what is this used for?!?

Question

Ground Floor:- uninsulated power-floated concrete with granolithic finish

this is a ground floor of a aircraft hanger... what is... power-floated concrete? what is the difference between this and normal concrete? why would it be uninsulated? and what is a granolithic finish?

thanks

Answer 1

Power floated concrete is finished with a power trowel. Just before the concrete sets, the builders use a power trowel or power float. Its a small machine that has 4 steel trowel blades turned by an electric motor or petrol engine. It looks a little like an upside down helicopter. It polishes the concrete so that it dries smooth and with a hard dust-free surface.
Sometimes the concrete floor slab is laid over a layer of insulation board - either polystyrene or polyurethane. This helps reduce heat loss through the floor into the sub-soil. Your spec is informing you that there is no insulation so the cost of heating the building will be higher than if it were to be insulated.
Granolithic finish is a wear resistant coating that is applied to the concrete before it sets and troweled in with the power float. Again it's informing you that the floor is generally built to a high spec in most aspects, but without insulation.

Answer 2

a power float is a machine that is used to get a smooth finish on concrete it can cover a large area ....it is just normal concrete and it would not have any insulation under the floor as its an industrial unit ..the granolithic finish means that the top is finished with a granite chippings top ...this is laid on top of the concrete while it is still wet ..in this way the two surfaces ..the concrete and the granite bond together and become one ..this is called monolithic ..the reason why they put granite on top is because granite is very hard wearing and does not normally become a dusty surface unlike concrete ... this type of floor would be used in factories and of coarse hangers