Flooring

The purpose of floor is to provide horizontal clean surface to support the occupants of a building,
furniture and equipments. The floor structure must be strong enough to bear super imposed loads.
The strength of floor depends on type of flooring you use

Types of Flooring
The following are commonly used types of flooring.

• Cement Concrete flooring

• Terrazzo flooring
• Crazy Marble flooring
• Brick flooring
• Ceramic Tile flooring
• Marble flooring
• White Marble Flooring
• Kota Stone flooring
• Wooden flooring

In addition to the flooring mentioned above there are some special types of flooring.

• Linoleum
• Rubber Flooring
• False Flooring
• PVC Flooring or Vinyl flooring

Cement Concrete Flooring

Cement and concrete are main components of both commercial and residential flooring. Cement is
key ingredient in concrete products. It is binding agent that holds sand and other aggregate together
in a hard, stone-like mass.

Concrete is produced by mixing cement with fine aggregate (sand), coarse aggregate (gravel or
crushed stone), water, and often small amounts of various chemicals called admixtures which
control such properties as setting time and plasticity. When the water is added to cement, it forms a
slurry (thin semi-liquid cement) or gel that coats surfaces of the aggregate and fills the voids to form
solid concrete.
The ratio of water and cement is the key that determines the strength of concrete whereas
aggregates provide thickness, and decoration in some cases. Cement concrete flooring consists of
cement concrete in the ratio of 1:2:4 (1 part of cement, 2 parts of coarse sand, and 4 parts of graded
stone aggregate). Its thickness varies from 25mm to 50mm. The base concrete should be provided
with slopes.
Flooring in veranda, courtyard, kitchens, and baths should have slope ranging from 1:48 to 1:60
depending on the location. Floors in water closet should have slope of 1:30.
Terrazzo Flooring
It is popular flooring for residential as well as public buildings. Terrazzo tiles have a smooth shine
and are designed with marble or granite chips which add attractive designs to them. It’s available in
an excellent range of colors and textures. This flooring is usually not slippery when wet because this
has many grout lines.

Terrazzo flooring consists of an under layer of cement concrete in ratio of 1:2:4 (1 part of cement, 2
parts of coarse sand, 4 parts of graded stone aggregate, 12.5 nominal size). Its thickness varies
from 34mm to 28mm. Thickness of top layer of marble chips varies from 6mm to 12mm whereas the
thickness of terrazzo flooring depends on the size of marble chips used

Crazy Marble Flooring

It is little different from mosaic flooring for its casting. The cement concrete under layer of crazy
marble should be 25mm thick. Marble stone pieces are laid on cement concrete base. The usual
thickness of marble stone pieces is 20 mm to 30 mm. The mix of cement chips 4:7 is laid around
stone pieces.
The mix of crazy marble stone flooring consists of white cement-marble powder mixture (ratio 3:1) by
weight in proportion of 4:7(4 cement-marble powder mixes: 7 marble chips).

Brick Flooring
Bricks are very easy to install. As bricks are slip resistant you can avoid danger of slippery even
when the floor is wet. This is the cheapest floor and is used in low category houses and temporary
structures.

Cement mortar in ratio 1:4 or 1:6 (1 part of cement, 4 or 6 parts of coarse sand by volume) is used in
brick flooring. Brick flooring laid on base concrete consists of 75 mm thick lime concrete mix or
cement concrete mix (ratio1:4:8 or 1:5:10).

Ceramic Tile Flooring

One of the most common uses of ceramic tiles is for flooring design in homes. Ceramic tiles are
affordable, have low-maintenance, and can easily match with any room decor. These tiles come in
various sizes, shapes, thicknesses, and colors, and are either glazed or unglazed.

Tiles are available in different sizes.

Length Breadth Thickness
(mm) (mm) (mm)
 200 200 5-6

250 250 5-6

300 300 5-6

The thickness of ceramic tiles for floor is 8 mm.

Marble Flooring
Marble is usually found as rectangular, square tiles or as whole slabs. One side is smooth and the
edges are beveled (sloping). Marble tiles provide beauty for years and functionality to your home
with low maintenance. These tiles are durable and available in varieties of colors such as white,
pink, green, grey etc. these tiles come in plain as well as textured form. This flooring provides an
elegant, royal and decorative look to the room. They are suitable for almost any place.

White Marble Flooring

White marble stones of good quality are used. These stones have uniform veins and are spotless.
This flooring is recommended for Hotels, Hospitals, Rest houses and Ban glows

What are the advantages and

disadvantages of marble flooring?
ADVANTAGES OF MARBLE FLOORING

• Marble flooring is durable.

