CONCRETE FLOOR CONSTRUCTION
Perhaps because their requirements seem so very simple,
concrete floors have a way of generating more complaints
than all other basic concrete structures put together. This
article covers the essentials of good concrete floor con-
struction.
B efore there is any thought of planning, designing or
laying a concrete floor, it is well to take a long look at
the type of exposure to which it may be subject. Weve
probably all heard the view, Its easy to build a good
floor; just build it like youd build a good road. The
short answer to this one is: Noit must be better. It is
true that roads receive an incessant, heavy pounding
and their strength and design must be appropriate for
it. But the traffic rides on relatively soft air-filled tires,
the rubber of which takes most of the wear. An indus-
trial floor, on the other hand, must be prepared to take
punishment from sharp, small-wheeled trucks (fre-
quently lacking springs or shock absorbers) and heavy
vibrating machinery, and impact and abrasion from an
endless variety of containers and products. Coupled
with this is the virtual certainty of exposure to corrosive
oils, acids and other fluids.
Ordinary, dense, high - grade concrete, well placed and
compacted, can take a great deal of rough treatment in
service. For 75 percent of plant floors, however, a special
wearing layer will be desirable. Special conditions also
arise, for example, where mildly corrosive to highly reac-
tive liquids are used, such as are encountered in the
range of operations from ordinary industrial plants to
steel-pickling plants. Sometimes a concrete surface sim-
ply isnt satisfactory, and an appropriate protective layer
of mastic paint or tiles must then be applied. Vegetable
and mineral cutting oils will present no problem to a
dense concrete floor, although where an excessive
amount of spillage is expected the plant owner should in-
stall drip trays, if only for appearance and safetys sake.
Fresh foods rarely attack concrete, but as soon as pro-
cessing starts, trouble begins. This applies to beer, for ex-
ample, which is corrosive once it is fermented, sugars
that are safe only when dry, and fruit juices, pickles and
ketchups which are corrosive in high concentrations.
Milk products can also prove difficult, since as soon as
they become sour lactic acids are produced. Frequent
washing down of any floor surface will naturally cut
down the rate of attack from any of these sources, but this
is not the real solution. To reduce the danger of corro-
sion to the minimum the actual wearing surface must be
as dense and impermeable as it is possible to make it.
Dusting is another perennial problem. One of the first
things to recognize is that the use of a proprietary hard-
This is a completed floor on ground. Note that it contains
two types of jointsisolation joints, which separate the
floor from walls and columns, and control joints, which
divide the floor into panels about 20 ft. square.
ening system can never be a cure-all for poor materials
or bad workmanship. It simply isnt possible to make an
inherently weak wearing surface really satisfactory for
heavy and abusive traffic. Of course dusting is a relative
condition; in many plants its occurrence, if not too se-
vere, might pass unnoticed. But where precision engi-
neering parts are being made, for example, or food prod-
ucts processed, even a minor degree of dusting cannot
be tolerated. In such areas a surface treatment is essen-
tial.
THE SUBBASE
It is safe to say that the strength of a floor is largely de-
pendent upon the quality of the base on which it rests.
Preparation of the subgrade is therefore vitally impor-
tant. If a soil survey or information based on earlier
foundation workings reveals the presence of a com-
pressible material such as peat, it is well to obtain the ad-
vice of a soils engineer. Should the bearing capacity of
the underlying soil be insufficient for the loading ex-
pected, excavation and backfilling may be necessary.
Fill, either as a replacement or to bring the area up to
grade, should be built up in layers not greater than 6
inches thick, and each layer must be thoroughly com-
pacted by either tamping or rolling. Clean granular ma-
terial, free from lumps, is preferable. Used foundry sand
has been found to be very satisfactory by many contrac-
tors.
A firm uniform base, uniformly compacted, is essen-
tial since slab design is usually made on the assumption
of uniform bearing capacity. Differences in the density of
the supporting soil will mean uneven stresses in the slab
which, if great enough, can cause cracks. Tamping of
both the subgrade and the concrete itself should be em-
ployed right up to the final screed level, and the straight-
edge should be used strictly as a tamping level guide and
not as a device for moving materials.
