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Flooring and its types; special floor finish

Short answer

Flooring is the hard, durable, level finish given over the structural base. Common types include mud, stone, concrete, terrazzo, marble, ceramic tile, timber, vinyl and carpet. Terrazzo, a special finish, consists of a cement-marble chip topping 6-12 mm thick, cured, ground, filled with cement paste, and polished with oxalic acid and wax.

What do you understand by flooring? Write different types of floorings and explain any one special floor finish type.

Flooring is the finish given to the floor surface over the structural base, to make it hard, durable, level, smooth and pleasant. It must resist wear, be easy to clean and be damp-proof.

Types of flooring

  • Mud and brick floor.
  • Stone floor (slate, kota, sandstone).
  • Cement concrete floor.
  • Terrazzo and mosaic floor.
  • Marble and granite floor.
  • Ceramic and vitrified tile floor.
  • Timber (wooden board or parquet) floor.
  • Linoleum, PVC, rubber, vinyl, carpet.
  • Asphalt and glass floor.

Special floor finish: Terrazzo flooring

Terrazzo is a mix of cement and marble chips, laid as a topping 6-12 mm thick over a 25-30 mm bedding mortar (1:4) on a concrete base. Brass or glass strips divide it into panels of about 1 m x 1 m. After curing for 7-10 days, the surface is ground with carborundum stones (coarse, medium, fine), pores are filled with cement paste, and it is polished with oxalic acid and wax.

   chip topping 6-12  ~~~~~~
   mortar 1:4, 25     ......
   PCC 1:2:4, 100     ======
   hardcore           oooooo

Merits: smooth, hard, durable, easy to clean, many colours. Demerits: costly, skilled labour, may crack at joints and be slippery when wet.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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