3.5 Ground Floors

• Types of ground floors: solid and suspended
• The components of a solid ground floor (hardcore, blinding, damp-proof membrane, floor slab)
• The procedure for constructing a solid ground floor
• Safety measures when constructing a ground floor

• identify the types of ground floors used in buildings
• illustrate the components of a solid ground floor
• construct a solid ground floor for a building
• appreciate the importance of solid ground floors in a building

“How are ground floors constructed?”

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1. Ground floors
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The types of ground floor (solid and suspended), the components of a solid ground floor and their jobs, the step-by-step procedure for constructing one, the safety measures, and why solid ground floors matter.
2. Solid versus suspended ground floors
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   How a solid floor sits on the ground in layers, how a suspended floor spans a void, and when each type is used.
3. Ground floors in Kenyan houses
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Matching floor type to Kenyan plots: bungalows, flats, highland slopes and black-cotton soil, using the building code.
4. Preparing the ground for a solid floor
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Strip, level and compact the earth inside the foundation walls, then treat against termites, before any hardcore goes down.
5. Hardcore for ground floors
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   What hardcore is, what it does, which materials to use, and how to pack and compact it under a Kenyan house slab.
6. Blinding over the hardcore
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   A thin sand or weak-concrete layer that smooths sharp hardcore so the damp-proof membrane is not punctured.
7. Laying the damp-proof membrane
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The DPM is a heavy plastic sheet that stops rising damp. Lap, seal, turn it up at walls, and protect it from punctures.
8. DPC in the wall and DPM in the floor
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The wall damp-proof course and the floor DPM must meet so moisture cannot walk around a gap at the edge of the slab.
9. The concrete floor slab
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The slab is the structural walking surface: mix, thickness, BRC mesh on spacers, and typical sizes for a Kenyan house.
10. Pouring and levelling the slab
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Place, compact and level the floor concrete as a team, keeping mesh on spacers and avoiding cold joints and a pierced DPM.
11. Curing the floor slab
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Keep the new slab moist for several days so the cement hydrates. A slab left in Kenyan sun dusts, cracks and stays weak.
12. Floor finishes on a solid floor
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Screed, tiles, terrazzo and other finishes sit on a cured slab. The finish is what you see; it is not the structure.
13. Constructing a solid ground floor
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    The full construction sequence from stripped earth to finish, practised as the construct outcome and the inquiry question.
14. Safety when constructing ground floors
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Cement burns, toxic termite chemicals, heavy lifting, a tidy site and a coordinated team - the safety measures for floor work.
15. Why solid ground floors matter
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    A solid floor must be firm, dry, level and durable. It completes the building base and is the surface Kenyan families live on.