Group01: Classification of Flooring Materials-Materials for Floors and Walls

MATERIALS OF DECORATION

(Himanshu, 2013)

FLOORS 

Cover a huge area and bring great impact to the look of an interior. It is also considered the most expensive finish and maintenance. A careful choice of flooring should be considered since it plays a great role to the acoustic effect of the interior and it’s the only material that the inhabitants of a space actually touch.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF FLOORING MATERIALS:

Flooring materials are classified according to their hardness and rigidity, and can also be classify according to absorb moisture and liquids.

                Classification According to Hardness or Rigidity:

(Poison ousSG, 2016)

·         Hard Flooring – Closely resemble elements found in nature (wood, stone or clay), durable and practical, heavier than other flooring materials, and can last longer than other flooring materials.

(Zameen.com, 2014)

·         Resilient Flooring – Is made of materials that have some elasticity, giving the flooring a sense of flexibility called resilience. Vinyl sheet flooring is popular and is one the good example for resilient flooring.

(Entire Thought)

·         Soft Floor Covering - Is a floor covering woven or felted from natural or man-made fibers carpet is a good example of a soft floor covering whether it is attached to the floor or not.

Classifications According to Ability to Absorb Moisture and Liquids:

(Artscroll, 2015)

·         Nonporous Floors – A waterproof flooring material that is highly durable, but they are resilient and china or glass is more likely to break when dropped.

·         Semi-porous Floors – Waterproof and resistant to oil and grease, tends to react badly to spirit solvent and could easily damage the finish.

(Nsg_wp, 2015)

·         Porous Floors – These floors are not waterproof nor grease proof and are likely to stain. When sealed is applied this kind of floor becomes a nonporous surface.

WALLS

A wall is a structure that defines an area, carries a load, or provides shelter or security. There are many kinds of walls: Defensive walls in fortification. Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the superstructure or separate interior sections, sometimes for fire safety. (UnderstandConstruction.com, 2016)

A wall is a structure that defines an area, carries a load, or provides shelter or security. There are many kinds of walls: Defensive walls in fortification. Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the superstructure or separate interior sections, sometimes for fire safety. (Wikipedia, 2016)

TYPES OF WALLS:

Load bearing- A load bearing wall is part of the structure of the building - it holds the building up. (UnderstandConstruction.com, 2016)

Non load bearing walls - A non-load bearing wall is only a partition that divides the various rooms of a building. You can demolish a wall if it is a non-load bearing wall; you cannot move or demolish a load bearing wall. (UnderstandConstruction.com, 2016)

(InterNACHI, 2009)




KINDS OF WALL

·         Building wall - Building walls purposes are to support roofs, floors and ceilings, enclose a space as part of the building envelope, along with a roof to give buildings form, and to provide shelter and security. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Gartner, 2016)

·         Curtain wall- In architecture and civil engineering, curtain wall refers to a building facade that is not load-bearing but provides decoration, finish, front, face, or historical preservation. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Saint-Gobain)

·         Mullion wall- Mullion walls are a structural system that carries the load of the floor slab on prefabricated panels around the perimeter. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Made-in-China.com, 2016)

·         Partition wall- A partition wall is a wall that separates rooms, or divides a room. Partition walls are usually not load-bearing. Partition walls are constructed of many materials, including steel panels, bricks, blocks of clay, terra-cotta, concrete, or glass blocks. This could also be the thin wall between cabins. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(RSL,2012)

·         Party wall- Party walls are walls that separate buildings or units within a building. They provide fire resistance and sound resistance between occupants in a building. (Wikipedia, 2016)

 

(Steel Construction)

·         Infill wall- An infill wall is the supported wall that closes the perimeter of a building constructed with a three-dimensional framework structure. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Funderburk, 2011)

·         Fire wall-Fire walls resist spread of fire within or sometimes between structures to provide passive fire protection. A delay in the spread of fire gives occupants more time to escape and fire fighters more time to extinguish the fire. Such walls have no windows, and are made of non-combustible material such as concrete, cement block, brick, or fire rated drywall—and have wall penetrations sealed with special materials. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Typical Shear Wall)

·         Shear wall- Shear walls resist lateral forces such as in an earthquake or severe wind. There are different kinds of shear walls such as the steel plate shear wall. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Extension, 2013)

·         Knee wall- Knee walls are short walls that either support rafters or add height in the top floor rooms of houses. In a one-and-one-half story house, the knee wall supports the half story. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Which?, 2016)

·         Cavity wall - Cavity walls are walls made with a space between two "skins" to inhibit heat transfer. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Evon, 2016)

