What is a suspended concrete ground floor?

A suspended concrete floor is a floor slab where its perimeter is, or at least two of its opposite edges are, supported on walls, beams or columns that carry its self weight and imposed loading. The floor spans between supports and will normally deflect under load to a dimension that is limited by the design used.

What are the benefits of a suspended concrete floor?

Unlike standard ground floor construction, suspended floors are not sitting directly on the ground. This allows air flow and ventilation to prevent the mould and dry rot that would otherwise occur over damp ground. However this air flow can leave the problem of draughts and cold in the house if not insulated correctly.

What is a suspended concrete slab?

The suspended slabs are the above-ground level concrete slabs that are not in contact with the earth directly. These slabs are used to create floors for upper stories of homes, but sometimes these are often sat on top of the pre-constructed walls to create a ground floor.

Are suspended floors good?

Suspended concrete floor systems are also suitable when your intention is to use a floor tile, as there is no movement and will therefore prevent any cracking. These types of floors are a lot more expensive, but the benefits for the future are greater as there will be little or no maintenance required.

Why do some houses have suspended floors?

Timber floors were originally designed to prevent damp. Raising the floor level up above the ground acts as a barrier to damp coming up from the ground. There are still be many suspended floors out there however, because retrofitting them is prohibitively expensive and often impractical.

Are suspended floors bad?

Q: What are the drawbacks to suspended timber floors? They can tend to deteriorate more quickly as the timber can rot, so they need a little more maintenance than other flooring types. They can also feel a bit draughty which is why they need to be properly insulated.

What is typical thickness of suspended concrete slab?

Standard concrete floor slab thickness in residential construction is 4 inches. Five to six inches is recommended if the concrete will receive occasional heavy loads, such as motor homes or garbage trucks.

How do you fix a suspended concrete slab?

Because the slab will bend in different ways depending on how many support walls it has, the main steel reinforcement has to be placed in different areas to even out the tension. A slab supported by two walls will tend to fold in the middle, so rebar placed parallel to the short span will provide maximum support.

Why do houses have suspended floors?

Suspended timber floors, which are typically found in older houses, are normally made from timber floorboards which are then attached to joists just above the foundations of a house. This creates a small gap and allows ventilation and air movement to prevent damp forming in the timber joists.

How do you tell if you have a suspended floor?

The easiest way to find out if you have a suspended floor is to go outside your house, and search for air vents or ventilation bricks at the bottom of your outside walls. If you see some, it is likely that you have a suspended floor.

How much weight can a 4 inch concrete slab hold?

Typically we like to limit the weight to about 40 lb/sqft on an unknown 4″ slab. In most cases you can go to 80 lb/sqft in isolated spots, but unless you know roughly what the soil bearing and reinforcing is for that slab you might be looking at cracking.

How thick is a basement floor?

The average thickness for a basement floor should be 4″. If you have any load bearing walls, columns, or a chimney, these areas should have footings already in place before the floor is poured.

What does it mean by a suspended floor?

Suspended floors A suspended concrete floor is a floor slab where its perimeter is, or at least two of its opposite edges are, supported on walls, beams or columns that carry its self weight and imposed loading. The floor spans between supports and will normally deflect under load to a dimension that is limited by the design used.

What are the types of suspended floor?

Suspended Timber Upper Floor. A suspended timber floor is normally built utilizing timber joists suspended from bearing dividers,which are then secured with either floorboards or some other form of

Suspended Concrete Upper Floors.

Ribbed Type of Upper Floors.

Hollow pot floor.

Raised floor.

Plenum.

Floating floor.

Sprung floor.

Separating floor.

What are suspended floors?

Suspended floors are floors that are not in direct contact with the ground. They are above the ground level.

What is suspended flooring?

2 Answers A suspended Floor is a specialist construction made of a solid concrete Floor, a system of sleeper walls and timber joists, upon which sits a supported timber floor. Suspended floors are floors that are not in direct contact with the ground. They are above the ground level.