Flooring Types

Wood - Most popular

Strip Flooring
Tongue and groove
Nailed to sub floor
Pre-finished or unfinished
Random Plank
Wider than strips
Screwed to sub floor, covered with wood plugs
Parquet
Small pieces arranged in different designs
Pre-finished squares for easy installation
 Strip Flooring
wood plugs
Parquet
 Stone
 Marble
Various colors depending on origin
Verdigris : marbles that have a green color
 Limestone: most common, usually white but may have cloudy
streaks
 Onyx: may have layers of colors or banding
 Stone
Terrazzo formed using marble or chipped stones
embedded in full concrete.
artistic and very reliable
best for outdoor spaces such as verandas or patios.
strong but 50% chance of breakage at quarry
 Stone
 Travertine: porous limestone used on floors or walls
Comes from mineral springs
Holes filled with resin which may or may not be same color
 Ceramic Tile
 Bathrooms, kitchens, entryways
 Made from baked clay
 Durable, moisture resistant, easy to clean
 Can crack if not installed on even surface
 Other Tiles
Ceramic Mosaic
Individual tiles mounted together
and make installation easier
More often on walls
Mexican
Made from clay
Shaped by hand
Dried in sun
Quarry
Fired Earth/Clay
Warm brown to beige
 Resilient Floor Coverings
• Flooring with a semi-hard surface that returns to its original shape
after stress
• Warmer and quieter to walk on
• Not very durable
• Vinyl and plastic laminate
Laminate floor
 Vinyl
Resists stains, affordable
Sheet Vinyl
6, 9, 12 feet sheets
Rotogravure (printing sheets)
Top layer covered with clear coating
Thin, tears easily
Inlaid
Colored chips make designs (heat,
pressure)
Most durable of the vinyl
 Vinyl
• Vinyl Tiles
– 12 in. X 12 in.
– Sticky backing
– Place together like a puzzle
 Carpet
Draught proof (stop cold air coming in and prevent
warm air from escaping)
Decreases noise
More comforting feel
Quality
Pile (nap): visible surface of carpet
Density: how close the tufts are made together, more
important than depth
Twist
Depth
 Carpet Fibers
95% made of manufactured fibers
Nylon: Polypropylene
– most popular, (olefin):
– durable, – strong,
– easy to maintain, – nonabsorbent,
– resists stains and
– limited colors
static,
– cheap,
– crushes easily,
– limited colors,
– heat sensitive
Polypropylene
Nylon:
 Carpet Fibers Cont.
Polyester blend (PET)
• made from recycled
plastics,
• resists stains and
fading
Acrylic:
• feels and looks like wool,
• low static level,
• resists mildew (a thin
whitish coating consisting
of fungi)
 Carpet Fibers Cont.
• soft Wool • moth sensitive
• durable • shrinkage
• long lasting • hard to clean
• expensive
 Carpeting Textures / Categories
• Cut Pile
– Formal looking plush,
velvet, smooth, may
flatten
• Saxony
– Similar to cut but yarns
have been twisted
more giving less formal
appearance
• Frieze
– Informal, curly texture,
shows minimal marks
 Carpeting Textures / Categories
• Level Loop
– Loops are all same
height, may have flecks
of darker color, durable
• Multi-level Loop
– Two or three loop
heights, sculpted or
embossed effect, good
in high traffic areas
• Cut and Loop Pile
– Sculptured effect, very
durable
 Backing or Cushion
• Extends life of carpet
• Shock absorber
• Less than ½” thick
• Screeds
• Terrazzo (in-situ type)
FLOOR FINISHES
• Ceramic Tiling
• Granite or Marble
 Cement Screed
• A cement and sand screed finish to a concrete floor may be an
acceptable, low cost finish to small area floors of garages, stores and
outhouses where considerations of ease of cleaning are not of prime
importance.
 Fibre Reinforced Cement Screed
• Premixed, dry bagged cement and sand screed material reinforced
with polymer fibre is available. The fibre reinforces against drying
shrinkage and cracking.
• Cement + Sand
• Thickness: 20 - 75 mm
• It is the base for upper covering materials.
 Laying Screed
• The traditional method of screeding a large area is to divide the floor
up into bays not exceeding 3.5 m in width.
• The bays are laid alternately working to screeding battens which have
been carefully levelled and aligned, and firmly bedded throughout
their length.
• The first bays are left for 24 hours, then the battens removed and the
remaining bays completed.
 Terrazzo (in-situ type)
• Composed of a thin, stone-chip
topping adhered to a mortar base
or concrete slab, a terrazzo floor
is divided into sections by thin
divider strips that help to control
cracking.
• Traditional terrazzo is composed
of graded marble or aggregate
(70% or more) in a cement
matrix. Colour is often added to
the cement matrix in order to
highlight the stone aggregate,
which itself is a mix of colours
and sizes.
• A terrazzo floor is divided into sections by strips, usually brass, zinc or
plastic.
• Maximum spacing of divider strips ranges from 120 cm to450 cm
depending on the type of terrazzo system employed.
 Ceramic Tiling
• A bed of semi-dry cement and sand, mix 1:4, is spread over the
concrete or screed base and packed to a thickness of about 3-5 cm.
the bed is then covered with a grout (wet mix) or cement and sand,
mix 1:1, into which the tiles are bedded, levelled and the joints
grouted or filled. The semi-dry bed accommodates relative
movement between the base and the tiles.
• To take up possible expansion of tiles an expansion joint should be
formed around the perimeter of a tiled floor. The joint is filled with
an elastic sealing compound.
• For large areas of tiled floor, additional expansion joints should be
formed both along and across the floor with grout of cement or a mix
of cement and fine sand.

Tile Floor Joint Control By Rubber

Expansion Joint Filler