Blog Archives

Preventing Condensation

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

The only other special building consideration, after the foundation and bra­cing, for a little house on wheels is condensation. Unless they are insulated, sealed, and vented properly, small spaces are prone to a lot of condensation. It simply takes less time to fill the air in a small enclosure with the moisture caused by bathing, breathing, laundry, and cooking than it does to fill a large one. If that warm, moist air comes into contact with a sufficiently cold surface, it will condense into water. That is the reason that cars come equipped with defrosters, and that small houses need to be equipped with the right insula­tion, vapor retarders, and ventilation.

I used expanded polystyrene foam board as insulation with expanding spray foam in the seams for two basic reasons: 1) It takes a ...

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The Greek world in the classical age

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

With the disappearance of the Mycenaen civilization, Greece enters its dark age. For no less than four centuries writing is forgotten, not to be rediscovered until the 7th century BC with the adoption of the Phoenician alphabet of the 10th century BC. In the 5th cen­tury BC, Greek history is punctuated by the revolts of the Ionian cities against the yoke of the Persian Achaeminides; then by the Median wars with two Persian invasions in continental Greece; then by internal struggles (the Peloponnesian war). Travelers, sometimes imbued with a sense of Hellenic superiority, but also sometimes remarkably open and observing like Herodotus, open the eyes of the Greeks to Egypt and the Orient.

These “tourists” were not all peaceful; Xenophon and the successful of the Ten Thousand may have inspir...

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REMOVING DOORS AND TRIM

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

Doors, hardware, and trim (casing) make a house distinctive. Remove and store them till you are done with tearout and rough framing. Remove doors and hardware worth saving and clearly mark them “Salvage” so they don’t get tossed. Most of the time, it’s easy to pop hinge pins and lift doors out of the frame. But if that’s not possi­ble and hinge leaves are encrusted with paint, use an old screwdriver or a chisel good for little else to chip away paint from the screw heads. Or apply paint stripper.

To gently remove trim, first run a stiff putty knife between the frame and the trim to break the paint seal. Don’t use anything with a sharp blade, because a sharp blade will slice into the trim. Then gently tap a flat 8-in...

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Design Considerations for Rafters and Girders

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

As we have seen, the posts and the planks are the strong components of the post and beam (post and girder) and plank and beam (plank and joist or rafter) systems. The use of posts in scale with the girders will assure post strength. Two – by-six tongue-in-groove planking is an excellent and pleasing floor and roof system, although you should know that the true finished dimensions of this material is actually 1.V2 inches thick by about 5Vs inches wide. With frequent joists or rafters, you can easily use the lighter and less expensive “five-quarter” (full one – inch) by six-inch (<yV8 inch) tongue-in-groove planking. In reality, you can use three-quarter-inch plywood, even with an earth roof, as we did at our library...

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Estimation of Distributional Parameters

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

For a chosen distributional model, its shape and position are completely defined by the associated parameters. By referring to Eq. (3.5), determination of the quantile also requires knowing the values of the parameters в.

There are several methods for estimating the parameters of a distribution model on the basis of available data. In frequency analysis, the commonly used parameter-estimation procedures are the method of maximum likelihood and the methods of moments (Kite, 1988; Haan, 1977). Other methods, such as method of maximum entropy (Li et al., 1986), have been applied.

3.6.1 Maximum-likelihood (ML) method

This method determines the values of parameters of a distribution model that maximizes the likelihood of the sample data at hand...

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FASTENERS AND HARDWARE

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

Carpenters don’t just use wood, nails, and screws for building. Many other types of metal hardware go into a house as well, and knowing what to use and when to use it can be baffling. Fortunately, most of the time we use only a few varieties on a regular basis. Here’s an overview of the basic types of hardware used by carpenters.

Nails

Nails are the most common fasteners used by carpenters because they are inexpensive and quick and easy to use.

Nail sizes When choosing nails, you have to think about the size you need, whether it’s for interior or exterior use, and how many you’ll need.

Nail sizes are dictated by the penny­weight system (abbreviated with a "d")...

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Plumb the exterior walls first

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

Hold a level or plumb stick in a corner to see whether the bubble is centered in the vial. If not, the wall must be moved laterally. Sometimes a wall can be moved a bit with a bodily shove. If you can push the wall plumb, install a temporary 2x diagonal brace to keep it that way (see the photo above). If you need
more force, use a push stick, as shown in the top photo on the facing page. Cut a push stick from a 1×4 or 1×6, making it about 116 in. long for an 8 ft. wall. Use the natural flex in the push stick to exert force on the wall. Position the top of the stick under the top plate and against a stud. Diagonally extend the stick down to the floor, as parallel as possible to the wall. Bend the stick down, holding the bottom end against the floor with one foot...

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CONTAINING THE MESS

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

Managing mess is crucial to a successful renova­tion. Torn-out plaster and drywall are nasty stuff to handle and worse to breathe. The dust gets everywhere, and the volume of debris is prodi­gious. If you’re sloppy as you renovate, you’ll pay later: Finish floors are particularly vulnerable to grit that isn’t swept up and to nails that go astray. Lath with nails sticking out creates a hazardous workplace. Heed these tips and your life will be a lot easier:

► Cover floors with heavy plastic, thick floor-covering cardboard (it comes in rolls), or hardboard panels duct-taped together.

► Isolate the demolition area by duct-taping clear plastic over door and window openings to contain the dust. Clear plastic lets in light.

► Clean up as you tear out.

► When demolishing outside, drape heavy ta...

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GETTING READY FOR DEMOLITION

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

Living in a house that’s being torn apart and ren­ovated isn’t fun, and it can be murder on mar­riages. But you can minimize the stress caused by disruption, noise, confusion, and dirt. If you don’t need to be around the house during the demolition, don’t be; that’s a good time to take a vacation. If you just bought the house and can afford the expense of keeping your old place until the demo is done, do so. But if you’re there for the duration, create a clean room—usually a bedroom—in which you do no work at all.

Isolate the zone by covering the doorway with sheet plastic held up by duct tape or by installing temporary plastic walls with zippered doorways such as the Zipwall System®. Situate your Shangri-La upstairs if you can, because dust set­tles downward...

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Making Sense of Housewraps

Posted by on 16/ 11/ 15

■ BY FERNANDO PAGES RUIZ

W

hen I started building houses nearly 30 years ago, we lapped lightweight #15 asphalt – or rosin-impregnated building paper directly over the stud framing before installing the siding. Nowadays, concerns with energy-efficient construction and moisture infiltration have focused a great deal of attention and no small amount of high-tech chemistry on this thin layer of paper. Although some builders still advocate the felt-paper barriers of yesteryear, most have switched to plastic-based housewraps, products designed to stop air infiltration and wind-driven rain while allowing water vapor to evaporate—a great concept.

However, like everything high-tech, new solutions come with new problems...

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