Timber flooring

•
Half Round Member
A natural round timber cut in half.
•Care needs to be taken to ensure that the flat face of the
piece does not check excessively due to shrinkage stresses
as it seasons

Round member
•Natural round timber or logs that have been
shaved to be cylindrical.
•The timber may need be treated with a
preservative if it is not a durable species and is
used externally. 

Solid timber rafter

•Rectangular timber sections cut from
hardwood or softwood logs.
•These pieces can be rough sawn or dressed.
Appearance products are sorted into visual
grades, such as select or standard grade.
Sub floor frame: Joists on bearer

The conventional arrangement in sub floor frames is for joists to run over the top
of bearers.
Joists and bearers are regularly used as continuous span elements running the
full length or width of the building.
Bearers are the first of the sub-floor frame
members to be installed. They are positioned
over stumps, piers or other supports
 Notching

Where the bearers do not sit flat or are irregular in shape they may be notched, packed or
planed to ensure they lay flat and true.
 Support
Bearers must be attached to supports to provide resistance against uplift and lateral
movement. Where bearers have to be joined, this should be done over a support
Ventilation
Position
Bearers are typically:
•run in the long direction of a building
•located under the side perimeter walls
•equally spaced across the width of the building.
 Floor loads
Whether the bearers are supporting load bearing walls or only floor loads, the area of the
floor supported by an individual bearer must be determined. This is referred to as the floor
load width (FLW).
Floor joists are the next series of members for the sub-floor frame. They
are supported by the bearers.
•Typically the floor joists run over the tops of bearers, however, they may be
attached to the sides of bearers.
•Like bearers, floor joists may be single span or continuous span. They can be
made of timber or steel.
Notching •Floor joists must be laid with their top surface level to receive
flooring.
•Floor joists may be notched similar to bearers.
•The depth of all the floor joists are the same. The maximum depth
of the notch which is cut out of the joist is   d/4
Joints
Supporting fitted floorboards
Floor joists supporting fitted floorboards must ensure that the floor in every room
can be adequately fixed and supported. This will require additional floor joists at
the walls, which run parallel to the floor joists.
Supporting platform floors
Deep floor joists
•Deep floor joists are those where the joist height exceeds four times its width.
•Deep floor joists must be restrained from rolling over. They require blocking between
the joist spacings.
This can be achieved by:
•providing a continuous trimming joist to the ends of the joists immediately over the
external bearer or solid blocking between the outer pairs of joists and between
intermediate pairs at not more than 1.8 metre centres.
•Where span exceeds 3 metres additional mid-span blocking at 1.8 metre spacings may
also be required.
Sub floor frame: T-section bearer and inline joists

Single span joists are set between and are

supported off a T section bearer.
This produces a shallower floor than
conventional bearer and joist arrangements.
Sub floor frame: Inline joists fixed to bearer with joist hangers.

Single span joist are set between

the bearers and supported with
proprietary sheet metal beam
hangers.

This produces a shallower floor

than conventional bearer and joist
arrangements.
Sub floor support: Brick pier on pad footing
This is the traditional method of sub-floor
support where a brick pier on a pad footing
supports the bearer. This method is being
replaced due to the cost and delay of having
several trades involved.
Upper floor level joist & flooring systems
Sawn timber and a range of engineered timber
products, such as nail plated or glue laminated
elements, are used as joists in upper floor
structures.

Engineered products can be used over

continuous spans while sawn timber is
regularly used for single spans
Insulated floor: batts on mesh
Timber floors need to be insulated in cold
climates. Tight fitting insulation batts can be
installed between the floor joists during
construction. They are supported by wire mesh
or by moisture permeable membrane
Floor insulation can take a number of forms.

Insulation supported on mesh fixed over joists

 Insulation supported on mesh fixed to under
side of joists
Insulation supported upon ceiling lining
Perforated insulation supported on beams
Folded insulation
Overlay strip floor: double sprung support

Timber or resilient pads are fixed to the floor

and two layers of joists are laid over them
before finishing with strip flooring.
This arrangement gives the floor the feel and
bounce of a natural timber floor and is useful
for sports and dance floors. 
Overlay strip floor: resilient pad
sprung support 

•Resilient pads are fixed to the floor and

battens are laid over them.
•Timber strip flooring is then fixed over the
top. This arrangement gives the floor part of
the feel and bounce of a natural timber floor. 
overlay floor: fixed direct to slab 

•Overlay strip flooring can be glued directly to

the slab.
•This method requires particular care as any
moisture present in the slab can cause the
timber to swell and buckle.
• The moisture content of the slab should be
tested before floors are laid.
overlay floor: fixed to sheet flooring

•flooring can be nailed and/or glued to a sheet

flooring substrate.
•If the boards are glued, then the boards can
be secret nailed.
• If they are to nailed only, then the nailing
spacing normally required for that width of
board should be used.
overlay floor: fixed to sheet flooring over slab 

strip flooring can be nailed and/or glued to a

sheet flooring underlay that has been fixed to
a concrete base.
The sheet flooring is often glued and screwed
to ensure that the floor does not develop
'drummy' sections after the strip flooring is
fixed. 
overlay floor: floating on resilient mat 

•Overlay strip flooring can be installed as a

floating floor over the top of a resilient mat.
•As the boards cannot be nailed, they are
glued along the joins and/or fixed together
with clips on the bottom surface.
•The floor is then held down by the skirting
boards.
strip floor: expansion joints at wall
and between boards

