Types of flooring

Thier are various types of flooring are available in the market.

Flooring refers to the lower surface of areas inside buildings used to describe the process of laying flooring materials.

The selection of material to cover the flooring is influenced by factors such as price, endurance, noise insulation, comfort, and cleaning effort.

Some floorings should not be installed below grade together with laminate and hardwood because of potential damage from moisture.

Different types of flooring in Interior design:

1.Brick flooring:

In brick flooring, the earth beneath the floor is properly compacted.

After being well compacted, a layer of cement concrete or lime concrete is placed over the entire compressed portion of the floor in 100 mm to 150 mm thickness.

The ratio of cement concrete or lime concrete layers is 1: 8: 16 proportion is called subgrade and it is necessary to maintain a proper slope for the purpose of washing the floor.

Before placing the bricks on the subgrade, the bricks should be soaked and wetted in water, so that the water from the coarse mortar beds is not absorbed in such a way that the strength of the mortar is not affected.

2.Concrete flooring:

Concrete flooring is the most common type of flooring used for residential, commercial, public and industrial buildings consists of four components as follows:

A) Sub-base:

The sub-base is prepared by properly compacting the soil to obtain a hard surface.

B) Base Course:

The base course of cement concrete is placed on top of well-compacted soil and properly cured with a ratio of 1: 3: 6 to 1: 5: 10, it is probably 75– 100 mm.

When the cement concrete base hardens, its surface is cleaned with a stiff broom, moistened in the previous night and excess water is grained.

C) Thick lime mortar:

The base course is 50 mm to 80 mm thick of lime mortar 1: 3 to serve as a bed for tile work, this bedding mortar allows to harden for 12 to 24 hours.

D) Tile Work:

The next process is to work surface tiles such as mosaic tiles, shahabad tiles, kota slab tiles, etc. before laying the tiles.

The cement solution is spread over the bed mortar then the tiles are leveled, pressing them into the bed mortar with a wooden mesh until they attain a flat surface.

Tiles are placed on the underside of the entire area before laying tiles within cement paste for proper fixing and grip.

The next day, the joints between the tiles are cleaned by removing any slack, using mortar wire brushes to a depth of 5 mm, then ground with a cement solution of the same color shade.

After curing for 7 days, grinding and polishing is done by machine.

3.Flag stone flooring types:

Initially, the sub-soil is well compacted, then lime concrete or cement concrete is placed on a well compacted sub-land with a thickness of 166 mm to 150 mm.

A layer of lime concrete or cement concrete is called the base course, then flagstones or stone slabs are laid on a layer of bed mortar of 20 m to 25 mm thickness.

Flagstone laying is initiated from two opposite corners that are diagonally and flagstones are brought from either side for proper or correct leveling with a string drawn between two cornerstone slabs.

To keep the stone slab in the proper position, other pieces of flagstone are placed in relation to the level of the stretched wire, a piece of the wooden rectangular batten is used.

After laying the stone slabs, the mortar in the joints of the stone slabs is ejected by a tool from 15 mm to 20 mm depth.

These joints are then filled with cement mortar in a ratio of 1: 3, tilted upward to give a slight slope to the floor surface for proper drainage of water at the time of washing.

Finally, the complete floor work is well cured so as to obtain optimum strength.

4.Mosaic flooring:

Mosaic flooring are made from broken tiles of cement or marble arranged in a different pattern, these pieces are cut into desired shapes and sizes.

For the construction of mosaic lettering, hard concrete bate is laid over the concrete base in 5 cm to 8 cm thick lime then sarkhi mortar is spread and levelled.

A 3 mm thick cement material in the form of two parts paste, one part of powdered marble and another part of puzzolana material is spread which is allowed to dry for about 4 hours.

Small pieces of broken tiles are then arranged in a certain pattern and then cement is sprinkled on top.

The surface is then gently rolled with a 30 cm diameter and 40– 60 cm long stone roller, water is sprayed on the surface so that the cement material comes up through the joints and even surface is obtained.

5.Granolithic flooring:

The granolithic flooring is made of cement, sand, and aggregates that are specially selected for coating finishing on the surface of the concrete to achieve a hard, durable, and abrasion-resistant floor.