• Marble with matte finishes makes high quality kitchen counter tops exceptionally.
• This flooring is known for its' superior, royal, decorative appearance.
• Marble is also known for its' versatility in the art as from sculptures to monuments and from
wall tiles to floor tiles.
• Cool surface of marble tiles can be quite pleasant and comfortable underfoot.
• Marble flooring is very easy to maintain and requires occasional sweeping and polishing.

DISADVANTAGES OF MARBLE FLOORING

• Marble flooring is very expensive.

• Marble flooring is very cool under feet in the winter.
Kota Stone Flooring
Kota stone is a flat rectangular limestone. It is available as rough natural slab in natural blue, green
and brown color. Kota stone is a natural stone which provides value for money to common man. It is
hard and strong and remains undamaged for hundreds of years, yet it is cheap in prices. Kota in its
natural surface is useful for exteriors and high traffic areas like swimming pool etc. It offers non
slippery surface and good look. Its polished surface finish is highly suitable for Interiors. It can be
used in bedroom, dining room, guest room, particularly in circulation area. in fact in whole house,
office etc.

Advantages of Kota Stone Flooring

Kota stone is a naturally available limestone with an elite blend of shades. It is usually available in
the Kota district of Rajasthan state of India . Kota stone is well known for its attractive colors.
However, the brown color is the popular. Other colors are - Black, Pink, Grey, and Beige. Physical
properties like hardness, non- porous and homogeneity make it extraordinary from other stones.
Kota stone is used in two finishes i.e. rough dress and polished finish. It is an excellent building
stone for Pathways, Corridors, Driveways, Commercial buildings. It is also used in chemical
industries due to its resistant properties.

Advantages/Benefits of using Kota stone flooring:

• Kota stone flooring is a fine, combine of magnificence and luxury giving used in the interior
and exterior to enhance the look of the building
•
Kota stone is hard, tough, oil resistant, and non-water absorbent, non-slippery and have
excellent stone resolvability.
• They are available in slabs and tiles form and can be set in any pattern of flooring.
• Kota stone can be finished in various ways according to requirement such as Natural Cleft
both faces, one side Honed, Both sides Honed, Hand Cut/Machine Cut/ Polished, Mirror
Finish and Calibrated etc.
• Kota Stone is available in natural shades and it can be cut in to any size and shape as per
the requirement. Look at the natural shades of kota floor:
• • It is an excellent building stone for humid regions and freezing regions, and it is non-porous
and non-observant to water.
• • Kota stone floors are heavy and they are set on strong base of base coat.

• • Kota Stone is the ideal flooring material in the building and out side the building
to impart a stronger and luxurious look to the floors
It is the cheapest stone s among the other natural stones.
Kota stone are available in different sizes slab/ tiles of 30x30, 40x40, 30x60, 40x60, 60x60, 50 x50,
55x55, and 60x90 centimeters.

• Kota stones can be used in Exteriors, Pathways, Corridors, Driveways, and Balconies etc.
Wooden flooring
Hardwood flooring is one of the most popular and beautiful flooring which has been in use for years.
It has an elegance, charm, and durability that make it a popular choice in most of modern homes.
The style of hardwood flooring you choose should be a decision based on your lifestyle, the
construction of your house, and your budget.

This flooring may be used for auditoriums, dance halls, gymnasium floors etc. The thickness of
wooden blocks does not exceed 10 mm. The blocks are laid in desired patterns and they are fixed
by means of hot glue. Then they are nailed with the help of panel pins. The heads of these pins are
punched off and putty is filled in the holes.
Special Types of Flooring

Linoleum Flooring
This flooring is a mixture of linseed oil, gums, resins, pigments, wooden flour, cork dust and other
filling materials. It is available in rolls of width about 1.80 meters or 3.60 meters. The thickness
varies from 2mm to 6mm. Linoleum flooring is also available in form of tiles. Linoleum flooring
should be laid over an effective damp-proof area.
This flooring is attractive, cheap, durable, comfortable and moderately warm and it can easily be
cleaned. It reduces noise to a considerable extent and is used for residential buildings, restaurants,
railway carriage, pubic transport buses, hospitals, schools, libraries, offices etc.

Multicolored Linoleum flooring

 (This Picture is Contributed by "Tara Vajpayee")

Rubber Flooring
This flooring is a popular choice today. It is available in form of tiles and sheets which are made from
synthetic rubber. It comes in plain, ribbed, fluted or other raised patterns. It is suitable for locations
where a non-conducting floor (where heat or electricity can not pass through) is required. For e.g.,
laboratories, amusement parks, etc. This flooring is a mixture of raw rubber, fillers such as fiber,
corks, etc. and pigments. A small percentage of ‘sulphur’ is added to speed up the process of
vulcanization (The process of making soft rubber harder by reaction with ‘sulphur’ naturally). The
material is available in different colors for both sheet and tile forms.
Rubber flooring can be laid over any smooth and dry surface. This flooring is elastic, attractive,
noiseless, sanitary, comparatively warm and soft but it is affected by oil and grease. This flooring is
used for bathrooms, hospitals, X-ray rooms etc.

