creating a continuous void for accommodation of service cables and pipes.
 A suspended ceiling can add to this space where air conditioning ducting is
required, also providing several options for finishing effect.

 Used mainly as an alternative to an in situ flat slab or a beam and slab

suspended floor since it requires less concrete, less reinforcement and can be
used to reduce the number of beams and columns required with the resultant
savings on foundations.
 The honey comb pattern on the underside can add to the visual aspect of the
ceiling by casting attractive shadow patterns.
 The floor is cast over lightweight moulds or pans made of glass fibre,
polypropylene or steel forming a two – direction ribbed floor (see Fig.IV.4).
 The moulds are very strong, lightweight and are capable of supporting all the
normal loads encountered in building works. Support is reduced to the
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minimum since the moulds are arranged in parallel rows and span between
the parallel lines of temporary supports.
 The reinforcement in the ribs is laid in two directions to resist both
longitudinal and transverse bending moments in the slab. Generally three
mould depths are available but the overall depth can be increased by adding
to the depth of the topping.
  With all floors using an in situ topping it is possible to float the surface in
preparation for the applied finishes but this surface may suffer damage
whilst being used by the following trades. It is therefore considered a better
form of construction to allow for a floor screed to be applied to the in situ
topping at a later stage in the contract prior to the fixing of the applied
finish.
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  Steel fabricated beams

 Steel fabricated beams can be used as an integral means of support for

precast concrete floors.

 These are an overall depth and space saving alternative compared to down-
stand reinforced concrete beams or masonry walls.

 Only the lower steel flange of the steel beam is exposed.

 To attain sufficient strength, a supplementary steel plate is welded to the

bottom flange of standard UC sections.

 This produces a type of compound or plated section that is supported by the

main structural frame.
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 fig

 A standard manufactured steel beam with similar applications to the plated

UC is shown above.
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 This purpose made alternative is used with lightweight flooring units, such
as precast concrete hollow core slabs and metal section decking of the type
shown previously.
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Fig

Raised access floors

  Raised flooring was developed in response to the high-tech boom of the
1970’s.
 It has proved expedient in accommodating computer and communications
cabling as well as numerous other established services.
 The system is a combination of adjustable floor pedestals, supporting a
variety of decking materials.
 Pedestal height ranges from as little as 30mm up to about 600mm, although
greater heights are possible at the expense of structural floor levels.
 Decking is usually in loose fit squires of 600mm, but may be sheet plywood
or particleboard screwed direct to closer spaced pedestal support plates on to
joists bearing on pedestals.
 Cavity fire stops are required between decking and structural floor at
appropriate intervals (See Building Regulations, ADB volume 2. Section 9)
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 Sound insulation
 sound can be defined as vibrations of air which are registered y the human
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ear.
 All sounds are produced by a vibrating object which causes tiny particles of
air around it to move in unison.
 These displaced air particles collide with adjacent air particles setting them
in motion and in unison with the vibrating object.
  This continuous chain reaction creates a sound wave which travels through
the air until at some distance the air particle movement is so small that is
inaudible to the human ear.
 Sounds are the source producing the sound.
 Impact sounds are created when the fabric of structure is vibrated by direct
contact whereas airborne sound only sets the structural fabric vibrating in
unison when the emitted sound wave reaches the enclosing structural fabric.
 The vibrations set up by the structure fabric can therefore transmit the sound
to adjacent rooms which can cause annoyance, disturbance of sleep and of
the ability to hold a normal conservation.
 The objective of sound insulation is to reduce transmitted sound to an
acceptable level.
The intensity of which is measured in units of decibels (dB)

 The Building Regulations, Approved document E: Resistance to the passage

of sound establishes sound insulation standards as follows:

 E1: Between dwellings and between dwellings and other buildings.

 E2 Within a dwelling ie between rooms. Particularly WC and habitable
rooms, and bedrooms and other rooms
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 E3 Control of reverberation noise in common parts (stairwells and corridors)

of building containing dwellings i.e. flats.
 E4: specific application to acoustic conditions in schools.

 Note: E1 includes hotels, hostels, student accommodation, nurse’s homes

and homes for the elderly, but not hospitals and prisons.
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