Blog Archives

Installing a Skylight

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

By letting in light, skylights can transform a room, making a bathroom seem larger, a kitchen warm and cheery, or a bedroom a place to watch the stars. And because of marked improvements in flashing and quality control, skylights can now
be installed without fear of leaks from outside or excessive heat loss from within.

Where you put the skylight is partly aesthetic and partly structural. If it’s a kitchen unit, catch the morning sun by facing it east. If placed in a hallway, even a small unit provides enough light to let you do without electric light during the day. In a bathroom, privacy is the main issue. Avoid skylights in south-facing roofs unless you’re designing for passive solar gain; such skylights can roast you in the summer...

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Concrete Finishes

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

An exposed concrete slab can be an attractive finished flooring surface. Usually when a slab will be used as a finished floor it must be trow­eled to a smoother finish than a slab slated for use as a subfloor. Smooth-surfaced concrete re­quires the expertise of an experienced trades – person. When it is first poured, the concrete will have more water than it needs to complete the setting reaction. Some of this extra water will come to the surface. If the concrete is fin­ished before the extra water has fully migrated upward, it will become trapped in the upper layer of the concrete, resulting in a weakened surface that will release concrete dust into the indoor environment. The window of oppor­tunity for properly smoothing the surface is short...

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TYPES OF VENTS

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

Types of vents are numerous. Do you know what an island vent is? How much do you know about relief vents? Depending upon your level of knowledge in the plumbing trade, you might be aware of all types of vents, but not all read­ers are. Before we jump into sizing examples, I’d like to make sure that all of my readers are aware of the various types of vents. With this in mind, I will provide a number of vent drawings for readers to devour. So, let’s get on with the visual examples of various vent types.

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TYPES OF VENTS

TYPES OF VENTS

vent

 

Оси It Vert

 

Drain*

 
TYPES OF VENTS

TYPES OF VENTS

TYPES OF VENTS

Vert

 

Branch Vent

 

<=Vent

 

Vent

 

Drain

 

Drain

 
TYPES OF VENTS

TYPES OF VENTS

TYPES OF VENTS

TYPES OF VENTS

TYPES OF VENTS

TYPES OF VENTS

L*Qend

 

Vent

 

D...

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REPLACING GLASS

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

Wear goggles and gloves when replacing dam­aged glass and dried-out putty (glazing com­pound). Although a glazier’s chisel will easily remove most putty, use paint stripper or an elec­tric putty softener to dislodge the tough stuff. (But do not use chemical stripper and heat at the same time.) Because direct heat can crack glass, cover nearby panes with a piece of hardboard wrapped in protective foil. After removing the old putty, glazier’s points, and damaged glass, sand the frame lightly, using 180-grit sandpaper.

Prepping the frame. Before applying new glaz­ing compound to weathered sashes, brush the exposed wood with a sealant or a half-and-half mixture of alcohol (or turpentine) and linseed oil. This will prevent the dry wood from sucking the oil out of the fresh putty...

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Stop the Air Leaks, Stop Losing Heat

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

Air leaks can account for 30% of a home’s energy loss, so it pays to seek out and seal every penetration between the living (condi­tioned) space and the attic (unconditioned) space before adding insulation. Don’t leave any batt unturned when hunting down air leaks. Dust deposits in leaking air stain in­sulation brown or black, so you can start by looking for discoloration in the insulation.

I treat the drywall ceiling as the air barrier and seal all penetrations, joints, and holes. The open framing for soffits and chases is a highway for air leaks from wall cavities into the attic. Another gaping hole is the attic – stair bulkhead (see the sidebar on p. 53).

I install an insulated and gasketed cover for the attic access panel or pull-down stair­way...

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ON THE JOB SITE

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

There’s more to carpentry than the ability to drive a nail with a hammer.

A big part of being a good carpenter is knowing not only the names of tools and how to use them but also the parts and materials that make up a house. Whether it’s a 6d finish nail or a frieze board, you need to know what your co­workers are talking about.

In this chapter, I’ll discuss briefly the parts of a typical house and how they go together. Then I’ll talk about the various materials (lumber, fasteners, hardware) that make up a house. Knowing the parts and how they go together will help you read plans and learn howto estimate and order the amount of materials needed.

THE HOUSE STRUCTURE

When I was a child, I thought that houses just were. They existed like the hills, the trees, and the wind...

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VENT SYSTEM CALCULATIONS

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

T

Подпись:he calculations of vent systems are not very difficult to understand. There are sizing tables that you can use to compute pipe sizes. Plumbers need to understand the types of vents and master plumbers must be able to assign pipe sizes to them. The task is important, but not really very difficult for experienced plumbers. In many cases, engineers and architects are the ones who design plumbing systems. This is okay. But, it is not always the case. Hav­ing the ability to size a vent system is something that is basically a requirement for a master plumber’s license. Of course, there are many types of plumbing vents. We can talk about dry vents, wet vents, branch vents, yoke vents, and lots of other types of vents...

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Permeability of Cracked Pavements

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

In distressed pavements a large proportion of ingress may be through cracks, even if the intact material is relatively impermeable. It has been suggested that there are four factors which influence infiltration rates in cracked asphaltic pavements (Ridgeway, 1976):

• the water-carrying capacity of the crack or joint,

• the amount of cracking present,

• the area that drains to each crack, and

• the intensity and duration of the rainfall.

The first of these is of particular concern in this chapter and is addressed in Sec­tion 5.4.2.

5.2 Measuring Permeability

5.4.1 Laboratory Permeability Determination

Both constant head and falling head laboratory methods are available to determine the permeability of asphaltic cores, often with sides sealed using a membrane and/or a confining pres...

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Permeability of Intact Asphaltic Mixtures

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

The permeability of asphaltic mixtures is controlled by the size and interconnec­tion of the void space. To illustrate this, some recent data is given in Fig. 5.1. This presents results for various hot-mix asphaltic specimens as described in Table 5.1. Figure 5.1 shows that permeability values of intact asphaltic materials are typically in the 0 to 40 x 10-6 m/s range. It is apparent that permeability is insignificant at less than approximately 7% air voids but can then rapidly increase. Probably this is be­cause interconnection of voids becomes possible at these high air void ratios and be­cause mixtures that exhibit such air void proportions may be inadequately prepared leaving permeable fissures in the material’s structure. Other authors (Zube, 1962; Brown et al...

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Shimming Windows

Posted by on 15/ 11/ 15

ALL window frames must be shimmed securely. Pairs of tapered shims allow you to plumb and level window frames in out-of-square openings; supporting frame jambs and preventing deflection even as you drive screws or nails through them.

Ideally, you should shim each side jamb within 4 in. of its top and bottom corners, and every 16 in. in between—a minimum of three shim points along each jamb.

If the rough sill is level and uniformly supports the windowsill, don’t shim underneath it. Window makers disagree about shimming the head jamb. Some recommend that you shim head jambs at the same intervals as side jambs; others suggest not shimming at all because if the header sags, shims beneath it could deflect the head jamb...

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