·         Border wall - A border wall is constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border. These structures vary in placement with regard to international borders and topography. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(A Gravity-Type Stone Retaining Wall)

·         Retaining wall- In areas of rocky soils around the world, farmers have often pulled large quantities of stone out of their fields to make farming easier and have stacked those stones to make walls that either mark the field boundary, or the property boundary, or both. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Noemi Mercurelli)

·         Shared wall - A wall may also separate apartment or hotel rooms from each other. Each wall has two sides and breaking a wall on one side will break the wall on the other side. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Versare, 2015)

·         Portable wall- Portable walls, such as room dividers or portable partitions divide a larger open space into smaller rooms. (Wikipedia, 2016)

(Franco)

·         Temporary wall- A temporary wall is constructed for easy removal or demolition. (Wikipedia, 2016)

MATERIALS FOR FLOORS AND WALL:

(Wozniak, 2009), (Pixabay, 2016)

·        Brick – It is yellowish-beige that comes with different browns Most of bricks are used for floors and walls such in interior and exterior. 

(Home Interior And Furniture Ideas)

·        Ceramic Tiles - It is made of clay and hardened by heat. It is very useful in our daily lives and serves different purpose. It demonstrates great strength and hardness property, however it is often brittle  (Johnson)

(Life & Style)

·        Concrete Tiles – Concrete tile roofing that is built from small to medium sized pieces of concrete, often reinforced with fibers such as fiberglass. It is a heavier roofing material than many other forms of tile, and therefore requires a stronger substructure. It has a natural color or gray and red. (Phorio, 2011)

(Hosking, 2013)

·        Cork – It is a natural elastic flooring made from cork oak tree. It could be used for floor as well as walls. A Cork tiles is noiseless and is composed of  cork shavings, compressed and baked, finished with a protective coat to avoid stains. It is very useful in lessening noise pollution. 

(Angella Michell, 2013)

·        Fabric – When used wall coverings, this material could give warmth and richness as a wall finish, but not all textiles could be used for wall coverings. Carpets could be used not only for the floor but also for the walls.

(Globe-Views.com, 2015)

·        Glass – Its prime application is in windows, in a modern and contemporary interior and architecture that could give inspiring scenery because of its translucent characteristic. It also gives a connecting look between the interior and exterior, even with boundaries.

(America Pink)

        Granolithic – It is superior and les porous kind of concrete made from cement, granite chippings and granite dust. This is usually used for floors and it is hard-wearing. Also used in factories than in home since it is hard and not generally suitable for living areas. Lastly, when it is sealed it is easy to maintain.

(Interior Design Ideas)

        Leather – The derived form of leather which is reconstituting leather by breaking down rawhide into a clear solution and bringing this solution back to fiber form, can be formed into heavy blocks or made thin and soft and in any length desirable. Pigskin in tile form makes for a long wearing material that is resistant to acids and moisture and may be maintained with a minimum of cleaning and waxing.

(Armstrong Flooring, 2016)

        Linoleum – Developed in England in 1860’s, it is the predecessor to contemporary synthetic resilient flooring. It is produced mainly with natural materials from sustainable crops and its waste is biodegradable. It is derived from the Latin botanical term “linum” meaning flax, and “oleum” meaning oil. It is composed of oxidized linseed oil or other resins, mixed with ground cork or wood flour, mineral filler and color pigments. It is then bonded by heat and pressure to a fiber backing, typically burlap or felt, which comes in various sizes and thickness. To lend flexibility, powdered cork is added and to impart strength and hardness, wood flour and powdered limestone are also added. Linoleum is a superior thermal and acoustic insulator because of the air pockets found naturally in cork which is 50% air. It is also smooth, hard wearing surface and is available in light gage, thus it is easily adapted to bathroom and kitchen walls. Thicker qualities have a high resilience and are warm underfoot. It is also sensitive to alkalis, and it is included to rise, peel and rot if water gets underneath.

(Metal Ravne, 2014)

        Metal – Available in a wide range of colors, in glossy, matte or textured finishes, and in leather-like or marble grains, metals are light weight, fire resistant, virtually damage proof. These are semi-rigid vinyl plastics, laminated under pressure to sheet steel, aluminum or other non-ferrous metals.

(Keep Pensacola Beautiful)

        Paint – are made from a combination of pigments, oils, resins, solvents, plasticizers and additives. Traditionally interior walls have been colored with the use of distemper, whitewashing, and lime whiting which are older way of painting it, but linseed oil, white lead , and turpentine were also used.

