Alternative mortar proposal for flooring in historical building environments: Example of Topkapi Palace

The landscaping of Topkapı Palace,which is one of the most important structures of the cultural heritage was designed in accordance with the Ottoman period life. It is necessary to document, analyze and evaluate the palace in its physical, cultural, social and historical integrity and to take decisions based on data determinations in line with these evaluations. Floor coverings are the most basic landscape elements in the formation of the space, which is covered and shaped with different materials according to the usage function. Aesthetic compatibility in terms of material, function, resistance to pressure on climate and use, determining the usage period economically and revealing the cost are important determining factors for floor coverings. In this thesis study, types of natural facing stones used in floor covering around Topkapı Palace and giving information about deterioration conditions, in order to prevent these natural stones from being damaged quickly and to ensure their sustainability it is aimed to produce non-cement floor flooring mortars. The work area was documented with photographs by obtaining permission from the Presidency of the National Palaces Department for the materials used in the existing floor coverings of the study area. The stone and mortar materials used for the flooring of the historical building's surroundings and which were deformed for different reasons were investigated, however, original mortars could not be reached due to the use of cement binder material in the mortar content. In line with the literature, the mortar analysis of the wall near the ground level of the kitchen section of the palace, which was carried out under the supervision of the Istanbul Directorate of Surveying and Monuments and the Istanbul Restoration and Conservation Regional Laboratory Directorate was taken as reference. Alternative flooring mortars with non-cement-containing pozzolanic, organic and composite material additives that can work in harmony with natural stones to be used in repair works in terms of continuity of protection were produced FESEM, EDS, XRD analyzes were made on the produced mortars in terms of physical, mechanical and petrographic properties, one-way ANOVA Tukey test was used to compare the difference between the measurements according to the data obtained from the analysis results of the mortars. Cement-free Series 4 and Series 5 mortars with high porosity, low unit volume weight and sufficient compressive strength produced on hard ground walking paths belonging to historical building environments, ıt is recommended to be used as a floor covering mortar Series 2 and Series 3 mortars in closed areas such as under porticoes.