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.
Terrazzo 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, polymeric, 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. "Terrazzo" is also often used to describe any pattern similar to the original terrazzo floors.
A trowel is a small hand tool used for digging, applying, smoothing, or moving small amounts of viscous or particulate material. Common varieties include the masonry trowel, garden trowel, and float trowel.
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, external building siding, and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture. Stucco may be used to cover less visually appealing construction materials, such as metal, concrete, cinder block, or clay brick and adobe.
Insulating concrete form or insulated concrete form (ICF) is a system of formwork for reinforced concrete usually made with a rigid thermal insulation that stays in place as a permanent interior and exterior substrate for walls, floors, and roofs. The forms are interlocking modular units that are dry-stacked and filled with concrete. The units lock together somewhat like Lego bricks and create a form for the structural walls or floors of a building. ICF construction has become commonplace for both low rise commercial and high performance residential construction as more stringent energy efficiency and natural disaster resistant building codes are adopted.
Formwork is temporary or permanent molds into which concrete or similar materials are poured. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering molds.
Stamped concrete is concrete that is patterned and/or textured or embossed to resemble brick, slate, flagstone, stone, tile, wood, and various other patterns and textures. Stamped concrete is commonly used for patios, sidewalks, driveways, pool decks, and interior flooring. The ability of stamped concrete to resemble other building materials makes stamped concrete a less expensive alternative to using those other authentic materials such as stone, slate or brick.
Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called pargeting. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering or rendering, has been used in building construction for centuries. For the art history of three-dimensional plaster, see stucco.
A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been used in building construction for centuries.
A bush hammer is a masonry tool used to texturize stone and concrete. Bush hammers exist in many forms, from simple hand-held hammers to large electric machines, but the basic functional property of the tool is always the same – a grid of conical or pyramidal points at the end of a large metal slug. The repeated impact of these points into stone or concrete creates a rough, pockmarked texture that resembles naturally weathered rock. They can help to increase bonding effectiveness when applying new concrete to an existing concrete surface by increasing the surface area of the bonding zone.
A selvage or selvedge is a "self-finished" edge of a piece of fabric which keeps it from unraveling and fraying. The term "self-finished" means that the edge does not require additional finishing work, such as hem or bias tape, to prevent fraying.
Decorative concrete is the use of concrete as not simply a utilitarian medium for construction but as an aesthetic enhancement to a structure, while still serving its function as an integral part of the building itself such as floors, walls, driveways, and patios.
The Masonry trowel is a hand trowel used in brickwork or stonework for leveling, spreading and shaping mortar or concrete. They come in several shapes and sizes depending on the task. The following is a list of the more common masonry trowels:
Screed has three meanings in building construction:
- a flat board or a purpose-made aluminium tool used to smooth and "true" materials like concrete, stucco and plaster after they have been placed on a surface or to assist in flattening;
- a strip of plaster or wood applied to a surface to act as a guide for a screed tool ;
- the material itself which has been flattened with a screed. In the UK, screed has also come to describe a thin, top layer of material, poured in site on top of the structural concrete or insulation, on top of which other finishing materials can be applied, or the structural material can be left bare to achieve a raw effect.
Samuel Allen Face, Jr. was an American inventor and co-developer of some of the most important advances in concrete floor technology and wireless controls.
A solid ground floor consists of a layer of concrete, which in the case of a domestic building will be the surface layer brought up to ground floor level with hardcore filling under it. The advantage of a solid ground floor is the elimination of dry rot and other problems normally associated with hollow joisted floors. The disadvantage is that the floor is less resilient to walk upon and may be more tiring for the user. Solid ground floors are usually found or situated in a kitchen but will be necessary for other rooms where wood blocks and other similar finishes are required.
A power trowel is a piece of light construction equipment used by construction companies and contractors to apply a smooth finish to concrete slabs.
The Filigree Wideslab method is a process for construction of concrete floor decks from two interconnected concrete placements, one precast in a factory, and the other done in the field. The method was developed during the late 1960s by Harry H. Wise as a more efficient and economic construction process than conventional cast-in-place technologies.
Self-leveling concrete is polymer-modified cement that has high flow characteristics and, in contrast to traditional concrete, does not require the addition of excessive amounts of water for placement. Self-leveling concrete is typically used to create a flat and smooth surface with a compressive strength similar to or higher than that of traditional concrete prior to installing interior floor coverings. Self-leveling concrete has increased in popularity as the degree of flatness and smoothness required for floor covering products has increased, with vinyl goods becoming thinner and floor tiles becoming larger, for example.
A concrete float is a tool used to finish a concrete surface by making it smooth. A float is used after the surface has been made level using a screed. In addition to removing surface imperfections, floating will compact the concrete as preparation for further steps.
