What is flooring?
Flooring is the term used for the permanent covering of a floor. Flooring is an integral part of any building. The civil consultant for industrial project has to design the floor as per the requirement of the client.
Generally, for aesthetic purposes, the consultants consider the design of the walls, the roof, the facade. But, one of the most important components is flooring. Especially in industrial buildings, not much attention is given to the flooring.
Why is quality flooring needed?
Some of the reasons why quality flooring is important are:
- Aesthetics: it is a large element in the building visually. It has to be appealing.
- Cost: Cost-wise also the flooring is one of the largest elements in a building.
- Different areas in a building must have different types of flooring based on functionality.
- A good quality flooring can withstand the regular man and material movement.
- A good and properly planned flooring can avoid accidents at shopfloor
- Redoing the flooring is expensive. There is production and opportunity loss.
What are the factors to decide the type of flooring?
Industrial civil consultants generally decide on the type of flooring based on the loading on the floor and the application of the area. The other factors are cost-effectiveness and aesthetics. Another factor is maintenance.
The durability of solid floors often depends on the sub-base. The sub-base supports the floors. The sub-base is laid on top of a compacted subgrade. Moreover, this is essential to optimize the operational efficiency of the floor.
In industrial flooring, the floor is a large element. Furthermore, if the industrial civil consultant doesn’t design the floor properly, there is a good chance that cracks will appear on the surface. Cracks are the most common defects to look out for. These cracks occur due to shrinkage and interaction between the slab and the ground.
IS 2571 (1970): Code of practice for laying in-situ cement concrete flooring provides the standards for flooring concrete.
In conclusion, the civil consultants for industrial projects have to understand the requirements of the manufacturing facility and design the floor as per the requirement.