•Timber floors should be installed once the

building is enclosed.
• They are fitted between the walls. A
movement gap of at least 12 mm needs to be
provided between the flooring and any wall.
Large areas of floor need to have expansion
gaps built in at regular intervals.
•Often filled with a color matched sealant,
these joints may close up as the timber
reaches equilibrium with the internal service
environment. 
strip floor: surface nailed 

Floor boards of all widths can be nailed through the

top surface.
Boards butt join over a joist and the ends of the
boards are usually pre-drilled before nailing.
After laying, the nails are punched below the
surface of the boards and filled before the floor is
sanded and finishe
strip flooring: end joined and surface nailed
strip flooring: fixed to battens 

Strip flooring can be fitted over concrete

floors by fixing a systems of battens to
the concrete.
The battens should be fixed at regular
intervals to eliminate squeaks in the floor
and the concrete needs to be dry.
strip flooring: fixed to joists 

Tongue and groove strip flooring fixed directly

to timber joists. Boards 19mm thick are used
with joists spaced 450 mm apart. Thicker
boards can be used for wider spans.
Traditionally, the strip flooring is sanded and
finished on site but pre-finished material is
now becoming available. The intended service
life of the floor is an important consideration
in selecting the thickness of the board. Boards
likely to be sanded several times should be
thicker than originally required.
strip flooring: fixed to joists 
strip flooring: fixed to joists 
strip flooring: secret nailed 
Floor boards narrower than 85 mm can be
'secret' nailed by nailing or stapling through
the tongue of the board. Secret nailing profiles
are available or the nails can be driven at an
angle through the tongue of standard profile
boards. Boards over 85 mm need to be held
down more regularly and should not be secret
nailed.
http://oak.arch.utas.edu.au
Block parquetry: fixed to substrate

ndividual blocks of timber parquetry can fixed

to a substrate with glue.
The blocks are 'flood' filled with filler before
being sanded and finished.
Block parquetry can be installed in a wide
range of patterns, using a single species or a
range of species of different colours. 
Finger parquetry: fixed to
substrate 

A square of finger parquetry fitted to a backing

sheet can be fixed to a substrate with glue. The
parquetry is 'flood' filled with filler before
being sanded and finished. 
Sheet floor: fixed to battens

Battens fixed to a base slab support sheet

flooring. This provides the structural substrate
for subsequent finishes, such a parquetry or
overlay strip flooring.
Sheet floor: floating on resilient
mat 
Sheet flooring floating over a resilient mat,
providing a floor with some of the 'natural'
bounce of a timber floor. Several layers of
sheet flooring are often used, laid diagonally to
each other and overlapping to form a solid and
continuous layer.
Sheet flooring: fixed to joists 

Sheet flooring, either plywood or

particleboard, fixed directly over the joists
provides a fast and economical working
platform and structural substrate for
subsequent finishes.
Timber veneered overlay flooring

A sheet of plywood veneered with a 2-5 mm

layer of solid and pre-finished timber on the
top face. The sheets have T&G edges and are
fixed as an overlay floor on concrete, battens
or sheet flooring. 
Engineered beams

Engineered beams may be used as bearers or floor joists. The manufacturer's design
specification should always be referred to during construction.
The various types of engineered beams include:
•beams with metal connectors
•plywood beams in solid sections
•plywood I-beams
•truss floor joists.
Beams with metal connectors

joining pieces end to end to make Joining two pieces to make 

a longer beam a wider beam

Joining timber top and bottom for 

continuous beam
Plywood beams in solid sections
Plywood I-beams
Truss floor joists
 Flooring - Fitted floors (cut-in floors)
Fitted floors (cut-in floors) are installed after walls have been erected and after roofing, wall
cladding, doors and windows have been installed.
Where boards are laid parallel with walls, a minimum 10 mm gap shall be provided between the
board adjacent to the bottom plate and the bottom plate.
Flooring expansion joints
For continuous floor widths over 6 metres, measured at right angles to flooring,
intermediate expansion joints are required. This is in addition to the perimeter gaps.
This joint can be:
a single 10 mm wide gap, under a wall or across a hallway and the like 
or
smaller gaps with closer spacings to give an equivalent space, for example, 1 mm gaps at
1 metre spacing or loose cramping.
Laying floors
Floor nailing
Boards up to 85 mm cover width need to be fixed by face-nailing with one or two nails or be
secret-nailed with one nail at each joist.
Boards over 85 mm cover width must be fixed with two nails at each joist.
Alternate nails in double-nailed boards are to be skewed slightly to the vertical, in opposing
directions. The minimum edge distance for nailing at butt joints or board ends is 12 mm.
FLOOR JOISTS SUITABLE FOR DOMESTIC FLOOR LOADINGS

Size of joists in mm Maximum clear span in metres for

joist spacing of
400mm 450mm 600mm
97 x 50 1.98 1.87 1.54
122 x 50 2.60 2.50 2.19
147 x 50 3.13 3.01 2.69
170 x 50 3.61 3.47 3.08
195 x 50 4.13 3.97 3.50
220 x 50 4.64 4.47 3.91
147 x 75 3.56 3.43 3.13
170 x 75 4.15 3.96 3.61
195 x 75 4.68 4.52 4.13
220 x 75 5.11 4.97 4.64
 On joist spans over 2.5m, strutting is required
to prevent joists twisting when loaded

Herringbone strutting using Min 38 x 38mm

section timber
For spans of between 2.5 and 4.5 m only one row of strutting is
needed, at the mid span position.
For spans over 4.5 m two rows of strutting will be required, positioned
at the one third and two third span positions

Solid (staggered) strutting Using 38mm

(minimum) thickness timber
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