Floor

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This article is about the floor of a room or building. For other uses, see Floor (disambiguation).

"Storey" redirects here. For people named Storey, see Storey (surname).

A hardwood floor (parquetry) is a popular feature in many houses.

In architecture, a floor is generally the lower horizontal surface of a room (see also flooring). The various levels of rooms in a building are also called floors or stories (singular: story) (storeys in British English (singular: storey)): "ground floor," "first story," "mezzanine floor," etc.

Confusion arises from the two forms of floor numbering in use worldwide.

In most of Europe, and thus in British and Commonwealth usage, the floor at the ground level is the ground floor and the floor above is the first floor, which maintains the continental European use that dates from the days of the construction of palaces. For example, in French, the term for the ground floor is rez de chaussée. But in North American usage (except in Quebec), the floor at the ground level is usually, but not always, the first floor and the floor above is the second floor; this system is also used in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. China follows the American system, except that the numbers used are cardinals (one, two, three, etc.) rather than ordinals (first, second, third).

The principal floor is the story that contains the chief apartments, whether on the ground floor or the floor above; in Italy they are always on the latter and known as the piano nobile. The story below the ground floor is called the basement even if only a little below ground level, or the cellar; the story in a roof is known as the attic or the loft.

In the U.S., the expressions one pair, two pair, etc., apply to the stories above the first flight of stairs from the ground (see also carpentry).