Floor finishes - Geomaterials: Under the Microscope - page 123

Floor finishes

7

INTRODUCTION

incorporating, polymers. A selection of flooring materials
that may be encountered by the petrographer is
categorized in Table 28 .
Several of these materials used for flooring are
adequately covered in other chapters (i.e. stone, brick,
ceramic tile, concrete, and asphalt) and certain other
materials are not within the scope of this topic. This
chapter will concentrate on some of the remaining flooring
materials that are most commonly examined by the
petrographer, namely screed, terrazzo, and synthetic resin.
Petrographic examination of samples taken through
the various layers of a flooring system can provide
considerable information on the nature and relationship
of the flooring materials (including the substrate) and
their interfaces.

A wide variety of finishing materials are applied to
internal floor surfaces for one or more of three reasons:
• To protect the structural elements of the floor from
wear and deterioration.
• To provide an attractive appearance for the floor.
• To increase comfort and safety for the floor user.

Floor coverings that have been used since antiquity
include geomaterials such as stone, brick, and
cementitious materials, as well as other types of material
including timber and textiles. In the last 100 years the
number of floor finishes available has increased greatly
and in recent years these include materials based on, or

Table 28 Flooring materials that may be encountered by the petrographer

Jointless floor finishes Jointed resilient floor finishes Jointed hard floor finishes

Concrete wearing surfaces Textile Ceramic tiles

Polymer-modified cementitious Linoleum Brick pavers

screeds

Granolithic and cementitious Cork Natural stone

wearing screeds

In situterrazzo Timber products Terrazzo tiles

Synthetic resins Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Composition block

Mastic asphalt Rubber Metal

Magnesium oxychloride Thermoplastic tiles