floor, walls, ceiling and plenum

• Walls


  • Conspicuous architectural elements marking the confines of a room
  • Vertical surfaces containing doors and windows, providing background for furniture
  • Complex systems concealing building services within them
• Ceilings


  • Overhead interior surfacer covering the upper limits of a room
  • Shapes the diffusion of sound and light, making a substantial contribution to the ambience of a room
  • Important functional part of the design concealing distribution of conditioned air, artificial light, and fire suppression systems
• Floors


  • Often dominates the visual field and can impact the acoustics of a space
  • Most expensive finish selected, in maintenance cost alone
  • Usually the only material that the inhabitants of a space actually touch
• Nonporous floors

  • (slate, ceramic and quarry tilesthere is no point in putting a seal on a non-porous floor; it is already waterproof and impervious to most household liquids. Anyway, sealers would soon peel or chip. Non-porous floors are usually the most durable, but they are resilient and china or glass is more likely to break when dropped
• Plenum


  • Separate space for air circulation for HVAC and concealed layout of fire suppression and lighting systems
  • Located between structural slab and ceiling, under raised flooring system, or inside walls
  • Used to house communication cables for building's computer and telephone network
• Classification of Flooring Materials

  1. Can be classified according to hardness or rigidity

  2. Can also be classified according to their ability to absorb moisture and liquids
• Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, and water, with some kind of fibrous or organic material, shaped into bricks
• Semi-porous floors


  • marble, terrazzo, rubber, linoleums, vinyl, vinyl asbestos thermoplastic
• Carpet


  • Provides a luxurious feel underfoot
  • Durable enough to last the life of most leases
  • Relatively easy to maintain
• Nonporous floors


  • slate, ceramic, quarry tiles
• Classification according to ability to absorb moisture and liquids

  1. Nonporous floors

  2. Semi-porous floors

  3. Porous floors
• Porous floors


  • unsealed wood, cork, concrete, chipboard, some older linoleum
• Porcelain tile


  They are generally dense, and are impervious, thus they are said to have a more superior chip resistance, and in some cases are more durable than granite, thus they are extremely difficult to cut. Many offer the appearance of natural stone without the maintenance. Can be used in high traffic resistance & countertops
• Ceramic Tile is made from clay or a mixture of clay and ceramic materials, pressed into tiles and fired at a high temperature
• Brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, commonly made from clay
• Common Types of Bricklaying

  • English Bond
  • Flemish Bond
  • Stretcher bond
  • Diapering
• Ceramic Tile Composition

  Plastic, filler, flux or solvent
• Production method of ceramic tiles

  1. Bicottura- double fired, used only for decorative products

  2. Monocottura- single fired
• Ceramic Tile Categories

  • Impervious
  • Vitreous
  • Semivitreous
  • Non-vitreous
• Semivitreous and nonvitreous tiles


  Should not be used in continually wet locations
• Impervious and vitreous tiles


  Appropriate for use in exterior applications to rain and freezing temperatures or in interior applications that require constant exposure to water
• Quarry tiles


  • Unglazed, extruded, made from natural clay or shale
  • Similar to bricks in material performance
  • Very durable, impervious to moisture, stains, dirt, and resistant to abrasion
• Ceramic mosaic tiles

  • Usually 6 mm to 10 mm thick
  • Face area of less than 150 sq. mm
  • Common sizes are 25 mm x 25 mm or 50 mm x 50 mm
  • Can be made of porcelain, natural clay, or glass
  • Popular brand is bisazza
• Categories of tiles

  • Glazed Interior Tiles
  • Ceramic mosaic tiles
  • Paver tiles
  • Quarry tiles
  • Porcelain Tiles
  • Homogenous
• Paver tiles


  • Large ceramic mosaic tiles
  • Made of unglazed porcelain or natural clay
  • Slip resistance can be increased with textured surfaces or raised surface patterns
  • Weatherproof and suitable for heavy floor service
• Porcelain Tiles


  • Made with specific clays fired at high temperatures
  • Dense, impervious, superior chip resistance, durable
  • Can offer the appearance of natural stone without the maintenance
  • Used in high traffic areas and countertops
• Homogenous tiles


  • Color is solid throughout
• Finishes for tiles

  • Unglazed tiles
  • Glazed tiles
• Concrete Tiles


  • Made of cement and aggregate
  • Comes in natural, gray, and red colors
  • Suitable for patios, terraces, showers, and interiors
  • Famous brand is Machuca
• Stamped Concrete


  • Patterned, textured, or embossed concrete
  • Made to look like natural materials, patterns, and textures
  • Used for patios, sidewalks, driveways, pool decks, and interior flooring
  • Achieved by adding base color, accent color for texture, and stamping patterns
• Cork


  • Resilient flooring made from the outer layer of the cork oak tree
  • Offers acoustic and thermal insulation
  • Moisture and stains are concerns
  • Tiles easily chip and crumble at edges, fades in strong sunlight
  • Can be used as underlay
• Fabric properties


  • Oldest wallcovering
  • Warmth, richness, and beauty unmatched by other wall finishes
  • Careful selection required as not all textiles suitable for wall coverings
  • Not appropriate in applications where wear resistance is a concern
  • Any type of fabric (including carpet) may be used as a wallcovering
  • Feels extraordinarily luxurious due to cost
• Backed Fabrics


  1. Most textiles must be back coated to be installed as wall covering

  2. Back coating provides a barrier to prevent adhesive from bleeding through and ruining the finish face of the fabric

  3. Backings provide dimensional stability required for installation
• Cork 


  • Excellent acoustic and thermal insulation
  • Absorptive nature causes concern for moisture and stains
  • Tiles easily chip and crumble at the edges
  • Fades in strong sunlight
  • Can be used as underlayment to increase resiliency of other finish floors
• Latex-coated Fabrics


  1. Stretching the textile in a frame and applying a latex compound

  2. Textile retains some inherent flexibility and is less dimensionally stable than paper-backed textiles

  3. Latex backings can improve ravel resistance and seam slippage
• Paper-backed Fabrics


  1. Laminating paper to the reverse side of the textile stiffens it for easier installation and helps hide defects in the wall

  2. Textile assumes properties similar to those of wallpaper

  3. Shows high-quality look of fabric wall covering but can be installed with ease of a vinyl-coated paper
• Glass walls

  • Chiefly used for windows
  • Transparent or translucent walls
  • Logical extension of the picture window concept
  • Trend towards glass-clad or curtainwall construction
  • Extensive use in exterior and interior walls
• Types of plastic laminate

  • LPL
  • HPL
• Granolithic is usually used for floors, made from cement, granite chippings, and granite dust, hard-wearing, used in factories, easy to maintain when sealed, not generally suitable for living areas
• Unbacked Fabrics


  1. Pre-treated to make them suitable for sticking to the wall

  2. Requires careful work to smooth out the fabric during application