In facilities such as server rooms, data centers, and office buildings, raised access floors are widely used for their flexibility in wiring, ease of maintenance, and adjustable elevation. However, unevenness often occurs after installation—this not only impairs walking comfort but may also cause floor deformation, fitting damage, and even compromise the safety of underlying pipelines. In fact, most unevenness in raised access floors stems from oversights during construction. This article focuses on common issues encountered during raised access floor installation and their corresponding repair methods.

1. Common Construction Issue 1: Subfloor Flatness Fails to Meet Standards

(1) Cause of the Issue:

Before installing raised access floors, the original subfloor requires leveling and cleaning. However, some construction teams skip this step, leaving the subfloor with height differences, residual mortar, dust, or oil stains. These defects lead to uneven stress distribution on the floor’s support feet, resulting in overall unevenness of the floor system.

(2) Repair Methods:

1. Prevention: Before installation, thoroughly inspect subfloor flatness using a laser level or long straightedge.

2. Local Leveling: Fill depressions with specialized self-leveling cement and grind down high spots.

3. Adjustment with Gaskets: For already installed uneven systems, loosen the support bases and add steel or plastic leveling gaskets underneath to calibrate heights point by point.

2. Common Construction Issue 2: Installation Deviations of Support Feet

(1) Cause of the Issue:

Support feet are the core load-bearing components of raised access floors. Unevenness often arises from the following installation errors:

• Misaligned support foot positioning (not installed at the stress points of floor panels, typically the four corners);

• Inconsistent height adjustment of support feet (some too high or too low);

• Insecure fixation of support feet to the subfloor (loosening or sinking during use);

• The crossbeam did not fully engage in the support foot's locking groove, resulting in a loose connection point.

(2) Repair Methods:

1. Tightness Inspection: Check and fasten the floor-fixing screws of all support bases one by one.

2. Re-calibrate Heights: Use a laser level and ruler to re-adjust the top height of all support poles uniformly, ensuring they lie on the same horizontal plane.

3. Fix Misalignment: If support feet are not at the panel corners, remove the corresponding floor panels, reposition and drill holes according to the "four corners of the panel matching support feet" principle, reinstall the support feet, then lay the panels back and calibrate flatness.

4. Check Crossbeam Connections: Ensure all four corners of the crossbeams are tightly locked to the support heads, with no looseness or incomplete engagement.

3. Common Construction Issue 3: Deformation of Floor Panels Themselves

(1) Cause of the Issue:

Raised access floor panels may suffer edge warping or slight panel deformation if stacked improperly or subjected to excessive pressure during transportation or storage. Installing these deformed panels (without prior inspection) directly causes local unevenness.

(2) Repair Methods:

1. Incoming Inspection: Conduct random checks when floor materials arrive—place panels on a flat surface to inspect for straight edges and warping.

2. Replace Panels: The most effective solution for confirmed deformed panels is to replace them with new, qualified ones. Never attempt to repair by forceful pressing.

4. Common Construction Issue 4: Overly Tight Gaps Between Panels or Panels Pressing Against Walls

(1) Cause of the Issue:

Dimensional errors in floor panels, misaligned buckles/latches during assembly, or disorganized installation sequences may cause uneven gaps between panels. Additionally, failing to reserve proper expansion gaps during installation (resulting in panels squeezing against each other or walls) leads to mid-panel bulging when temperature or humidity changes, causing unevenness.

(2) Repair Methods:

1. Verify Panel Dimensions: Screen floor panels before installation and discard those with excessive dimensional errors.

2. Reserve Proper Gaps: Ensure minimal gaps between panels and reserve expansion gaps between panels and walls during installation.

3. Adjust Edge Panels: If the issue already exists, cut the last row of panels near the wall to reduce their size appropriately, creating expansion space for the entire area.

5. Common Construction Issue 5: Extreme Uneven Load Distribution

(1) Cause of the Issue:

During construction, if heavy equipment placement areas are not planned according to the floor’s load-bearing capacity, or if excessive heavy equipment is concentrated in one area, the supports in that region will be overloaded. Long-term use leads to support deformation and floor sinking, resulting in local unevenness.

(2) Repair Methods:

1. Plan Equipment Layout: Confirm the location of heavy equipment with the client before installation.

2. Reinforce Supports: Add additional support feet under the four feet of heavy equipment (especially server racks) to transfer the load directly to the subfloor, avoiding overloading the raised access floor system.

3. Use Reinforced Floors: For known heavy-load areas, directly select high-strength raised access floors with higher load-bearing ratings.

6. Three Key Steps to Prevent Raised Access Floor Installation Issues

Prevention is better than post-repair. The following three measures significantly reduce the risk of unevenness in raised access floor installations:

1. Pre-Construction Training: Conduct technical briefings for construction personnel to clarify installation standards, flatness requirements, and key details, avoiding issues caused by unskilled operations.

2. In-Process Inspections: Assign dedicated personnel to conduct full-process inspections during construction. Immediately test flatness after completing each area and rectify issues promptly to prevent error accumulation.

3. Material Quality Control: Select raised access floors and fittings that meet national standards. Inspect material appearance and dimensional errors before installation, and reject unqualified products.

7. Conclusion

Most unevenness issues in raised access floors after installation result from detailed oversights during construction. A qualified installation must follow this process:

1. Inspect the Subfloor → 2. Install the Support System Standardly → 3. Screen Panels → 4. Reserve Expansion Gaps → 5. Reinforce Supports for Heavy-Load Areas.

If you are facing such issues, use the aforementioned raised access floor unevenness repair methods for inspection and adjustment. For large-scale or critical projects, it is recommended to consult professional raised access floor manufacturers and installation teams for diagnosis and maintenance, ensuring long-term stable operation of the system and providing reliable floor support for your critical operations.