Interior floor finishes preferences for Malaysian houses / Nurrajwani Abdul Halim

Residential is a place where individual build and dwell in and can be classified into house, home and shelter. Whether it is called house or home or shelter, it plays significance role for the human beings who live inside it. The interior spaces elements that exist in a residential unit are floor, wall and ceiling. Nevertheless, one of the most important elements in interior spaces is floor due to the residents keep their body contact with it most of the time compared to the other two elements. In interior spaces, the permanent covering of a floor is known as interior floor finishes which are considered very vital component due to, they give impact to the residents’ living environment. Moreover, they are the hardest-working surfaces and expected to cope with the innumerable pounding footsteps and any abuse or load on them. Consequently, they should be used appropriately based on their functions to maximise their functions. The mismatch between interior floor finishes and interior spaces may lead to renovation work as a result of the residents’ unsatisfactory. In interior design context, there is still lacking of residents’ reference on purchasing the suitable choice of interior floor finishes based on the selection criteria for renovation work. Most of the residents’ preferences of interior floor finishes are based on selection criteria of beauty, hygienic, durable and comfort. The selection criteria of beauty are colour, texture, patterns and motives, shapes and form, surface textures, size and trend. However, the selection criteria of hygienic namely stain resistance, slip resistance, moisture resistance, dust-free, bacteria and microbial resistance, fire resistance and harmful chemical and gases. Though, the selection criteria of durable are lifespan, cracking, chipping, maintenance, surface abrasion, chemical resistance, thermal shock resistance and faded surface colouring. Nonetheless, the selection criteria of comfort are comfortable underfoot, water resistance, sound absorption and reflective surface. From the analysis findings of the residents’ preferences, it has been developed into The Preferences Framework Guidelines of Interior Floor Finishes for Malaysian Houses. It can be used by the construction members as an alternative or reference to rely on when advising the residents choosing the right interior floor finishes to align with the correct function for the interior spaces. Even though the renovation activities cannot be prevented entirely but, the researcher believes that this preference guidelines are accommodating more or less. The other factors that involve are psychological factors (internal factors) including motivation, perception, learning, personality, and attitude formation and attitude change. Instead, sociological influences (external factors) are together with lifestyle, family, culture, social class and reference group. As a conclusion, the selection criteria of interior floor finishes are closely related with each other for the purpose of fulfilling needs of the residents’ living environment as well as for the sake of protecting Mother Nature.