Timber Floors

Floors are broadly classified into following types:
1. Timber floors.
2. Timber floors supported on rolled steel joists.
3. Flag stone floors resting on steel joists.
4. Jack arch floors.
5. Reinforced cement concrete floors.
6. Ribbed floors.
7. Precast concrete floors.
Timber Floors
Timber floors, though quite light in weight, have poor fire resistance and sound insulation
properties. They are quite costly, except at those locations where local timber is cheaply available.
It is also highly vulnerable to termite attack.
Timber floors are basically of three types:
1. Single joist timber floors.

2. Double joists timber floors.
3. Framed or triple joists timber floors.
1. Single joist timber floors

This is the simplest type of timber floor used for residential buildings, where spans are short or
moderate (say up to 4 m) and loads are comparatively lighter. The floor consists of wooden joists
(also called bridging joists) spaced 30 to 40 cm apart and supported on end walls, over which
timber planking or boarding is fixed. The width of joists are kept 5 to 8 cm wide. The depth of the
joists is determined from the thumb rule:
Depth (cm) = (4 x span in meters) + 5 cm.
The joists are supported on wall plates 10 x 7 cm to 12 x 7 cm in size, at the end walls. A space of
about 5 cm is kept at the ends for air circulation. When the span exceeds 2.5 m, it becomes
essential to strengthen the timber joists by providing herringbone strutting at the mid – span, by
means of inclined pieces of timber of size 5 x 3 cm to 5 x 5 cm. End wedges are provided between
the wall and joist.
The end of the joists are nailed, cogged or notched to the wall plates. If the joists of adjacent rooms
run in the same direction, they may be overlapped and nailed to each other. Planking consists of
wooden boards of 4 cm thick and 10 to 15 cm width, which are fixed to the bridging joists.
2. Double Joists Timber Flooring
This type of flooring is stronger, and is used for spans between 3.5 to 7.5 metres. The bridging
joists are supported on intermediate wooden supports, called binders. Thus, the loads of bridging
joists are first transferred to the binders and through them to the end walls in the form of highly
concentrated loads. This is a disadvantage of this type of flooring. Also, the overall depth of the
flooring is increased.
Because of intermediate supports, the bridging joists are of smaller sections, and are spaced at 30
cm centers. The spacing of binders is kept 2 to 3.5 m, and they rest on stone or wooden bearing
templates which are not less than 0.75 to 2.5 m in length. In order to reduce the overall depth of
the floor, bridging joists are cogged to the binders, with depth of sinking equal to 113 rd depth of
bridging girders and bearing not less than 2.5 cm. Alternatively , the ends of the bridging girders
are cut, and they are joined with the help of fillers provided along the two sides of the binder.
3. Framed Or Triple Joists Timber Floor
This type of floor is suitable for spans greater than 7.50 m, in which intermediate supports, known
as girders, are provided for the binders. There are four elements of flooring. (i) floor boards, (ii)
bridging joists, (iii) binders, and (iv) girders. The bridging joists support the floor boards. The
binders are staggered and connected to girders by tusk and tenon joints, to increase the rigidity of
the floor and to decrease the overall depth of floor.
4. Basement or ground floor of timber
In auditoriums, to carry out dances or dramas, the timber floors are constructed on the ground
floor. The details of construction of such floors are shown below. The sleeper walls which may be
of one-half brick or one brick thickness are constructed at center to center distance of 1.20 m to
1.80 m. The wall-plates are provided along the wall as well as along the sleeper walls and they
reduce the span of the bridging joists and serve as end supports for the bridging joists. On
wall-plates rest the ends of the bridging joists which are usually provided at a center to center
distance of about 300 mm. Finally, the floor boards are provided to finish up the floor.

Timber Floors

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Timber Floors

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Floors are broadly classified into following types:

Timber floors are basically of three types:

1. Single joist timber floors.

1. Single joist timber floors

Depth (cm) = (4 x span in meters) + 5 cm.

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