Types of Flooring

FLOORING

We all know that flooring is one of the main aspects of interior of any built up space. It is much important in our daily life because almost all the activities are done on floor. Flooring is the first thing that one feels when enter in a space. Keeping in mind all these things one wishes to have a good flooring which is easy to maintain and long lasting. So, we are going to discuss about what flooring is, its types, materials used in flooring etc.

WHAT IS FLOORING ? 

Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface. Both terms are used interchangeably but floor covering refers more to loose-laid materials. 

TYPES OF FLOORING ? 

Flooring can be divided into two types depending upon the process and whether it is permanent or not.

Following are the two types:

01. HARD FLOORING : A flooring which is permanent and can not be removed easily is generally considered as hard flooring. This type of flooring takes a little more time in installation and once installed it is not easy task to remove it. Marble, granite, tiles, mosaic etc. are some of the hard floorings/ flooring materials. These floors are best for heavy traffic (heavily usable) area. This type of floorings are easy to maintain and have a very long life.

Generally, hard flooring is laid using cement, brick bat, mortar etc. Nowadays some chemical adhesive are also available in  the market which helps in reducing the settling time of such floorings. These chemicals are mixed in the cement during the process.

02. SOFT FLOORING : A flooring which is not permanent and can be removed with little efforts is generally considered as soft flooring. These can be easily installed on hard floors or prepared floors and generally referred as secondary floors. 

PVC flooring, carpet flooring, wooden etc. are some of the examples of soft flooring. These floorings also have a very good lifespan if maintained properly. These types need regular maintenance otherwise not last for a long time.

TYPES OF MATERIALS USED AS FLOORING ?

There are many types of materials used in flooring. We will discuss some of the materials one by one.

EARTHEN  FLOORING : An earthen floor also known as Adobe floor are widely used in earlier times. Now these can be only seen in villages. It is usually constructed by mixing clay (chikni mitti) and straw (toodi). A layer of it is laid to make the surface flat and smooth. to enhance its look and to improve its life a layer of slurry (made by mixing clay and cow dung) is coated. Patterns can be made of your choice by hand. 

BENEFITS : Variety of  textures and color available

                      Can be installed over nearly any subflooring

                      Integrates well with in-floor radiant heat tubing

                      One of the cheapest flooring methods

 Today we have an alternate option for same earthen flooring. It is known as Vedic Plaster and it can be used for plastering the walls as well as for flooring. It is completely made of natural materials like sand, cow dung etc.

BRICK /STONE FLOORING : Brick and stone flooring are also used as flooring materials for a long time which is also a choice for cheap flooring. This type of flooring is very much durable. Generally it is used in courtyard and corridors but can also be used inside. In this type of flooring bricks or locally available stone is simply laid on subfloor in a pattern of your choice.

                         

BENEFITS : Cheap in case of brick , may costly in case of stone

                      many patterns are available

                      natural and long lasting

WOODEN FLOORING : There are two terms widely used Hardwood and Laminate flooring. Both can be considered under wooden flooring. Both provide nearly same look once finished. But there is a difference between these two and both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Hardwood is made of harvested trees and it is the actual wooden given shape. It is susceptible to scratch and moisture and should be avoided from heavy traffic spaces. Hardwood provide very good aesthetic and it also depends on which type of wood you are choosing. Hardwood flooring is costly compared to Laminate flooring.

 Laminate wood flooring is made from composite wood pressed together at high temperatures. The image of hardwood is then placed over the composite wood, covering it to form the laminate. It is cheaper than hardwood flooring. laminate resists scratches and more durable. Laminate flooring is does not remain as much appealing if not maintained regularly.

Though both are a good option for flooring. However using wood in flooring impact environment.

HARD FLOORING : Here hard flooring refers to flooring of different materials listed below. 

Marble Flooring, Granite Flooring, Tile Flooring etc. Here a single term is used for all these type of materials because all these materials almost have same process of installation. 

Marble, Granite, Tile all have very long life and all are very much durable. All these materials are best recommended for heavy traffic spaces. These are permanent flooring and once installed can not be removed easily. 

                                                                              dry mortar process                                   wet mortar process

PROCESS : There are two types of installation process can be found. In first process a layer of brick bat is laid. Then a layer of dry mortar is laid. After that a thin layer of slurry of cement is laid and then the desired material is laid.

