Can anyone advise on why a solid concrete floor would be favourable over a suspended timber or beam and block ground floor.The building is to use strip foundation on a gravel soil. Half the ground floor is to accomodate a storage area used to hold plumbing materials, so the live loading will be reasonably high.Thanks
It is cheaper to build a solid concrete floor than a suspended one and it can more easily be designed to hold more weight than can a suspended floor. Another advantage of a concrete floor is that animals (rats, mice, etc.) can not get under the building and live there. The disadvantage of a solid concrete floor is that concrete is porous and it tends to draw up moisture from the ground and anything sitting on the concrete for a long time can get wet. Of course, the gravel should drain away any water that gets under the building, but if the soil is clay or any soil that water might sit on for a long time, the water can build up under the house and the concrete floor can get wet. Another disadvantage is that any radon gas that might come up from the ground will get into the building. With a raised foundation at least some of that gas would be vented out and not as much would get into the building. I hope this helps.
First of all, you are going to have to install a vapor barrier over the concrete! Moisture from concrete will ruin any wood floor placed over it. A free floating wood floor must be either clipped together or glued at the tongue and grooves to stay together...this is a nasty job, for wood strips are not always straight. If you are laying parquet, glue each piece to the next with a Wood Flooring mastic (DO NOT USE WOOD GLUE!) clean off any 'squeeze ups with mineral spirits. Keep wood floor away from walls about 1/2-3/4 as this floor will swell and shrink with humidity...that is why you HAVE to use wood floor mastic to bond the pieces together...stays flexible and has memory. Finish off the floor with quarter round to hide the space at the walls. IF you install tight to the wall, you will loose the floor to buckling when the humidity rises. You may want to install a 1/4 foam layer under the floor for sound absorbtion. Good luck
