Floors –
Chapter 8
Chapter 8 covered
all aspects of flooring from framing to finishes. This chapter identifies the
floor-framing systems and the different types of floorings used by interior designer’s;
this included hard surfaces, soft surfaces, and resilient flooring. It also
discussed how to choose the best sustainable floor finishes and the impact that
a floor finish has on the air quality of the space and
sustainability.
Framing Systems
There are a
variety of framing systems, however, the most common are wood, steel, and
concrete. Within these three are more specific framing systems. For example,
wood framing can either be a light frame or heavy timber. Light frame uses
multiple wood members to carry a load, whereas heavy timber relies on a structural
frame that consists of columns and beams. Steel framing can be structural steel
with concrete in metal decking, which is when the system relies on regularly
placed columns that support steal beams, or open-web steel joist with concrete
in metal decking which is used to carry metal decking for a concrete metal
decking floor system. Concrete framing systems are either poured in place on
site or cast at a place and assembled on site.
Interior Floor-Finish
Materials
All floor finishes
fall under one of three general categories: hard surfaces, soft surfaces, and resilient
flooring. Examples of hard surfaces are concrete, brick, stone, terrazzo,
ceramic tile, thick set (full mortar bed), and insulation. Concrete can be used
as a sub-floor and easily become a finished surface, whereas terrazzo is more “green”
material because it is composed of a cement or resin binder with marble or
glass chips. Soft surfaces focus mainly on carpets and rugs. Unfortunately,
carpets contribute to poor indoor air quality and needs a routine maintenance
plan. On the other hand, carpet assists in noise control and has very good
acoustical absorption characteristics. Resilient flooring is the most sustainable
choice because it deals with mainly vinyl flooring, rubber, and linoleum, which
can be composed naturally. Rubber consists of either a natural or synthetic
rubber, linoleum consists of specific environmentally safe ingredients like
linseed oil, rosin limestone, and jute backing.
Interior
Detailing
The most common
way to deal with a joint at the floor and wall is by putting a baseboard over it.
Baseboards and moldings can be made from several materials including wood, vinyl,
and rubber. However, the most sustainable choices are FSC-certified wood trim
and natural rubber trim which are both readily available. A reveal joint is
used in some cases where the wall surface does not meet the floor and creates a
sense that the wall is floating. A clean joint relies of precise craftmanship
to create a specific connection between the floor material and the wall material; however, it is extremely difficult to master and very time consuming.
Interior Design
Considerations
Due to the fact
that interior designers are focused on the floor-finish materials and the
furniture, fixtures, and equipment atop the floor framing, most problems involving
floor framing are related to space re-use. This makes it noticeably important to
outline issues designers will eventually face, so the book gives us some things
to think about: type of framing, the floor system design, and what the space
was originally used for. Type of framing is important because designers need to
understand whether or not the deflection within the framing system is able to
support the finish material. The design of the floor system is equally
important because as designers we need to know whether or not the system can support
the loads inevitably placed on top of it. Understanding the previous use of
space or intended use for the space helps designers determine the type of
finishing best equppied for the space.
Susie,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the context that you covered in your blog and the way you categorized it. I really liked your photos that you used for explaining the different layers of a floor system. This gave a better visual on how a floor is installed. Lastly, I liked your photo of finish materials, there are so many!
Susie,
ReplyDeleteOverall, you covered the chapter well. Your summaries about framing systems, interior finishes, etc. were detailed and organized. I also really liked your pictures, especially the one with the different floor finishes. I also like that you had a section on interior detailing, as that is not something I talked as much about. Your final paragraph was a great recap of what Interior Designers must consider with flooring! Good job.
Susie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog's review over Chapter 8! I learned a lot about flooring from it, including how it's created and which materials are environmentally friendly. The sections on various frame kinds, such as steel and wood, caught my attention and were very well done. You also did a great job with discussing various floor materials, including soft, hard, and environmentally friendly options. I discovered that the types of floors we choose can impact the air we breathe. The chapter elements you highlighted also included useful advice on how to think about space design and how to make flooring appear attractive. You did a great job with this blog post and I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning from it!
Susie,
ReplyDeleteExcellent summary of flooring. You gave a thorough description of all aspects a designer must talk into consideration when specifying flooring. You gave us details on making sure the floor framing is able to support the load of the flooring we specify.
I appreciated your paragraph on Interior Design considerations as well.
50/50 Total Points
Susie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your summary on the chapter and I felt that the pictures you used helped communicate the main ideas of this chapter. I appreciated the detail you went into when talking about the different framing systems. I liked how you talked about the interior finishes and went into detail about how we pick interior finishes and the benefits of them as well.