False Flooring
False Flooring is normally used in computer rooms for routing cables under floor. The floor panel
should be made of 35mm thick ‘Nova teak Super’ particle board, 2mm thick PVC tiles on top surface
and the underside should be coated with fire resistant paint. The edges of floor panel might expose
PVC edging. The entire floor should be capable to take distributed load of 1200 kg. per sq/m. and a
safe point load of 400 kg uniformly at the center of panel with a maximum deflection of 2mm.

PVC Flooring or Vinyl flooring

This flooring is waterproof and is easy to clean. It is hard wearing and bears high wear resistance
and hardiness. It is unbreakable and flexible. You can easily replace any damaged section of the
flooring if you use vinyl-flooring tiles instead of sheet. This flooring also comes in a large variety of
finishes these days including slip resistant vinyl flooring which is ideal for areas the public often
walks on. This flooring is bacteria-free and resistant to chemical as the surface of Vinyl flooring
offers resistance to attack from soft and diluted acids, alkali, petrol, soaps and detergents. However,
any chemical spilled on the surface should be cleaned immediately to minimize any possible
damage.
The sizes available normally are; width 1.5 meter in rolls and continuous length up to 20 meter. The
thickness 2 mm and 1.5 mm has many selected shades.
There are three main steps which occur during layout of floors.
First step: Leveling of the filled up earth including watering, ramming.
Second step: Laying fine sand and cement concrete for base coat.
Third step: Lying floor toping may be of any type of flooring i.e. Brick on edge flooring,
conglomerate flooring, terrazzo flooring, marble flooring, ceramic tile flooring etc.
;
Epoxy Flooring
Epoxy flooring can be defined as several layers of any type of
epoxy resin that is applied on a floor surface. This type of
flooring may be used on both on the flooring of homes and
Industries. Epoxy flooring has many advantages as it is slip
resistance, durable, clean and easy to maintain and it comes
in several colors as clean white, slate and silver grey and can
also have a specific color

What is epoxy flooring?

Epoxy flooring may be generally defined as several layers of any type of epoxy resin that is applied
on a floor surface. The applied epoxy on the flooring should have a minimum of 2mm in thickness.

What are the uses of epoxy flooring?

Epoxy flooring is applied to places where the floors need to be slip resistant. These places include
pedestrian lanes, warehouses, loading bays, and areas where there is constant traffic by load
carrying trucks.
This type of floor coating is also used where there is a need for clean, dust-free, easily maintained
environments. Facilities that manufacture electronic, chemical, cosmetic and food products are
industries that need high sanitary measures

What are the benefits of using epoxy

flooring?
When applied correctly, epoxy floors are extremely durable and resistant to chemical spills, stains
and dust. It is also slip-resistant and easily cleaned. The epoxy flooring comes in with several colors
that includes clear, slate or silver gray, and can also have specific colors like white or dark based
color tinted.
Cork Flooring

Cork floor tiles are comparable to parquet but have added benefits of insulation against both
temperature and noise. Cork is a soft fiber board available in planks and smaller tiles. It is practically
alternative to wood flooring. This type of floor is soft, noiseless and has no allergic effect on the
health of occupants of the house. Being soft in nature it saves the cost of carpeting. It is right choice
to use this flooring in children’s room, family room, music room etc. Cork flooring is tough resilient,
water resistant. It observes sound and provides acoustic excellence.

Advantages of Cork Flooring

• Gives beautiful look.
• Available in wide range of color such as green, red, and chocolate and black.
• Anti-allergic.
• Elastic and anti static.
• Soft in nature, saves the cost of carpeting.
• Durable and insulated against sound, noise and temperature.

Bamboo Flooring
Bamboo flooring is manufactured from
“Moso” species of bamboo plant so it is
environment friendly. Bamboo flooring
is gaining popularity day by day. It is
easy to install and is also good for those
who suffers from allergy because
bamboo flooring do not encourage dust
etc

There are many types of bamboo flooring;

which differs in its manufacturing process
and is based on economic viability and
local preferences.
Thin bamboo stems are most commonly
used. They are cut to similar lengths and
can be stained, varnished, or simply
used. They are nailed down to wooden
beams or bigger pieces of bamboo
stems. This form results in more space
between each bamboo stem, flatness and
tightness is not emphasized. This
technique is usually used on stilted
houses, resulting in better air circulation
especially during the warmer summer
months

Bamboo-mania
The other types of bamboo flooring is made with the bamboo by spliting and flattened, dried, and
then laminated in layers with glue under high pressure. Manufactured bamboo floors are typically
made available in planks with either vertical- or horizontal-grain orientation.

