Finnforest UK

WEIGHTS OF MATERIAL

In any floor design the weights of the applied loads must be calculated.  The permanent loads or dead loads are those that form the structure and finishes.  The imposed or live loads are those considered appropriate for the use of the floor such as furniture or human foot traffic.  Live load information can be obtained from BS6399.

Chipboard refers to moisture resistant chipboard P4 and P5 to BS EN 312
OSB 3 to EN 300.
Plywood to be to the requirements of BS5268 part 2.

DESIGN OF FLOORS

The weight of the construction together with the proposed live load is added together to form the total uniform distributed floor loads assumed to be acting over the full floor area.  The use of the span tables can be adopted to select the appropriate Finnjoist profile section that can safely carry the uniform load.  For intermediate floors in heated homes Service Class 1 can be expected.

The span tables provide joist profiles that match the span load based on a number of key design criteria from strength, deflection limits and vibration limits.  Finnforest recommend the higher floor performance classes for improved performance and greater user satisfaction.