On large jobs it may be possible to use highway con-
struction equipment to prepare the subbase. On small-
er jobs vibratory compactors can be used. Equipment
such as trucks and bulldozers are not satisfactory, since
it is difficult to get uniform compaction. Highway stan-
dards with regard to the bearing capacity of soils, and
type and moisture content of backfill used, will also of-
ten prove invaluable as guides.
To isolate columns from the floor slab, box them out with
square wood forms or screeds (left) or with circular
fiberboard forms (right).
Placing a 6-inch layer of sand or gravel beneath the
slab gives a base which can be more firmly and uniform-
ly compacted, and also provides a safe permeable layer
exhibiting little or no volume change in the event of an
unexpectedly high water table. Such a layer should ob-
viously not be placed over sod, muck or organic waste;
similarly roots or other obstructions should be dug out,
backfilled, and carefully tamped. Hand tamping is also
important around columns, wall edges, or other ob-
structions such as service outlets. Pipe trenches must
also be thoroughly compacted. A tamper weighing not
less than 50 pounds with a face not greater than 100
square inches is recommended.
Many modern builders believe that every concrete
slab resting on the ground, or just clear of the ground,
should have some sort of membrane under it to function
as a vapor barrier. Certain it is that this practice would go
far toward correcting such problems as chronically
damp basements, warped wood floors, moisture con-
densation on walls and exterior paint failures.
The use of a saucer of impermeable material as a bot-
tom form in casting a concrete slab performs two im-
portant functions: by preventing the loss of water in the
mix by absorption into a dry subgrade, the membrane
permits the concrete to cure from the bottom; and it
stops or greatly impedes the migration of water vapor
from the subgrade through the slab into the structure
above the slab. The importance of the latter is apparent
when it is recognized that 20 gallons of water vapor is
released under the average house each day, as compared
with only about 3 gallons per day released as a result of
all the activities which go on inside the house.
Compaction around walls, columns and the like is al-
ways difficult, and may, in fact, prove dangerous if the
lateral stresses so exerted are larger than those antici-
pated in the design. One good way around this, if cir-
cumstances permit, is to reverse the usual practice and
to grade and compact the whole area first and then build
the foundations afterwards; the area within the confines
of the foundation can then be consolidated by hand. A
final word of warning: when you have a good subbase,
dont let it be ruined by carelessly running trucks over it
or using it for other operations; protection against such
unnecessary displacement is well worthwhile.
SLAB DESIGN
All too frequently it is the practice to use a rule-of-
thumb design for a slab of, for example, 6 inches at grade
with nominal reinforcement of 40 pounds per 100
square feet. For a small shop or home garage this might
suffice; for an industrial plant it invites trouble.
Proper slab design is a complicated subject involving
many factors, including soil-bearing capacity, strength
of mix, and the area and position of the static and dy-
namic loads applied. In practice, however, some of these
factors must be estimated because of the difficulty of de-
termining them accurately. The overall controlling factor
then becomes the heaviest concentrated load which can
be expected. In general this will be the wheel load of ei-
ther an industrial or highway vehicle. With such dynam-
ic loads it should be assumed that they will be applied
at the edges of the slab. It may be decided that individual
foundations are desirable with heavy static loads such as
presses, lathes and the like, although in general greater
flexibility of operations follows from direct placement on
the slab. With separate foundations the slab should be
cast on the compacted subbase around the foundation
concrete which may itself be at floor level; using the
haunch to support the edge of the slab will inevitably
result in uneven bearing and lead to cracking.
Theoretically a thin slab on a uniform base will carry
a very heavy uniformly distributed live load. In practice,
however, the minimum satisfactory thickness is 5 inch-
es. Extra thickness, with additional safety for the unfore-
seeable future, will only increase the material cost,
which in itself is negligible compared with total con-
struction costs.
