Where is the first floor?

Status
Not open for further replies.
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.
Click to expand...

Using that ethos, I would say the most logical place to name 0 would be the lowest basement level and go up from there.

Otherwise you are saying basement levels are "minus" floors which implies they exist in someone else's building.
 
glen8 said:
so if I build a house, how can I do anything other than put a floor down first?

You can't build a second floor first.....well, I guess you could get a time machine jump forward a week and lay your first floor second.....but in doing so, would there be a first floor as you have jumped over that week?
Click to expand...

Actually in some cases the walls are put up first before the floors. In which case it would be perfectly plausible for the upper floors to be built before the lower ones.

Or as mentioned the basement can be be built first and the house built above that.

Again, the problem with the US system is the lack of a fixed reference point, at least with the UK system you measure relative to ground level.
 
glen8 said:
and then you put a floor on the foundations....which would be your first floor would it not?
Click to expand...

Using your labelling from the lowest floor (starting at zero or one) if level numbers are not indicated and I had been told to go to the tenth floor I would have to walk down to the lowest floor and count upwards.
 
estebanrey said:
Using that ethos, I would say the most logical place to name 0 would be the lowest basement level and go up from there.

Otherwise you are saying basement levels are "minus" floors which implies they exist in someone else's building.
Click to expand...

Ok so we have our lowest basement level floor "0" and we dig down one level because we want a new floor below for some extra space. What do we call it? L1 or in other words, floor -1!

The issue is on the American system they do not designate a floor 0, they go from floor 1 to floor -1, it makes no sense they miss a whole number!

I honestly have no real issue with where you put 0 in your buildings, make the first floor the 1st floor if you really like, as long as you acknowledge that if you dig down a floor your creating a floor 0. :)

Obviously the most logical approach is to designate all ground floors as floor 0, as it makes using the building much easier. But sure go ahead and use what ever numerical system you like, just make sure you don't forget a whole number like the Americans! :mad:
 
Last edited:
I'm amazed such a trivial question like "Which floor is the ground floor" can escalate to 16 pages. And no that wasn't a pun about navigating floors of a building.
 
glen8 said:
D
C
B
------------A-------------- / Door Entrance
-A
-B
-C
-D

The first elevation is B, but which one is the first floor?
Click to expand...

If you're using the British system, it's floor B. Under the American system, it's floor A. Both systems are easily understood and it doesn't matter which one is used.

I think I'm missing the point of this thread, entertaining as it is. :p
 
glen8 said:
D
C
B
------------A-------------- / Door Entrance
-A
-B
-C
-D

The first elevation is B, but which one is the first floor?
Click to expand...

A mathematically more interesting question would be what is happening between A and -A ? Your system is defined for:

A <= Current floor <= C

and

-D<= Current floor <=-A

Distance between adjacent floors = 1
Your system has A - (-A) = 1
Which means that 2A = 1
and A = 0.5

So your system has two half floors :eek: and six full floors, in vertical terms :p (edited five to six... d'oh)
 
The correct answer is -C

In this particular build, due to the ground / incline and health and safety reasons the building inspector decided the first floor would be the lower basement level. They would then build on top.

However, a few months later the owners asked for an extra lower level to be provisioned which is -D in the illustration

-D is the eighth (and final) floor to have been built

The lift however lists the floors in a different order ;-)
 
m4rk84 said:
The issue is on the American system they do not designate a floor 0, they go from floor 1 to floor -1, it makes no sense they miss a whole number!
Click to expand...

Exactly. This also explains why NASA kept losing their Mars* probes.

*It really was Mars, using "apples" or "Susan" just does not work in this context
 
Why is there no poll ?

Put the American lovers in their place on the 1st floor and the true, intelligent people, firmly on the ground floor.
 
Efour said:
Why is there no poll ?

Put the American lovers in their place on the 1st floor and the true, intelligent people, firmly on the ground floor.
Click to expand...

Because a poll would imply that democracy works. And if the Team USA First Floor Creationists win, it will become official forum policy and we will all have to renumber our buildings.

Can always scupper it by adding "bacon" as an option.
 
It could never win because, although its hard to imagine, there are not that many retards on this forum.
 
I still don't understand why people can't work out that our numbering a system is based on what is above or below ground level. I.e 0/GF/GL is the ground and the next floor up would be 1st as in 1st floor above the ground level floor (in whatever way that is determined).

Oh and the people arguing how can you have zero floors ^ that answers what the 0 on the buttons means :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom