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Author Testimonials

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

Paula Baker-Laporte

If someone had told me in the early years of my career that I would be writing a technical “how to” book about healthy homes, I would have looked at them with total incredulity! I would have explained that, as an architect, my main concerns were with the creation of beau­tiful and interactive spatial forms and that my aspirations were artistic rather than technical. It seems that fate had a different course for me. I joined the ranks of the chemically sensitive.

In retrospect, the roots of my illness can be traced back to formaldehyde overexpo­sure that I suffered when for a short period I lived in a brand-new mobile home...

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Technology for eternity

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

How many achievements called “eternal” survive the civilization, or even the regime, under which they were created? Perhaps not many, but certain of the hydraulic works of Antiquity have survived their origins. The canal connecting the Nile River and the Red Sea – built by the Pharaoh Necho, finished by the Persian Darius, perfected by Ptolemy, the successor of Alexander, and renovated by the Emperor Trajan, then by the Umeyyade caliphs – functioned, though surely with a few interruptions, for an “eterni­ty” of thirteen centuries. We will have to come back a thousand years from now to see if our Suez Canal, descendent of the Necho canal, is still there………………………………………………………………………………………

The great irrigation systems and several water allocation plans of ancient China, as well as dams...

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Design Life

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

The first task one must accomplish in performing an LCC analysis is to determine the period of time for which the analysis of accumulated costs is to occur. This will usually be designated the project design life. The life span of the facility to be analyzed (a bridge, pavement, or culvert pipe) must be determined, together with the associated maintenance and rehabilitation costs. Another consideration that must be addressed is the realization that individual life spans of components of a system may be quite different. For example, in considering a highway system, the life of a bridge will likely be much longer than the life of a pavement. In considering a building, the life of the structural framework may well be 100 years or more, whereas the life of the roof may be only 20 years.

In per...

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POSITIONING THE CARPET

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

Carpet is heavy. So get help rolling it up and car­rying it. Unroll it in the room where you’ll install it. If you measured and cut properly, the edges of the carpet should curl up about 3 in. at the base of the walls. To adjust the carpet slightly once you’ve unrolled it, lift a corner about waist high. Then, as you stand with one foot on the carpet and one behind it, raise the foot that was on the carpet and, with the side of that foot, kick the carpet sharply. Note: By using the side of your foot, rather than your heel or toe, you’ll be less likely to stretch or tear the carpet.

Many installers don’t cut fill pieces of carpet till they’ve positioned the drop piece and meas­ured from the drop piece to the wall. This allows them to double-check the size of the fill piece(s) needed...

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STEP3 Get to Know Electrical and Mechanical Systems

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

Houses are a lot like automobiles. Both work well if they’re cared for and maintained. In order to maintain your car, you need to know simple things, such as where and how to add oil or brake fluid, how to put air in the tires, and how to check the radiator. Sure, you could have a mechanic take care of this rou­tine maintenance, but it can quickly get expensive—and besides, it’s satisfying to understand the basics of your daily trans­portation. The same goes for a house. There’s no need to call a plumber every time you have a leaky faucet or an electrician every time a circuit breaker needs to be reset. Now that you’ve finished building an affordable house, you can maintain it affordablv with a little basic know-how.

Do electrical checks

For safety’s sake, one of the first thin...

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Croatia

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

In Croatia, the design of pavement structures primarily considers the traffic load. However, if the subgrade soil is frost susceptible and if the hydraulic conditions are unfavourable, the originally designedpavement structure shouldbe additionally tested to determine the impact of freezing. If there is a risk of freezing, certain technical measures have to be planned within the pavement structure or under it in order to avoid the risk of freezing or to significantly lower the impact of freezing. In Croatia the pavement testing concerning freezing is carried out in the following manner.

Based on the soil mechanics characteristics, the pavement materials and sub­grades are grouped into one of the following four groups according to their freezing susceptibility (in compliance with the nation...

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ROUGH-CUTTING CARPET

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

When rough-cutting carpet, it’s helpful if you can unroll it completely. If you don’t have enough room to do so indoors, unroll it on a clean, dry sidewalk or driveway. Sweep the area well before­hand, and make sure there are no oil stains on the ground.

