Suspended Timber Ground Floor Joists

Suspended timber ground floors consist of the finished timber floorboards being attached to floor joists which are suspended above the subfloor of the foundation.

Suspended timber ground floor joists. A suspended floor is a ground floor with a void underneath the structure. This chapter gives guidance on meeting the technical requirements for suspended ground floors including those constructed from. If the ground floor in question is of a suspended timber construction and whether this is a renovation or new build project then the insulation would normally be installed in the joist zone that is installed between the joists. However the floor structure is supported by external and internal walls.

A typical wood frame floor covered with carpet or vinyl flooring has a dead load of about 8 pounds per square foot. The floor can be formed in various ways using timber joists precast concrete panels block and beam system or cast in situ with reinforced concrete. Suspended timber floor with floorboards removed for most heritage properties the most effective and appropriate way to insulate a suspended floor and improve its airtightness is to retrofit insulation beneath the floorboards between the supporting joists figure 2. If there s wall board covered ceiling suspended from the underside of that floor the dead load increases to about 10 pounds per square foot.

5 1 17 ground floor slab and concrete. The weight of the timber floor itself consists of the timber joists the plasterboard ceiling underneath it except for suspended timber ground floors the floorboards and the nails or screws used to fix both of the aforementioned coverings. These floor joists are raised above the subfloor on small supporting walls called tassel walls or sleeper walls. The results highlight significant variability in observed heat flow.

Ground floor hollow or timber floor hollow floors also known as suspended or timber floors are simply timber joists suspended across and supported by load bearing walls under the floor. The ends of these timber joists are built into or suspended by joist hangers from the external walls of the property. The dead load on a floor is determined by the materials used in the floor s construction. 5 1 18 laying the ground bearing floor slab.

This floor insulation method is commonly used for upgrading the thermal performance of existing timber floors as it has no impact on floor levels. All of these are known as the dead load. Point u values range from 0 56 0 05 to 1 18 0 11 wm 2 k 1.