Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
prevent moisture penetration into the end of the sheets. This is particularly important
when sheets have been cut to length.
Staggering the joints of sheet flooring
The first sheet of flooring of the next row of flooring will be 1.8 metres long, so as to
stagger the joints of the flooring. The balance of the flooring will be laid in the same
manner, however you will apply about a 3 mm bead of adhesive to the top of the plastic
tongue prior to joining the sheets together. I find that applying the adhesive to the joint
of the boards causes the tongue to more easily slide into the groove of the partnering
board. The adhesive seems to work as a lubricant while it is still wet. If the weather is hot
you will have more difficulty joining the sheets together, as the sheets tend to twist
slightly in the heat. If you have floor clamps available they will overcome this problem. If
not, place a piece of timber 90 × 35 or 90 × 45 against the tongue of the flooring being
fitted and then use a sledge hammer against this timber to ram the sheets together.
When the sheets are joined there should be sufficient adhesive to have it visible at the
surface of the board. It is best not to have it oozing out too much as this will be quite
slippery and coat anything that comes in contact with it. The standard nailing
requirement for fixing sheet flooring is to evenly distribute five nails across the board into
the floor joist in the body of the board. The ends of the sheets are to each have six nails
that are to be evenly distributed across the breadth of the board. Ideally the nails should
be slightly skewed in opposition to one another. You can use 75 mm framing nails to fit
the flooring. If using 75 mm nails take extra care to ensure that the extra long nails do
not damage any plumbing or electrical installations that are fixed to the side of the floor
joists.
Insulation of timber floors for 5-star energy rating
It is now necessary to insulate timber floors to comply with the 5-star energy
requirements. This can be done by fitting bulk insulation between the floor joists,
supported on roofing safety wire, or by installing Air-Cell building insulation.
Air-Cell looks like a section of heavy duty bubble wrap material sandwiched between
two layers of a reflective sizalation. Air-Cell, when fixed below the floor joists, fulfils all 5-
star energy requirements. A newsletter put out by Air-Cell in April 2005 states that 'Air-
Cell is cost effective and allows better thermal resistance than a 100 mm concrete slab'.
Air-Cell is to be fixed perpendicular to the bearers and fixed in position to the
underside of the floor joists with either screws or staples.
When installing this product, I prefer to use a heavy duty staple with a large crown
which gives an extremely secure fixing. Standard sizalation is inclined to tear around the
fixings, however I have not found this to be a problem with Air-Cell. When installing the
product, a 100 mm of the join should be left untapped for the release of any moisture.
When purchasing Air-Cell be sure that you are purchasing the real product, as there
are cheaper alternatives that appear the same but do not comply with the Australian
Standards with regards to flammability, insulation, mould resistance and vermin
deterrents.