(Geology.com, 2016)

        Stone – is one of the basic building materials of man together with wood and clay. In history until as late as 1900, stone is very important due to the fact that it was structural, material, the exterior and interior finishing material, flooring material, and in many cases, the roofing material. Used also for all types of sculpture, statuary and decorative and ornamental applications. Presently, it is basically utilized as a surface material for both exterior and interior buildings. Stone does not lose its beauty with age, like no other flooring, conveys an enduring sense of timelessness. Stone projects an image of permanence.

(Diespeker & Co.)

·        Terrazzo – It is a flooring material, it is derived from the Italian terrassa which means “terrace.” Fifteenth-century Venetian stone cutters used marble scraps as floor surfaces for their patio terraces and they imbedded the small stone pieces in concrete and polished the surface to a level finish. Terrazzo is a very low-maintenance, seamless floor finish with a luxurious look of stone mosaic and a decorative possibilities wherein terrazzo artistry can produce striking medallions or intricate inlaid patterns.

(Rubber Flooring Direct, 2013)

·        Rubber Flooring – It is highly resistant to a wide variety of harsh chemicals and solvents and because of its high durability and natural resistance to cigarette burns, it is a good choice for high-traffic public areas such as airport terminals. Rubber sheet or tile is composed of natural rubber, synthetic rubber (styrene butadiene) or both, in combination with mineral fillers and pigments. However, natural rubber is difficult to lay and it reacts badly to grease, fruit juices and spirits.

(Armstrong Flooring, 2016)

·        Vinyl – It is a kind of plastic, vinyl can be made hard and rigid or soft and spongy and can be made to withstand heat. When two types of plastic polyvinyl chloride and polyvinyl acetate are blended or modified with other substances, it produces the vast array of vinyl products. Five ingredients found in vinyl flooring are polyvinyl chloride, fillers, pigments, plasticizers and stabilizers. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin us the most important and most expensive ingredient in vinyl flooring because it gives the flooring its wear resistance and durability. Plasticizers increase the flexibility so that the flooring can be rolled without cracking or breaking. Stabilizers on the other hand provide color permanence and stabilize the pigments against heat and light deterioration. Fillers are sometimes added to supplement the bulk and thickness of the flooring. Mineral fillers serve to improve the flooring’s fire resistance and lastly, pigments are required for color because most vinyl is clear.

(Shutterstock, 2016)

·        Wood – It has been widely used especially for commercial spaces. Its natural look made very popular used as a design statement especially in reception area, private offices, or high retail space. This material had been very common to commercial spaces, yet it has a high maintenance a may fail to function well or even last long because of some factors like moisture. The basic forms of wood are: plank, strip, and parquet.

(Wallpaperking)

·        Wallpaper – A pattered and flattened product but creates an atmospheric room. It can be fit to the desired size of any space you wanted it to be applied.

Citations:

Photos:

A Gravity-Type Stone Retaining Wall. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, 
      from: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retaining_wall#/media/File%3AStone_Retaining_wall.jpg

America Pink. Granolithithic. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, from: http://america.pink/granolithic_1787508.html

Angella Michell. (August 27, 2013). Crafty fabric shop. Retrieved 
      from: http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/08/prewashing-fabrics-pros-and-cons/

Armstrong Flooring. (2016). Linoleum - Vinyl sheet . Retrieved from: http://www.armstrong.com/flooring/linoleum.html

Artscroll. (2015). Home style design ideas awesome ceramic tile design ideas. Retrieved 
      from: http://artscoll.com/7274/home-tile-design-ideas/home-tile-design-ideas-awesome-ceramic-tile-design-ideas/

Diespeker & Co. Besboke terrazzo. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, from: http://www.diespeker.co.uk/materials/

Entire Thought. Floor Carpet. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, 
      from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/439171401135257948/

Evon, Dan. (May 27, 2016). Border disorder. Retrieved from: http://www.snopes.com/mexico-guatemala-border/

Extension. (October 10, 2013). Insulating knee walls in homes. Retrieved 
      from: http://articles.extension.org/pages/27324/insulating-knee-walls-in-homes

Franco, Michael. How to: build a temporary wall. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, 
      from: http://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-build-a-temporary-wall/#.V6X2Ivl97IV

Funderburk Joe. (June 29, 2011). Townhome firewall. Retrieved from: https://www.nachi.org/forum/f18/firewall-question-62050/

Gartner, Josef. (2016). Glass curtain wall panel / laminated. Retrieved 
      from: http://www.archiexpo.com/prod/josef-gartner/product-58213-993363.html

Geology.com. (2016). Granite. Retrieved from: http://geology.com/rocks/igneous-rocks.shtml

