Week 6 blog- Flooring

 Week 6 blog - Flooring 

Floor Framing Systems include wood, steel, and concrete. Wood floor framing systems can be light frame or heavy timber frame. Light frame uses multiple small wood joists to carry a load, whereas heavy timber frame relies on columns and beams to carry a load. Steel floor framing is a system that relies on regularly placed columns that support steel beams. Girders span the beams and carry the metal decking. Concrete is poured into the metal decking to create the floor system. In steel floor framing, open web stall joists are used to carry metal decking for concrete-metal decking floor system. Concrete as a flooring system is either poured in place on stie or cast at a plant and assembled on site. 

Insulation in the floor must be installed to keep cold air from the ground moving into the finished space above. Insulation is used when a floor is installed above a crawl space or above the earth. 

Interior Floor materials include a number of different options. Use of the space and building code requirements narrow down what type of floor finishes can be used. They can be divided into two categories: hard surfaces and soft surfaces, like carpet. 

Hard surfaces:

Concrete	Brick	Stone	Terrazzo	Ceramic Tile
Used as a sub floor or finished floor Various textures and color Used in residential and commercial spaces	Brick or brick pavers used as finished flooring, often seen in historical homes Various patterns for laying brick (basket weave, diagonal and herringbone)	Various types of stone that can be used as flooring (marble, granite, limestone, slate, travertine) Varies in composition and color and is a natural material with a finite supply	Green building material (Cement or resin binder with marble or glass chips) Unique appearance and color; extremely hard and durable	•Installed as a thin set or thick set Tile is always started in the center of the room A variety of designs can be created with ceramic tile

Resilient flooring can include a variety of materials, including vinyl flooring, rubber, linoleum, cork, and bamboo. 

Vinyl	Rubber	Linoleum	Cork	Bamboo
•Used in commercial and residential applications •Sheet vinyl or vinyl tiles •Not sustainable product •Glued down or floating floor	•Used in commercial and residential applications •Used as a non- slip flooring option •Available in tiles and sheets •Sustainable product •Made of natural or synthetic rubber	•Used extensively prior to vinyl flooring •Ingredients are environmentally safe (linseed oil, rosin limestone, and jute backing) •Anti- microbial and resists static build up •Used in residential and commercial design	•Sustainable product •Soft and cushioned waling surface •Durable •Frank Lloyd Wright used it in kitchens and baths in the early 20th century •Made from the bark of the Cork tree	•Sustainable product •A grass that grows 3 feet in one day •Does not  absorb water as easily as wood •Provides a stable flooring.

Cara and I didn't go to Carlsons Flooring but we did go to Home Depot and learned a lot about flooring. We talked to one of the workers and took lots of pictures of the different flooring options. There were different types of laminate, vinyl, ceramic, and carpet. Click and lock vinyl is very popular and easy to install. It is scratch resistant (which the home depot worker showed us by using his key on the flooring), so it is pet friendly and can be used in any room of the house. It is also a great sustainable option because it is made from less materials and a great option for anyone. Peel and stick vinyl flooring is even easier to install but breaks easily. Laminate flooring is not scratch or water resistant like vinyl flooring, but also a great option for homes. We also looked at ceramic flooring and that is very interesting and appealing for home aesthetics. I really like the ceramic options but when we were speaking with the worker, he explained how the foundation and the ceramic had to be carefully prepped and in order to install well so it won’t break. Lastly, we looked at different types of carpet flooring, and this is where we really got to see what kinds are used in residential compared to commercial interior design.