metsysroolFloor Systemetsys

Floor System
Floor systems are a buildings primary horizontal
planes which must support both live loads people,
furnishings, and movable equipment and dead
loads the weight of the floor construction itself.
Concrete Ground Floor
Concrete ground floor can be constructed under four
categories, which is hardcore, sand blinding, dampproof membrane and concrete bed or slab.

A membrane placed above the bed is the easiest

method from a practical aspect whereas the
membrance placed below the bed has 2 advantages:
1) it will keep the concrete bed dry and in so doing will
make the bed a better thermal insulator.
2) during construction it will act as a separating layer
preventing leakage of the cement matrix into the
hardcore layer which could result in a weak concrete
mix.

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Hardcore
Hardcore is to fill in any small pockets, to provide a firm
base on which to place a concrete bed and to help
spread any point loads over a greater area. It also acts
against capillary action of moisture within the soil.
Normally the thickness of hardcore required is 150mm.

Sand blinding
It is used to even off the surface of hardcore as dampproof membrane is placed under the concrete bed.
Firstly, it will prevent the damp-proof membrane from
being punctured by the rough hardcore and, secondly,
it will provide a true surface from which the
reinforcement can be positioned. Usually the sand
blinding is of 50mm thick to cover up the hardcore.
However, in the case of Site A (refer right illustration),
the sand blinding did not cover the hardcore and also
failed to create an even surface for the concrete bed.

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Damp-proof membrane
According to rule 84, Prevention of dampness, Part
VI of UNIFORM BUILDING BY-LAWS 1984,
Suitable measures shall be taken to prevent the
penetration of dampness and moisture into a
building. Provision of damp-proof membrane within
the floor, which turned up at the edges to blend with
the damp-proof course in the walls to prevent any
penetration of moisture by capillary action at edges
of the concrete bed, will fulfill that regulation.

Concrete bed
Concrete bed is a layer of mass concrete and
it can be made of reinforced or unreinforced
concrete.

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Suspended Concrete Floor
It is where the ground under a floor has poor or uncertain bearing capacity, or is liable to volume
change due to seasonal loss or gain of moisture and a ground supported slab might sink or crack
due to settlement, it is wise to form the ground floor as a suspended reinforced slab supported
by external and internal load bearing walls, ground of the ground.

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Suspended Timber Floors
Suspended timber floors are raised up by sleeper walls. Sleeper walls are half brick thick and
generally built at least three courses of bricks high. The sleepers are advisable to be built in
honeycomb to allow free circulation of air below the floor.

Cengal wood, which is used for flooring in Site B, contains pesticides in the form of
insecticides and fungicides. This conforms to rule 103, Timber Floor, Part VI of UNIFORM
BUILDING BY-LAWS 1984,the structural timber floors shall be designed of hardwood
or of species of timber treated with a suitable wood preservative.

Floor System
To allow good circulation of air, air bricks are necessary to be
built at the end of the wall of a suspended timber floor system.
The purpose is to provide good circulation of air underneath the
timber floor and to avoid stagnant damp air, which is likely to
induce the dry rot fungus to grow. According to rule 105, Space
Below Floors To Be Ventilated, Part VI of UNIFORM BUILDING
BY-LAWS 1984, where the ground floor of any building is
constructed with timber joists and flooring boards, the
space below the floor shall be adequately ventilated.