Floors

The ground floor constructions insulated using the mineral fiber insulation board installed according to the manufacturers' specifications in a workmanlike manner can reduce the building energy consumption by 8 - 10 %, eventually can eliminate the impact noise (footfall sound) and the atmosphere noise level in other parts of the building very effectively.

Design principles

• To the fundamental principles for good performance of the floor construction belong above all the right application and installation of the individual product types strictly recomended for the specific floor types.
• Thermal and acoustic insulation must be placed continuous with covering of the whole floor area in identical thickness and same quality.
• Insulation must be always protected against atmospheric exposure and installed especially in dry conditions.
• The minimum overlap of the protective polyethylene foil is 100 mm.

The basic requirements for a floor:

• solidity (floor must be sufficiently solid and strong, without users feelings like "walking on the water")
• load capacity (floor must be sufficiently stable and solid with regard to the point and area load demands) 
• acoustic insulation (increased sound absorption and decreased impact noise/footfall sound level)
• thermal insulation (the floor structure can more effectively reduce thermal loss)
• fire prevention (the floor structure should not increase the risk of fire in no case)
• covering of installation piping (electrical installation, data network, sanitary installation, heating installation etc. are normally placed in the floor and these must be safely covered and in such a manner can avoid damage)  

The main principles of heat cladding for floors

• to determine right operational static conditions of the floor construction 
• to choose the right type and by the calculation to determine adequate thickness of thermal and acoustic insulation 
• to lay the insulation on a level surface, which should be smooth , flat, clean and dry
• to apply the protective polyethylene foil or an asphalted strip on the insulation material in case of concrete work 
• to apply the NOBASIL edging strip to the joints between the floor and the wall 
• to lay the insulation accurately and closely
• to use the concrete mixture designed as Class B20 concrete of the grain fraction 8 mm (max. 10), we recommend to use finished concrete mixtures 
• don´t use the concrete with a very high water/cement ratio
• the concrete layer during its hardening must be watered
• in case of the large spread footing we recommend to apply an interlocking groove and tongue system

Description and function of layers

• The top treading floor layer fulfils some specific functions of the floor (design look or outward form, colourity, slope...). This layer must tolerate operating stress conditions with a minimum maintenance requirements. The most common materials used for decking are wood, polyvinyl, ceramic tiles, etc. The part of this layer can be also made from the binding material or binding substance which connects the top and bottom layers to one another.
• The balancing layer eliminates problematic inequality constraints and adapts equality and thickness of the foundation at need. This layer can be engaged as a spread layer of loading above the insulating layer and for such purpose are designated the concrete screed or the large-area extruded boards on the basis of wood.
• The insulating layer can avoid problems with infiltration through the floor construction in case of:
  • water, fluids - the hydroinsulation eliminates the water leakages
  • vapour - the vapour barrier
  • heat and noise - thermal and acoustic insulation ( NOBASIL ) 
  • vibrations - the anti-vibration insulation system
• Separation layer can avoid problems with an undesirable impacts of the building construction to the floor layers and can eliminate such interference or interaction.
• Other layers like the connecting layer and the gravity layer can be or can not be a part of the floor construction, they are made on the basis of concrete.

The most frequent errors made by users during realisation

• First of all, inadequate thickness of insulation - the insulation layer can be sometimes undersized. Created thermal and sound absorbing insulation should be correctly installed, without any air holes or cavities arising during the connection of insulation boards, what resulted into the decreased resistance of building construction.
• Further, the board types and the structural design may be unduly projected and in consequence of this fact oftentimes the whole structure of floor can be seriously declined. Thus, many such cases that lead to the removal of the whole floor, were caused by unadequate materials or incorrect application, because then such floor construction soon become functionless.
• The non-observance of the producer´s instructions during storage, material handling and installation can cause malfunction of the floor construction. The insulation material must be installed only in dry conditions. In case of the floating floor with the oversite concrete the polyethylene foil must be installed before the concreting works.
• Serious problems can happen during installation of the thermal insulation, because this insulation may be trampled under foot and damaged by movement of the workers and mechanism direct on the insulation bedded onto the prepared foundations.