Suspended concrete floors are found in storeyed buildings. The self weight of concrete without additional live loads is great. In buildings where the spans are large, weight reduction is done to avoid buckling of the floor. This buckling is where the concrete sags at the middle. The concrete is laid the same way but hollow pots are added to reduce weight. This blocks are hollow in the middle. The reinforcements are laid in between them and concrete is added and vibrated to hold them together. The top concrete is about three inches thick.
The suspended concrete floor hollow pots are either clay or concrete blocks. This blocks are eight to ten inches thick. The pots that are at the beginning and at the end of a row should be blocked on one side. This will stop concrete from flowing inside the blocks. The ceilings from this floors are flat. The ordinary down stand beams are not visible from below the slab soffits. This floors are ideal over big rooms like lounges, dinning and offices. The power or lighting points on the ceilings are boxed inside on recesses within the ceilings.
When the suspended slab form work is ready, the laying of the hollow pots commences. The external beams are then laid into the forms. The internal beams for this kind of floors are laid within the slab thickness. This beams will span from the external ones across the room to other end. The beams are also laid where walls are to be built on the slab. The hollow pots are then laid on the form work in between the beams. They are arranged in rows of three feet wide. The also have spaces of four to five inches after every three feet of blocks.
Once the hollow pots are laid, the gaps in between are added with reinforcements. This bars span from the end beams. They are to hold the concrete together. A mesh fabric is then laid on top of the hollow blocks. After the this is done concreting work commences. The concrete should be well vibrated to ensure the blocks are held tightly together. The concreting is done normally and is leveled and made smooth. After the work is complete it is left to cure for not less twenty one days. After this time form work can be striped off. The ceiling is then plastered.