Cut the carpet to the overall room dimensions on your sketch—plus the extra you included for seams and trimming along walls. At this stage, don’t cut out carpet jogs, such as along cabinets and around doorways, because you’ll cut those later, when the carpet is spread out in the floor you’re carpeting. Important: Before making any cuts, note the direction of the carpet pile, espe­cially if you have more than one piece of carpet­ing to cut.

I Carpet Transitions

image1036

Edge tucked with stair tool

image1037

Wood flooring

Tackless strip

Ta...

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CONSIDERATIONS IN LIFE CYCLE COST ANALYSIS

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

Life cycle cost (LCC) is the total cost of ownership of an item, computed over its useful life. To rationally compare the worth of alternative designs, or different ways to do a job (accomplish a function), an LCC analysis is made of each. For those who follow the

VE job plan, a life cycle cost analysis is very easy to perform because the total impact of each recommended VE alternative is an integral part of the total calculations. In reality, an LCC study uses VE techniques to identify all costs related to the subject (functional) area, and VE’s special contribution can be the selection of the best alternatives to be “life cycle-costed.”

LCC is the development of all significant costs of acquiring, owning, and using an item, a system, or a service over a specified length of time...

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TOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOOR

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

Hangerboard Supports Top of Stair

stud of

SuppORTiNG wALL

 

GypsuM wallboard

OR OTHER FiNiSH

wall

 

1x FiNiSH STRiNGER

 

FiNiSH RiSER TRiMS TO STRiNGER.

 

FiNiSH TREAD TRiMS TO STRiNGER.

 

BLOcKING BEHiND wALL FiNiSH

 

2x spacer nailed to studs

carriage nailed to spacer

 

TOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOORTOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOOR

Подпись: TOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOOR Wall Supports Top of Stair CARRIAGE FRAMING/SIDE WALL

Continuously Supported Stair

HEADER AT END OF STAIR

Подпись:Подпись: RISE FROM FINISH FLOOR TO FIRST TREAD EQuALS TYpicAL RISE.Подпись: SuBFLOOR SEE 48-51Подпись: LOCATE FLOOR HEADER TO INTERSECT WITH BOTTOM OF CARRIAGES.TOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOORПодпись: 2X THRUST BLOCK NAILED TO SUBFLOORПодпись: RiSE FROM FINISH FLOOR TO FIRST TREADTOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOORПодпись: BLOCKING TO SUPPORT STAIR Подпись: BLOCK BETWEEN FLOOR JOISTS IF BASE OF CARRIAGE DOES NOT FALL ON Tip OF JOIST.rough

OpENING FOR

multiple

FLIGHTS OF STAIRS

JOIST HANGER

TOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOOR TOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOOR

supports central carriage

TOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOORПодпись: INTERIOR FINISH WALLTOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOORHOuSED STRINGER OF pREFABRicATED STAIR

5/8-IN. TO 1-IN.

shim accommodates thickness OF FINISH WALL

ATTAcH STRINGER WITH 16D NAILS THROuGH SHIMS INTO FRAMING

WALL FRAMING

Подпись: Section at Side WallSection at Top of Stair

PREFABRICATED STAIR

Подпись: ATTACHMENT OF TREADS TO CARRiAGE MAY BE WiTH:

WOODEN cLEATS

Подпись:TOP OF CARRIAGE/FLOORscrewed TO Structural cARRIAGE;

OR

met...

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COST MODEL

Posted by on 26/ 11/ 15

A cost model is a diagrammatic form of a cost estimate. It is used as a tool in the VE process to provide increased visibility of the cost of the various elements of a system or an item, to aid in identifying the item’s subelements most suitable for cost reduction attention, and to establish cost targets for comparison of alternative approaches. It also helps define the worth of an element.

A cost model is an expression of the cost distribution associated with a specific item, product, or system. In industry, it is often referred to as a work breakdown structure. A cost model is developed by first identifying assembly, subassembly, and major compo­nent elements or centers of work. From this, the model can be expanded to include a parts breakdown at more minute levels, as necessary...

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