Blog Archives

STEP 9 Shingle the Roof

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

Back in the days when 1 was a roof shingler, I hardly ever saw asphalt or fiberglass (compo­sition) shingles. Being a shingler meant work­ing with wood shingles. Now in most parts of the country, I see wood shingles used more often on the sides of buildings than on roofs. Composition shingles are more popular because they are faster to install and more resistant to lire.

Give some thought as to the color and style ol the shmules that vou want on your house. Л new stvlc of architectural shingle that casts a

V О

shadow has become popular. Light-colored

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HOW TO ORDER VINYL SIDING

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

Horizontal siding panels are usually 12 ft. 6 in. long, though some companies make longer panels. Siding is sold by the square, or the number of panels needed to cover 100 sq. ft. To estimate how many squares of siding you’ll need, calculate how many square feet of wall surface you need to cover, add 10 percent for waste, then divide by 100.

Order enough starter strips to go around the entire building; these typically come in 10-ft. lengths. You’ll also need trim for each inside and outside corner. You can order trim pieces that are the same color as the siding or use a contrasting color, as we did on this house.

If the windows didn’t come with an integral J-channel, or chan­nel surround, then order enough J-channel to cover the top and the sides of all the windows and doors...

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STEP 1 INSTALL THE REMAINING SHEATHING AND THE ROUGH EXTERIOR TRIM

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

STEP 1 INSTALL THE REMAINING SHEATHING AND THE ROUGH EXTERIOR TRIMПодпись: Furring strips keep the siding away from the wall. This creates a drainage plane helping to keep both siding and OSB sheathing dry.Straight courses of finish siding and sharp-looking exterior trim depend on good prep work on the sheathing and exterior trim surfaces that will be covered with aluminum cladding. A good deal of wall sheathing will already be done at this stage. Now that finish siding is about to be installed, it’s important to make sure the wall surfaces are flat and free of gaps that will cause dips or irregularities when the vinyl is installed. When installing foam sheathing, you can sheathe right over window and door openings, then use a handsaw to cut out the foam from the opening (see the photo on p. 109).

Подпись:

If necessary, install wood sheathing or foam board over any unsheathed areas on which siding will be installed. These areas include the rim joist and headers above windows and doors...

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Roofing

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

A well-sloped roof with a sizable overhang is preferable to a flat or low-sloped roof for the following reasons:

The roof overhang plays an important role in protecting the walls and foundation from water damage by directing water away from the building.

Inert roofing materials are readily avail­able and are standard products for sloped – roof construction, while they are an exception in flat or low-sloped residential roof construc­tion.

Sloped roofs shed water quickly, whereas water will puddle and linger on poorly con­structed flat roofs.

Flat roofs have a higher failure rate and shorter life expectancy, which may lead to devastating mold problems.

Overhangs can be sized to suit the solar conditions in your region, providing shade in the summer while allowing maximum heat entry in the...

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The great aqueducts of Roman cities

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

Water is at the very top of the scale of values of Roman civilization. Water “not only services and satisfies the needs of the public, but also satisfies their pleasures.”[213] Numerous public fountains flow constantly in the city of Rome. Some individual users are granted a special concession for drawing water. Under the Republic this service is paid for, and it later becomes a free service granted by the Emperor. But the thermal baths, becoming widespread from the period of Augustus, are the most important water users.

The great aqueducts of Roman cities

Figure 6.2 A Roman public fountain at Ostia (photo by the author)

When water is in short supply, basic needs (e. g. public fountains, and flushing of sewers to maintain hygiene) must take priority over pleasure use...

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FIBER-CEMENT SIDING

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

Fiber-cement siding has been around a long time. The first house I worked on in the late 1940s was covered with fiber – cement siding. It was a bit brittle but just about indestruc­tible. It fell out of favor because it was hard to work with and full of asbestos, whereas high-quality wood siding was inexpensive and becoming widely available.

Times have changed. Today, wood siding is expensive and often lacking in quality. Modern fiber-cement siding, on the other hand, contains no asbestos and offers all of its old ad­vantages and a few new ones, too. I like it because it is simple to install, holds paint well, is fire resistant, is easy to trim out, and won’t decay, rust, or mold...

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SAFETY SYSTEMS

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

Roger L. Brockenbrough, PE.

President

R. L. Brockenbrough & Associates, Inc.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

One of the most important and most challenging aspects of highway engineering is designing to enhance life safety. This chapter focuses on roadside safety, which encompasses the safety of vehicles that leave the roadway and shoulder.

This material is based largely on the publication of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Roadside Design Guide (2002, 2006), which was developed by the AASHTO Subcommittee on Design, Task Force for Roadside Safety, currently under the chairmanship of Keith A. Cota...

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Typical hazard functions

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

The failure rate for many systems or components has a bathtub shape, as shown in Fig. 5.8, in that three distinct life periods can be identified (Harr, 1987). They are the early-life (or infant mortality) period, useful-life period, and wear-out – life period. Kapur (1989b) differentiates three types of failure that result in the bathtub type of total failure rate, as indicated in Fig. 5.8. It is interesting to note that the failure rate in the early-life period is higher than during the useful-life period and has a decreasing trend with age. In this early-life period, quality failures and stress-related failures dominate, with little contribution from wear-out failures...

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Moist Soil in Crawl Space Causes Ceiling Damage

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

A 15-year-old single-family residence was pur­chased for year-round occupancy in a popular ski area of Idaho. During the first spring in the home, thefamily noted water dripping from the ceiling of the kitchen. The dripping continued fora couple of days, and then the condition appeared to resolve itself. The family forgot about the problem until it recurred during the spring of the second year. This time they noted a strong, musty odor developing inside the kitchen cabinets. Once again the drip­ping soon stopped, but a few days later mold be­came visible on the kitchen ceiling and inside the upper and lower cabinetry.

Investigation revealed that the soil in the

crawlspace under the kitchen was damp...

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Pulling Layout from a Corner (16" O. C.)

Posted by on 19/ 11/ 15

Pull layout so that sheathing will break in the middle of a joist/stud. Hook tape on the outside edge of rim joist/plate. Pull and locate 16" on tape, then measure back half the thickness of joist/stud (%" for 2x stock) and mark. This puts the layout mark on 15W. Make an X on the correct side of the layout mark to show the location of the joist/stud.

Continue marking in this way for each subsequent 16" space, thus: 3Ш", 47W, 63W, etc. Finish by drawing square lines through the mark.

The reason for subtracting the %" is that the 4′ x 8′ sheathing will be installed from the outside edge of the rim joist/plate, not from the center.

16" O. C. 16" O. C. 16" O. C. 16" O. C,

15У4" , 3Ш" , 47%" , 63%

4′ x 8′ Sheathing

Rim joist/plate

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