Globe-Views.com. (2015). Glass-meaning of dream. Retrieved from: http://globe-views.com/dreams/glass.html

Himanshu. (September 13, 2013). Tips for cleaning walls of your home. Retrieved 
      from: http://mydecorative.com/tips-for-cleaning-walls-of-your-home/

Home Interior And Furniture Ideas. Tiles ceramic. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, 
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Hosking, Crystal. (2013). Cork underlayment. Retrieved 
      from: http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/Department/Tools--Accessories/All-About-Underlayments.aspx?dId=14&pageId=65

Interior Design Ideas. Leather. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, 
      from: http://design-studio-ideas.ru/en-us/interior-design/articles/s-miru-po-nitke-razbiraem-silnye-i-slabye-storony-tkanej

InterNACHI. (2009). Load bearing wall removal. Retrieved from: http://loadbearing.ca/

Keep Pensacola Beautiful. How do I recycle paint. Retrieved this August 6. 2016, 
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Life & Style as a Modern Mom. Concrete tile floor. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, 
      from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/251146116698004952/

Made-in-China.com. (2016). Product description. Retrieved 
      from: http://chuangdafurniture.en.made-in-china.com/product/qXsxFuwcQGWO/China-Fashion-High-Glass-Partition-Wall.html

Metal Ravne. (2014). Alloy surcharges Retrieved from: http://www.metalravne.com/en/

Noemi Mercurelli. Living walls. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/301178293801210501/

Nsg_wp. (December 30, 2015). Natural stone flooring: what you need to know. Retrieved 
      from: http://www.naturalstonegallery.net/natural-stone-flooring-what-you-need-to-know/

Pixabay. (2016). Building, wall, graffiti, art, windos, urban. Retrieved 
      from: https://pixabay.com/en/building-wall-graffiti-art-windows-450800/

Poison ousSG. (2010-2016). Stone floor 2. Retrieved from: http://poisonoussg.deviantart.com/art/stone-floor-2-163599624 

RSL Chartered Building Surveyors. (2012). Party wall. Retrieved from: http://www.rslsurveyors.co.uk/residential-services/party-wall/

Rubber Flooring Direct. (2013). Color range available to you. Retrieved 
      from: http://rubberflooringdirect.com/rubber-gym-flooring-products.html

Saint-Gobain. Mullions and transoms. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, from: http://uk.saint-gobain-glass.com/architects/facades

Shutterstock. (2016). HD 00:13. Retrieved 
      from: http://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-3907463-stock-footage-sound-proof-room-anechoic-chamber.html

Steel Construction. Light steel infill walls. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, from: http://www.steelconstruction.info/Infill_walling

Typical Shear Wall. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, from: http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/eqmaps/fixit/ch3/sld002.htm

Versare. (2015). Portable partitions introduces the afford-a-walls. Retrieved 
      from: http://www.versare.com/blog/portable-partitions-introduces-the-afford-a-walls

Wallpaperking. Majestic teal wallpaper, 30-430. Retrieved this August 6, 2016,
      from: http://www.wallpaperking.co.uk/superfresco-wallpaper/741-majestic-wallpaper-30-435.html

Which?. (2016). Cavity wall insulation. Retrived 
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Wozniak, Pawel. (June 25, 2009). A brick wall. Retrieved 
      from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall#/media/File:Brick_wall_close-up_view.jpg

Zameen.com. (August 22, 2014). Modern flooring option for your home and their rates. Vinyl flooring Sheet. Retrieved 
      from: http://www.zameen.com/blog/modern-flooring-for-your-home-along-with-their-rates.html

Sources:

Johnson, Robyn L. Ceramics. Retrieved this August 6, 2016, 
      from: http://depts.washington.edu/matseed/mse_resources/Webpage/Ceramics/ceramics.htm

Phorio Systems Corporation. (May 14, 2011). Concrete tiles. Retrieved from: http://standards.phorio.com/?t=definition&code=7130210142

UnderstandConstruction.com. (2016). Types of walls. Retrieved from: http://www.understandconstruction.com/walls.html

Wikipedia. (July 10, 2016). Wall. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall

Contributors:

Amar, Jrose (composed the blog; contributed insights about materials for floors and walls including its picture; contributed a picture to classifications according    to ability to absorb moisture and liquids; and sources)

Calape, Rhea (contributed insights about the floor and  classifications of floor including its pictures and sources)

Cantillas, Christine Mae (contributed insights about materials for floors and walls)

Manalo, Leile Glad (contributed pictures of kinds of walls, types of wall, including materials for floors and walls and sources)

Taboada, Faith Rosemel (contributed insights about wall, types of wall, kinds of walls and its sources)