By Ann C Smith
In 1979, Allen Face, the president of Edward W. Face Co. developed a new method to measure floor flatness. It could be used to automatically graph and monitor concrete floor flatness before and after construction. While Face did not specifically use the term “F-number measurement” at the time, his concept would help establish it.
Face posited that there are two industries that needed better floor flatness. These are warehouses and portable modular partition systems. Such high demand for concrete floor flatness is due to several things. First, poorly-levelled floors can destabilize equipment and can cause damage to new, high-lifting tools that are sensitive to the slightest variations in floor levels. Second, it can secure and maintain a clearance between the floor and ceiling of structures. This is particularly the case of modular building systems and can be seen in high-rise offices today.
The standard 10-foot straightedge method which brought about long hours of work was soon pushed off by the F-number measurement. The F-number measurement became an important innovation in measuring floor flatness because it provided more accurate readings. It was incorporated into screed machines which first became popular in the 1950s.
Three decades after the 50s, new types of screed machines equipped with laser receptors were produced. Paul and David Somero, both concrete contractors were behind the laser screed innovation. They observed that bulldozers and tractors were equipped with laser and their movements were guided by it. They thought of applying it to screeds which were used to measure the thickness of flooring. Floor flatness measurement was then a tedious task requiring long hours of work and many workers because of the inadequate equipment. With the help of a mechanical engineer they were able to materialize their idea. By 1985, the first prototype was released and sold.
With laser guides and wheels they were able to quickly cover wide expanses of flooring in a short time. Some screed machines could run over a 240 square feet flooring in two minutes. With improvements in technology, it became possible for a crew of only nine individuals to screed a 14,000 square foot floor in less than five hours. Screed machines became important and much-needed equipment for warehouse contractors to keep accurate account of their floor constructions.
Laser screeds changed the frequency of concrete placements in industrial constructions. Before its advent, the average daily percentage of concrete placement was only around 5,000 to 10,000 square feet of concrete per day. But with the fastness of laser screeds, that has been changed to 20,000 to 25,000 square feet of concrete a day. That is, under the same hours of work but with lesser manual effort and more output. This has become a normal occurrence, all due to the Somero’s innovation on the screed.
In the 21st century, many consider the laser screed as the pioneer of the new dawn of concrete placement. It influenced how equipment for concrete floor flatness measurement should be designed. It paved the road for innovations on more dependable, more accurate, and faster performance floor flatness measurement machines.