The objective of this project was to provide a baseline evaluation of the market fit of new and existing structural floor systems in residential construction. The project focuses on the attributes that are demanded by specifiers of floor systems and the tradeoffs made among attributes when designing and building these systems. This information will aid product manufacturers and the research community in better meeting market demands.
The project identified specific attributes that are being demanded of floor systems (including ease of design, ease of construction, costs, safety factors, serviceability, performance, durability, indoor air quality, and walking comfort), and evaluated the trade-off made among these attributes in design/construction. The latter was accomplished through a mail survey of single-family homebuilders throughout North America. Finally, the homebuilders that filled out the survey were asked to offer a detailed description of the installed floors in the last house the built in 1999.
The results showed that the respondent homebuilders the three most important floor attributes are, in order, dimensional stability, low installed cost, and ease of on-site construction. 57% of the respondents installed solid wood floors in 1999, followed by 23 % wood I-joists, 9% parallel chord trusses and the balance concrete. When rating floor type against attributes, wood I-joists performed the highest against the top three just mentioned, as well as scoring top marks in design flexibility, technical support, walking comfort and low environmental impact. Out of 15 attributes investigated, wood generally scored higher ratings than concrete except for vibration, sound transmission and fire resistance. It is important to note that solid wood floors scored the lowest of all building materials when it came to the number one attribute, dimensional stability.
Results of this study lead to recommendations for extension and/or further research in the following areas;
1. Dimensional stability of solid wood joists.
2. Vibrations in wood floors.
3. Technical support for using solid wood. .
4. Technical transfer on the environmental performance of wood.
5. Further analysis of floors database for specific inquiries.
6. Creation of products/practices/performance databases for walls and roofs.