Much work has been done to reduce slab design to a
simple tabular level. The curves of Figures 1, 2 and 3
were derived by the Portland Cement Association. Prob-
ably the best way of explaining their use is to take as an
example a 5,000 psi mix to be used for an industrial floor
carrying lift trucks having 12-inch wide solid rubber tires
and a 10,000-pound wheel load. The maximum concen-
trated load expected is 10,000 pounds. An allowance of
25 percent for impact gives a total equivalent static load
of 12,500 pounds. From Figure 1 it can be seen that for
5,000-pound concrete the flexural strength is 700 psi. As-
suming a very frequent repetition of the loading, Figure
2 suggests that we use a factor of safety of 2. The flexural
design stress then becomes 7002 or 350 psi. We can
now use Figure 3 which gives the required slab thickness;
however, since these curves are drawn for concrete with
a flexural design stress of 300 psi and we are working
with 350 psi concrete, the design load must be corrected
accordingly; i.e., 12,500 pounds x 300350 which equals
10,700. This is not a point load, and for the wheels in our
problem an area of contact of about 25 square inches per
wheel can be assumed. From Figure 3, using a loaded
area of 25 square inches and a load of 10,700 pounds,
we get a slab thickness of about 7 inches.

REINFORCEMENT
Theoretically, reinforcing steel is not necessary for on-
grade slabs since the subgrade should provide uniform
support. Steel does, however, perform the function of
preventing cracks from opening, and under some condi-
tions cracks can be expected in slabs with dimensions
greater than 15 feet. Correct jointing will do much to
hold down cracking, but the dangers of uneven loadings
and variable bearing capacity in the subgrade make the
use of reinforcement highly desirable.
A simple formula has been worked out to calculate the
amount of steel necessary:
A= WLf
2t
where A = area of reinforcement needed in square
inches per foot of width;
W = weight of slab per square foot;
L= length between joints in feet;
f= coefficient of friction between slab and
subgrade;
t= allowable tensile stress in steel.
Since f and t, under average conditions, can be taken
as 2 and 25,000 respectively, the formula can be simpli-
fied even further to:
WL
A= 25,000
For slabs over 6 inches in depth steel for crack control
should be not more than 2 _ inches below the surface;
for slabs less than 6 inches in depth the distance to the
steel should be 2 inches or mid-depth, whichever is the
least.
The easiest reinforcing steel to handle is, of course,
welded wire fabric mats (not rolls) placed on suitable
chairs or small concrete spacers. The mix should then be
worked under and over it at the same time. The practice
of placing the steel on the subgrade and then attempting
to lift it into place all too frequently results in air pockets,
bond-breaking dirt inclusions and incorrect location. sistency should be cast to the level of the reinforcement,
Setting the mesh on a first layer of hardened concrete the mats of reinforcement being then placed and im-
gives a weaker slab and increases the danger of the en- mediately topped with the rest of the concrete all in one
try of foreign matter. If permitted, concrete of a stiff con- operation.
JOINTS
Tests and experience have shown that in a normal
heated building the initial shrinkage of concrete is gen-
erally greater than any subsequent expansion due to
temperature changes. It is therefore possible, with but
few exceptions, to cut out expansion joints entirely.
To isolate walls from the floor slob, l/8-in.-thick asphalt-
impregnated fiber sheets (or other joint materials less than
1/4 in. thick) are fastened to the wall.
If the slab is to be thickened, as at a doorway, the change
in thickness should be gradual, not more than 1 in 10.
Joints should, howe ve r, be made around all walls,
columns, or machinery foundations, primarily to iso-
late the floor slab from other parts of the building and to
permit differential settlement. This joint need not be
wider than 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch.
In the design of the slab it was assumed that there
would be no free edges on which concentrated loads
would occur. To insure that this is really so some builders
strengthen edges at doorways where vehicles may enter
or leave. Such strengthening can be done by increasing
the thickness of the slab by 50 percent and tapering it
back to normal size over a distance of 4 feet or more. An-
other increasingly popular solution to the problem of
free edges is to cast tongue and groove joints into the ad-
joining concrete faces.
Experience has shown that a control joint spacing of
between 15 and 25 feet is desirable. Joints should be sit-
ed along column lines if possible; but 25 feet is a maxi-
mum limit and if the distance between columns is
greater, intermediate joints should be provided.
Concrete men probably disagree more on the subject
of joints than any other single problem involving con-
crete. Dummy joints, which consist essentially of a
weakened plane (created by grooving plastic concrete
or sawing hardened concrete) have a strong following in
the industry, but the full-depth control joints seems to
be gaining acceptance as a more dependable construc-
tion device. With this type of joint it is desirable to use ei-
ther steel dowels or tongue-and-groove construction to
assist in transferring loads across the joint. With all con-
trol joints reinforcement must be cut in order to permit
the joints to serve their purpose.
