What Type of Floor do I Have?
Posted by Peter Brady on Wed 9th August 2006 at 08:00 AM, Filed in Construction
What Type of Floor do I Have?
Basically there are two different types of floor:
1. Direct to earth floors which touch the ground.
2. Suspended floors which have some clearance between them and the ground.
Upper storey floors are always suspended as are conversely basement floors are always direct to earth. Ground floors can be either.
Direct to Earth Floors
Problems usually occur with direct to earth floors when there is not a DPM (Damp Proof Membrane) present or it’s deteriorated. This is normally a situation occurring in older structures where tiles are in situ directly to ground. As a rule of thumb houses of less than 50 years tend to have concrete direct to earth flooring. Post war floors should include a DPM comprising of either polythene or asphalt, bituminous emulsion sealant.
Suspended Floors
Quite simply suspended floors comprise boards placed on top of timber floor joists which are of a cross section thickness of 4inches x 2 inches (100mm x 50mm) and a spacing of 16inches x 24inches (400mm and 610mm) apart. Joist sockets situated in the walls support the weight of the floor joists above the DPM.
Joists situated on the upper floors are also placed within sockets for support and frequently bear weight onto metal holders afixed to the brick work.
Tongue and groove floorboards (to prevent draughts) are placed across floor joists and kept in place by a couple of nails, one for each joist it traverses. As a rule early 20th century floor boards are squared off, this proves less effective at keeping draughts at bay.
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