Five questions, asked in the right order, narrow any floor specification to one or two credible systems. Skip a question and the answer remains open-ended. Ask in the wrong order and you waste time. This is the text version of the FloorDSGN decision wizard — for specifiers who prefer to read than to click.
What is the primary use of the floor?
Use defines the entire system class. Six categories cover ~95% of IL projects:
Choose the category, narrow the field, proceed to Q2.
What is the daily traffic intensity?
Traffic decides system thickness. Going under-thickness for the traffic class is the most common specification failure.
Specifying under traffic is unrecoverable — the system fails by abrasion, no maintenance schedule fixes it.
Will the floor be regularly wet?
Wet floors need slip resistance (PTV ≥ 36 wet, R11–R13 depending on R-class spec) and either mass-waterproof material or a tanking layer beneath.
What is the thermal range?
Most floors operate at room temperature. The exceptions move the spec hard.
What is the aesthetic priority?
Aesthetic is the last filter — narrowing among systems that already pass Q1–Q4.
What the five answers produce
By the end of Q5, the field is typically two or three credible systems. The next step is brand selection within the chosen system — see microcement 7-way comparison or PU-cement Big-3 comparison depending on which system class you landed on.
If by Q5 the field still has more than three candidates, one of the earlier questions was answered too broadly. Re-ask Q2 (traffic — was the heaviest realistic use accounted for?) or Q3 (wet — what does occasional wet actually mean for this room?). The five questions are unforgiving when answered honestly; they remain open when answered to please the client.
Common specification mistakes the questions catch
- Specifying microcement for a commercial kitchen wet zone. Q3 closes this — kitchen daily wet demands safety vinyl or PU-cement at R12 minimum, not 2 mm microcement.
- Specifying epoxy SL for a brewery wash-down floor. Q4 closes this — steam clean to 95°C demands PU-cement, not epoxy SL.
- Specifying PU-cement at 6 mm for a residential living room. Q2 closes this — under-traffic, over-thickness; the spec wastes 4 mm of material to no functional benefit.
- Specifying Marmorino for a heavy-traffic floor. Q1 + Q2 catch this — pure lime is wall-grade, not floor-traffic-grade above light residential.
Continue reading: Eleven criteria — full guide · Fifteen Israeli use cases · Five anti-patterns to avoid.
Sources
- FeRFA Type 1–8 classification — resin floor system definitions.
- EN 16165 — slip resistance pendulum testing.
- FloorDSGN decision wizard (interactive version at tools page).