Strand woven bamboo flooring is another type of bamboo flooring which is prepared with strand
bamboo which are woven and treated with adhesive. The material is compressed until it setup. After
this it is cut according to the requied length for flooring.

Advantages of Bamboo Flooring

• Bamboo flooring are that it is light in weight.

• Bamboo flooring is very easy to clean and maintain.
• It is durable and hard.
• It has an attractive look.
• Bamboo flooring is not too cold during winter season and not too hot in summer season.
• Raw material used for bamboo flooring is easily available.

Guidelines for Laying Cement

Concrete Floor
As we all know the flooring is one of major concern in construction, and if you choose to lay simple
cement concrete floor in your home than here are some helpful tips and understanding about the
said floor.
There are two methods for laying cement concrete flooring:-

1. Laying concrete floor with strips

2. Laying concrete floor without strips

1. Laying Concrete Floor with Strips

• Lay base coat of 100 mm thick in the ratio of cement concrete 1:8:16 ( 1 part of cement,
8 parts of fine sand and16 parts of brick blast) or 1:4:8 on compacted earth under the floor.
• Divide floor area in suitable panels with the help of strips. The depth of strips should be
equal to the thickness of floor.
• Keep the length of panels not more than 2 meters and the area should not be more than 2
square meters. The panels should be uniform in size.
• Place cement concrete in the panels and level it with the help of straight edge.
• Float the toping with wooden float to render even and compacted surface.
• Lay cement slurry/floating coat on compacted surface. The top surface then is finished with
wooden float.
• Test evenness of the surface with straight edge and make it true to required slopes.
• Take care to see that the strips are not damaged by laborers while laying concrete. Keep the
tops of strips visible clearly after finishing with cement slurry.
• Do curing atleast for 10 days.

2. Laying Concrete Floor without Strips

• Lay base coat of 100 mm thick in the ratio of cement concrete 1:8:16 ( 1 part of cement, 8
parts of fine sand and16 parts of brick blast) or 1:4:8 on compacted earth under the floor.
• Divide floor area in suitable panels with the help of screeds/ temporary support. The depth of
screeds should be equal to the thickness of floor toping
• Keep the length of panels not more than 2 meters and the area should not be more than 2
square meters. The panels should be uniform in size.
• Place cement concrete in alternate panels. Place cement concrete in the panels and level
it with the help of straight edge.
• Float the toping with wooden float to render even and compacted surface.
• Lay cement slurry/floating coat on compacted surface. The top surface then is finished with
wooden float.
• Test evenness of the surface with straight edge and make it true to required slopes.
• Remove the screed on the next day of laying cement concrete panels.
• Repair exposed ends
• Clean alternate panels of dust, mortar, droppings etc.
• Place cement concrete in remaining panels and finish the surface as stated above.
• Take care of side floor panels which are not damaged while laying concrete in new panels.
Keep the joints fine between the panels and in straight lines.
• Do curing at least for 10 days.
Materials Required for Cement Concrete
Flooring
Base Coat

• Brick blast 40 mm size

• Fine sand
• Cement

Floor Toping/Top Layer

• Cement
• Coarse aggregate/Bazri 12.5 mm nominal size
• Fine aggregate i.e. Coarse sand
• Strips (Glass strips, Aluminum strips)

Ratio of Cement Concrete Mix

For Base Coat
It may be 1:8:16 ( 1 part of cement, 8 parts of fine sand and 16 parts of brick
blast), 1:5:10 or 1:4:8 as per site requirement. The thickness of base coat should not be less
than 100 mm. It may be more according to the requirement of site as per load coming on the floor.

For Toping
Cement concrete 1:2:4 ( 1 part of cement, 2 parts of fine aggregate and 4 parts of corse aggregate)
mix used in cement concrete flooring. The thickness of floor toping varies from 25 mm to 50
mm according to the requirement of site condition. In some cases it may be 75 mm.

Advantages of Concrete Floor

• It’s cheapest flooring.
• The material is easily available in any location.
• It’s easy to lay.
• It is easily maintained.
• It possesses good wearing properties.

Disadvantages of Concrete Floor

• The floor is hard and cold.
• It has limitation in color and design. The flooring is not so durable as Terrazzo or Marble
flooring.