THE BASIC MIX
Concrete for floor construction should be made with
hard, well-graded aggregates and should contain only
sufficient water to insure good workability. The accepted
modern way of assuring that quality concrete is used is
to purchase it from a well equipped and competently
staffed ready mixed concrete plant. Water content is im-
portantthe less the better for a strong, wear-resistant
and watertight surface. The maximum is 5 _ gallons per
sack of cement, including surface moisture on aggre-
gates, with recommended figures of 3 _ to 4 gallons for
machine floating, and 4 _ to 5 gallons for hand floating.
Slump should never exceed 4 inches and entrained air
should be used to minimize bleeding and permit the use
of lower slump concrete. The object is to produce a non-
porous paste coating around every piece of coarse ag-
gregate without getting voids, honeycombing or excess
water on the surface. Should a mix become too harsh to
work, it is better to attempt to vary the proportions of
fines to coarse rather than to add more water.
PLACING, FINISHING, CURING
Placing concrete directly on a dry subgrade can upset
all mix studies and lead to untold trouble in finishing.
The subgrade should, as necessary, be sprinkled not less
than 6 or more than 20 hours before placing. If it still
dries out, further sprinkling is permissible but care must
be taken to avoid standing water or a soft surface. The
mix should then be wheeled, shoveled or chuted into
place and well compacted by either tamping, rolling or
vibrating, extra care being taken at all corners and edges.
Vibration, when used, should be uniformly applied and
slump should not exceed one inch.
Finishing should begin immediately after com-
paction. The mix should be struck off from side forms or
adjacent slabs, either mechanically or manually. Wood
floating follows directly, to rough finish to grade. Ma-
chine floating is now the common practice on all except
the smallest jobs; a much stiffer mix can be employed in
this way. Stay away from the steel trowel at this stage; it

Do not use unvented heaters during or after concreting.
Fresh concrete absorbs the carbon dioxide produced by
such heaters, causing surface dusting. Unit heaters are
preferred.
Use a spud vibrator to consolidate concrete, especially at
corners and bulkheads. Be careful not to overvibrate.
should be possible to rough finish, if the mix is of the
right consistency, without using the trowel at all to re-
move float marks. If you must trowel, then let it be to the
minimum. After floating, troweling is usually applied as
a two-stage process, although the first stage can be omit-
PUBLICATION #C620161
Copyright 1962, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved
ted if a very smooth surface is not desired. Finishing
should not begin until all water sheen has disappeared
from the surface. Final troweling follows when the sur-
face is so hard that it can just be dented by finger pres-
sure. At this stage the trowel produces the familiar ring-
ing sound as it polishes the surface. It is important to
have enough finishers on the job when troweling; other-
wise, the last areas to be done may be too hard.
Troweling is an art and it is here that true craftsman-
ship shows up; the purpose is to produce a wearing sur-
face of maximum density. This cannot be done by too
early use of the trowel which simply works water and
fines to the surface to create weak concrete which will
dust badly under traffic. One last loud DONT: dont
spread dry cement over a slab with the idea of absorb-
ing excess moisture. This is one sure-fire way of creating
a dusting problem.
Curing should begin as soon as possible and should
continue for at least 5 days (3 days with high early
strength cement). The usual methods: membrane curing
compounds, waterproof paper sealed at the edges, wet
burlap, sand or ponding with water. Curing is an impor-
tant factor in insuring durability, reducing cracking, and
preventing dusting. It must be watched with care to in-
sure a structural concrete or slab that will be strong, im-
permeable and dense. Before permitting traffic, allow
the floor to air dry after it has cured.
Increasing quantities of chemical preparations, con-
sisting mainly of sodium silicate, are being used today in
floor construction to simultaneously cure, harden and
dustproof concrete. One function of such chemicals is to
convert the free lime or calcium carbonate almost al-
ways present in concrete into calcium silicate, a much
harder, stronger and more stable compound. Even exist-
ing concrete floors can usually be improved by this sur-
face hardening technique. Materials of this type cost in
the neighborhood of $2.50 per gallon, and a gallon gen-
erally covers around 600 square feet, so the economy is
excellent.