Course aggregates can be obtained from naturally occurring stones such as basalt, limestone or quartzite, classified by 13 mm.

The ratio of cement, sand and aggregate is 1: 1: 2 or 1: 1: 3. 1: 1: 2 ratio.

Initially, the base concrete is placed on a compact soil surface, then concrete is set properly then granolithic concrete is laid which gives unbroken construction.

When the concrete mixture for granolithic flooring is laid on the concrete base and the surface is finished by tamping and prepared with the help of wooden floats, while the smoothness of the surface is achieved by a steel trowel.

These types of flooring are more economical used especially for low-cost housing schemes where floor covering material is expensive.

6.Marble flooring types:

Marble flooring is used in residential buildings, hospitals, temples, etc.

The size of the marble slab used in the floor depends on the pattern of adoption, for normal works the slabs are square or rectangular in shape and their thickness varies from 20 mm to 40 mm.

7.Terrazzo flooring:

Due to the decorative appearance and good wear surface, terrazzo flooring is very popular and commonly used in residential, school, offices, hospitals, bank buildings.

Terrazzo is a mixture of marble chips, white cement, or any other decorative material of colored cement taken in a ratio of 3: 1 (3 parts and 1 part of marble chips) placed on top of the base concrete in varying thicknesses.

The overall 40 mm thickness of the terrazzo floor consists of a 6 mm thick top layer of terrazzo and a 34 mm thick layer of cement concrete in the ratio of 1: 2: 4.

8.Timber flooring:

Timber flooring are readily available in mountainous areas, so wood flooring becomes more economical and used for dancing halls, auditoriums, carpentry halls.

Due to moist climatic conditions, moisture containment is largely considered in wood flooring.

In these types of flooring, the entire area of ​​the ground under the floor is covered by a cement concrete bed of 150 mm in thickness.

A 150 mm thick layer of cement concrete is called site concrete or over side concrete.

9.Tiled flooring types:

Depending on the type of material used, tiled flooring can be broadly divided into the following categories as follows:

A) Terrazzo Tile Flooring:

Terrazzo tiles manufactured in hydraulic pressure are available in the following three standard sizes: (1) 200 x 200 x 20 mm (2) 250 x 250 x 22 mm (3) 300 x 300 x 25 mm.

The total thickness of the tile consists of two layers i.e. the upper layer and the backing.

The thickness of the upper layer varies from 5- 6 mm consists of a mixture of cement, marble chip aggregate and pigment in suitable proportions.

The tiles are laid on a fairly rigid sub-grade which may be of concrete or R.C.C slabs.

B) Chequered tile flooring:

Chequered tiles are available in the following standard sizes: (1) 200 x 200 x 22 mm (2) 250x 250 x 22 mm (3) 100 x 300 x 22 mm.

These types of flooring is commonly used in nursery schools, flagging etc.

C) Glazed Tile Flooring:

Glazed tiles are available in the following standard sizes: (1) 100x .100 x 5 or 6 mm (2) 150 x 150 x 5 or 6 mm.

They are laid on a hard-hardening sub-land which may be of concrete or R.C.C slabs.

10.Rubber flooring:

Rubber flooring consists of sheets or tiles in many decorative patterns and shades of colors, its thickness is varied from 3 mm to 10 mm.

The sheets or tiles used for flooring are prepared by filling with pure rubber such as cotton fiber, asbestos fiber or granular cork.

Also read: Types of Valves, Types of Curves & Types of Pipes

11.Linoleum Flooring:

Actually, linoleum is covering material available in rolls and sheets which are placed or spread directly on the concrete floor or wood floor with the help of glue.

The linoleum sheet is made by mixing oxidized linseed oil in glue, resins, pigments, cork dust, wood flour, and other filler materials.

Linoleum is also manufactured in tile format in which the Linoleum sheets are printed or decorative designs with 2m to 4m wide rolls in 2mm to 6mm thickness.

Also read: Types of Slabs, Types of Concrete Blocks & Types of Paint

Conclusion:

All types of flooring are the first thing that catches our eye as we walk into the house it extends the length and width of each room.