Retrofitting of traditional timber floors

Timber floors are a critical component of many historical and modern buildings. Due to incorrect design and construction, effects of deterioration, change in use, and/or functional requirements, these components frequently need to be retrofitted. This chapter reviews the need for retrofitting of existing timber floors and critically evaluates a range of methods to improve their strength and stiffness, both in-plane and out-of-plane. The review of the available literature shows that this is a very active area of research and, in spite of the enormous progress achieved in the last decades, suggests that new and better methods will be developed in the future.