In second type of process a layer of brick bat is laid. After that a layer of wet mortar is laid and the desired material is then placed at its place.

 

MARBLE : It is a natural stone. It has a very much durable. This material is soft and porous as compare to granite. It is unpolished available in market and polishing is done after installment. A variety of colors are available in market for marble.

           

GRANITE : It is also a natural stone and very much durable. This material is quite very hard and less porous than marble. It is pre-polished available in market. A variety of colors are available in market for marble.

TILE : Ceramic tiles are becoming more and more popular these days. It is so because these are available in almost every size and a lot of colors and designs are also available. By using tiles one can have a appearance of almost every other material available. you may have a granite, marble, wooden, texture as well as many designs to choose from. Tiles are also durable and can be used in heavy traffic areas. 

TERRAZZO FLOORING : Terrazzo is a solid floor. It is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical binding), polymeric (for physical binding), or a combination of both. Metal strips often divide sections, or changes in color or material in a pattern. Additional chips may be sprinkled atop the mix before it sets. After it is cured it is ground and polished smooth or otherwise finished to produce a uniformly textured surface. Unlike the tiles or granite flooring it provides a very smooth and leveled surface.

            

                        Precast                                                            Poured in Place

MOSAIC FLOORING : Mosaic is a type of pattern where different shapes of tile, stone (either broken pieces or cut pieces) are laid in a pattern. It is installed normally and pieces are laid on top of mortar. Then the gaps are filled with grout. After pouring or filling process polishing is done to get smooth surface. This type of is mostly used to get marble or granite like surface in low cost. One can have any type of design by placing the pieces in a specific pattern.

                  

INDIAN PATENT STONE (IPS) : IPS Flooring is also known as simple PCC (plain cement concrete) flooring. It is same as self-leveling concrete. This type of flooring is crack proof if done properly. And also it is very cheap. 

PROCESS : First of all the desired area is divided into parts using glass strips or any other material strips. Then a mix of concrete M15 (1: 1.5 : 3) is poured in each part and leveled. Finally a layer of cement slurry is laid for smooth finish.

EPOXY FLOORING : Epoxy refers to any of the basic components or cured end products of epoxy resins. It can be used as flooring material. Generally epoxy flooring is used in factories, warehouses etc. but nowadays epoxy is also used in houses. It can also be used with tile flooring. 

PROCESS : grinding of concrete / surface preparation >  priming > filling joints and cracks with epoxy grout > applying first epoxy floor coat > applying second epoxy floor coat

The main advantage of this flooring is that it can be done in a very large spaces seamlessly ( without any joint) within two or three days. It can be made glossy or matte as per your choice. Its life is also very long. And it is available in a variety of colors.

RESILIENCE FLOORING : Unlike ceramic and stone tiles, which are made of minerals, resilient flooring is made of materials that have some elasticity, giving the flooring a degree of flexibility called resilience. Performance surfaces used for dance or athletics are usually made of wood or resilient flooring.

Resilient flooring includes many different manufactured products including linoleum, sheet vinyl, vinyl composition tile (VCT), cork (sheet or tile), and rubber.

In this segment we are going to discuss the vinyl flooring. Because other products may not be available today and may be about to vanish. Link has been provided for the products you may check on Wikipedia for more information.

VINYL FLOORING : Sheet vinyl flooring is vinyl flooring that comes in large, continuous, flexible sheets. It is also known as Luxury Vinyl Tile flooring. This type of flooring comes in the form of sheet and pieces( also known as vinyl tiles ). This type of flooring is laid on the subfloor using adhesive. This type of flooring can be used in houses, offices and other places. 

   

CARPET FLOORING : A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century, synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon or polyester are often used, as these fibers are less expensive than wool. 

Actually a carpet is generally not used to cover whole floor, it is used to partially cover the floor near bed or sofa etc. Sometime large sized carpets can be used which can be considered as flooring.

There are many varieties available in the above discussed materials, that you may find in the market. There are a lot of patterns, colors, designs, textures available to choose from. However there are some points which one should consider while selecting the flooring material.

FLOORING MATERIAL SELECTION CONSIDERATIONS ?

• Space 
• Appearance
• Comfort
• Durability
• Safety
• Ease of cleaning
• Cost

One should consider above listed points to have a good, durable, cost effective, easy to maintain floor.

*If you have any query, then comment it down.