Where is the first floor?

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Dis86 said:
Except the hallway isn't a room.

I've also stay in a hotel where the rooms did start at 102. Basically because 101 was the cleaners cupboard!
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By the logic of entering a building means you're entering a floor, entering the hallway means you're entering a room. :p
 
Haggisman said:
What if you were to string a hammock across between the posts?

In fact, lets take that a step further.

What if that was in fact a 2 storey building, but the entrance is 1 level above ground level, so ground level is actually the second level you enter.

Surely, by the logic of the numbering system starting with the first floor you enter, that would make the ground level floor the second floor, since it's actually the second floor you enter?


*note, it's ground level, not first level
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It doesn't have to be that complex. If the main entrance is on the first floor, it's the first floor.

The hammock example is an interesting one, but an oddity. I wouldn't call it a workable floor as such, just a hammock between two posts.
 
Lysander said:
It doesn't have to be that complex. If the main entrance is on the first floor, it's the first floor.

The hammock example is an interesting one, but an oddity. I wouldn't call it a workable floor as such, just a hammock between two posts.
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Which would make ground level the second floor then?
 
The lack of understanding of zero in this thread has been most amusing! :D

Using the logic in this thread coming from some people 1-2=-2... the problem is they think 0 represents nothing, which clearly isn't the case 1-2=-1 the zero counts!

Basically if your going to use a numerical system then you need the 0, without it mathematical logic breaks down. I don't really care where you put the 0 it just needs to be there. In this case floors are being represented by digits so 0 needs to be included. The most logical place to put the 0 is the ground floor.
 
m4rk84 said:
The lack of understanding of zero in this thread has been most amusing! :D

Using the logic in this thread coming from some people 1-2=-2... the problem is they think 0 represents nothing, which clearly isn't the case 1-2=-1 the zero counts!

Basically if your going to use a numerical system then you need the 0, without it mathematical logic breaks down. I don't really care where you put the 0 it just needs to be there. In this case floors are being represented by digits so 0 needs to be included. The most logical place to put the 0 is the ground floor.
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That's simply not how it works

the floor is an ITEM, it exists. When Nestle make kitkats, the first one off the production line is ONE. Not ZERO.

When a builder builds a house, the first floor he lays is ONE. The first floor. If the house isn't a bungalow, then the next floor he puts down is the second floor.

You can call it the ground "floor" if you like, but it's number one.

ZERO means a floor doesn't exist
 
Here's another way to interpret it

You go into a pub and have a pint. You then drive home. Halfway home you are pulled over by the Police. He asks you how much you've have to drink.

Do you say zero pints, or one pint?

You are either starting at zero, or one

When a builder builds a house, is he starting at zero or one?
 
glen8 said:
That's simply not how it works

the floor is an ITEM, it exists. When Nestle make kitkats, the first one off the production line is ONE. Not ZERO.
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We've already ascertained that this is not the same as Kit Kats or Mars bars or whatever.

The ladder analogy is far better. The first step up is where you count 'one' from. You do not count 'one' before you have even started climbing the ladder, or stairs.
 
glen8 said:
Here's another way to interpret it

You go into a pub and have a pint. You then drive home. Halfway home you are pulled over by the Police. He asks you how much you've have to drink.

Do you say zero pints, or one pint?

You are either starting at zero, or one

When a builder builds a house, is he starting at zero or one?
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Lets use that same example then:

You go into a pub and don't have a pint. You then drive home. Halfway home you are pulled over by the Police. He asks you how much you've have to drink.

Do you say zero pints, or minus one pint?

Zero is a valid number which is used to define a point where there hasn't been a change from the neutral or default state.

In the case of floor numbers, they are used to define levels of elevation relative to a neutral or default point - ground level.

When a builder builds a house he is starting at zero. If you want to add one floor, you have a 2 storey building.

I think people are getting confused between floor: the surface you stand on, and floor: a level of a building.
 
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Lysander said:
We've already ascertained that this is not the same as Kit Kats or Mars bars or whatever.

The ladder analogy is far better. The first step up is where you count 'one' from. You do not count 'one' before you have even started climbing the ladder, or stairs.
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You are outside your house, on the ground. You step up into the house. You are now on the first floor. The floor the builder laid down on the foundations.

The ladder is correct. You are stood away from the ladder. Zero. You step onto the ladder, FIRST step.
 
Haggisman said:
Lets use that same example then:

You go into a pub and don't have a pint. You then drive home. Halfway home you are pulled over by the Police. He asks you how much you've have to drink.

Do you say zero pints, or one pint?

When a builder builds a house he is starting at zero. If you want to add one floor, you have a 2 storey building.

I think people are getting confused between floor: the surface you stand on, and floor: a level of a building.
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so why is it called the ground FLOOR?
 
I think perhaps a better way would be to call the ground/first floor, the first surface. Then to rename floor to elevation

First Surface - Zero Elevation
Second Surface - First Elevation
 
glen8 said:
I think perhaps a better way would be to call the ground/first floor, the first surface. Then to rename floor to elevation

First Surface - Zero Elevation
Second Surface - First Elevation
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How does this work in buildings which do no not have a differential in surface from the surroundings?
 
glen8 said:
That's simply not how it works

the floor is an ITEM, it exists. When Nestle make kitkats, the first one off the production line is ONE. Not ZERO.

When a builder builds a house, the first floor he lays is ONE. The first floor. If the house isn't a bungalow, then the next floor he puts down is the second floor.

You can call it the ground "floor" if you like, but it's number one.

ZERO means a floor doesn't exist
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Your still just showing your lack of understanding of 0. In your scenario I have no problem with the builder calling the ground floor the 1st floor. However now if he builds down one level he has built to the 0th floor. The unit is floors therefore 1-1=0 one down from the 1st floor is the 0th floor. Now we are at the point of using logic, is it more logical to name the ground floor 0 or the floor down from the ground floor 0?
 
m4rk84 said:
Your still just showing your lack of understanding of 0. In your scenario I have no problem with the builder calling the ground floor the 1st floor. However now if he builds down one level he has built to the 0th floor. The unit is floors therefore 1-1=0 one down from the 1st floor is the 0th floor. Now we are at the point of using logic, is it more logical to name the ground floor 0 or the floor down from the ground floor 0?
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You can't have 0th floor, you are talking about elevations
 
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