Anatomy of a Floor

The floor of our new kitchen and dining area, as well as the balcony, is to be of standard Portuguese construction. It's a little different from what I am used to.

The area to be covered is spanned by T-section reinforced concrete joists. In our case these are going to be cast into the concrete of a "ring beam", a ring of reinforced concrete that will be poured at first-floor height. The joists are spaced at just the right intervals to allow special concrete "breeze" blocks to fit down into them. Once the blocks are in place, the whole lot is covered in concrete to form the floor/ceiling.

Floor joists being placed into position

Joists in position with concrete infill blocks also laid