Suspended Timber First Floor Construction

This creates a small gap and allows ventilation and air movement to prevent damp forming in the timber joists.

Suspended timber first floor construction.

Ventilation is required in the same way as a suspended timber floor. Suspended timber floors which are typically found in older houses are normally made from timber floorboards which are then attached to joists just above the foundations of a house. Alongside being cheap and easy to construct timber floors benefit from being able to be adapted on site if need. This construction is similar to the timber floor above but uses either pre cast concrete planks or small pre cast concrete beams with concrete blocks laid between the beams.

Just how well this works depends to a great extent on the floor construction. The dead load on a floor is determined by the materials used in the floor s construction. Constructing a floor installing insulation and laying 18mm chip board tongue and groove any questions fire away i always answer music by joakim karud dreams. Different types of ground floor suspended flooring.

Suspended floors are the norm for first floors and above but are also excellent for creating a level ground floor over uneven ground. They can normally span greater distances than timber joists. Block and beam 81 m. There are 2 types of floor construction used in the building industry today.

Solid floors are a lot more substantial and require the ground to be made up in layers of ground sub base sand compacted hard core damp proof membrane insulation and concrete. Suspended timber 58 m. These can be classed as either suspended or solid. At the turn of the 18th century when construction techniques moved from boarded floors installed directly on the ground to suspended timber floors over a ventilated chamber the innovation solved a significant problem.

These floor joists are raised above the subfloor on small supporting walls called tassel walls or sleeper walls. If there s wall board covered ceiling suspended from the underside of that floor the dead load increases to about 10 pounds per square foot. Suspended timber ground floors consist of the finished timber floorboards being attached to floor joists which are suspended above the subfloor of the foundation. A typical wood frame floor covered with carpet or vinyl flooring has a dead load of about 8 pounds per square foot.

Concrete floors are high mass and will act like a giant storage heater staying warm for many hours without any heat. Most self builders now fit underfloor heating into their homes.