Blog Archives

GETTING READY TO INSPECT

Before conducting any inspections, get a tetanus shot. After all, you’ll be poking around basements and attics that may have protruding nails and splinters that could break your skin and cause

EXTERIOR

Mortar chimney cap

Flashing Ridge

Valley flashing

Plumbing vent

Gable end

Louver

Corner board Splashboard

Подпись:

infections. Dress the part. Wear sneakers or crepe-soled shoes if you’ll be on ladders or roofs; if you’re crawling around basements and the like, wear heavy-soled boots, and old clothes. Carry a pad of graph paper and a pencil, a flashlight, a pocketknife, a spirit level, and binoculars.

Conduct your inspection alone. You’re after facts, not the opinions of an owner or real estate agent who’s eager to sell...

read more

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

This new edition of the handbook has been updated throughout to reflect continuing changes and improvements in design trends and specifications. The chapter on bridge engineering has been revised to provide more comprehensive treatment of this important topic. The chapter on culverts and drainage provides updated hydraulic design information as well as the latest approved methods for the structural design of concrete, steel, and plastic pipes. The chapter on retaining walls has been expanded with new information on mechanically stabilized earth walls, including a section on bridge abutment walls...

read more

THE SMALL HOUSE BOOK

I live in a house smaller than some people’s closets. My decision to inhabit just 90 square feet arose from some concerns I had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment and because I just do not want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. My house meets all of my do­mestic needs without demanding much in return. The simple, slower lifestyle it affords is a luxury for which I am continually grateful.

If smaller, well-designed houses aren’t the wave of the future, they certainly are a significant ripple on that wave. On these pages, I explain why. I also share my personal experiences with living in diminutive homes, meeting codes, and designing small spaces that work.

This book is a revised edition of the one I published several years ago under the same tit...

read more

Acknowledgements

The job of chairman is not always easy, but in the case of WATMOVE it has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with a wonderful team of experts drawn from engineering, environmental and geological backgrounds across 18 European coun­tries. Their hard work can be seen in the pages that follow. Every member of the WATMOVE project has contributed in some way or another. Most have authored and/or edited parts of the text and you will find the names of the chapter co-ordinator and the contributing authors at the head of each chapter. Many have provided raw in­formation. Some have contributed nationally developed research findings. All have entered into developing a mutual understanding and appreciation of each other’s viewpoints...

read more

TRAINING YOUR EYeI

The house shown on the facing page says much to a trained eye. Though nicely crafted, it’s show­ing its age. Despite the gleaming paint on the parts that can be easily reached, this house’s upper floors haven’t been painted in 20 years or 30 years, suggesting that the parts you can’t see probably weren’t maintained either. The fretwork above the porch is splintering, and the green shingle demi-roof over the living room window has worn through to the wood shingles under­neath. Chances are this small roof isn’t flashed where it abuts the siding, so water may have gotten behind and soaked the framing.

Still, it’s a charmer, and it’s got great bones. Skilled carpenters were needed to frame such a complex roof, so there’s probably good workman­ship throughout the house, which is old enough

t...

read more

Acknowledgements

This work of Pierre-Louis Viollet on the history of hydraulics in the ancient civilizations, more generally in the civilizations of the classical era and the Middle Ages, is important for several reasons.

First of all, the author is the first scholar who has attempted, with success, a com­plete synthesis of techniques in hydraulics, from the birth of agriculture in Syria – Palestine up to the beginning of the modern period. He gives due consideration to the role of the Mediterranean world and the Near and Far East, as well as the Indian and Chinese worlds, as precursors to this development of techniques...

read more

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF SMA

SMA owes its fast and wide-spreading growth to some unquestionable merits such as the following:

• Long working lifetime (service life)

• High resistance to deformation due to the high-coarse aggregate content and strong skeleton of interlocked aggregate particles

• Increased fatigue life as a result of the higher content of binder

• Increased in-service traffic wear resistance because of the presence of hard coarse aggregate grains,

• Good macrotexture of the layer surface and decreased water spray gener­ated by traffic on wet surfaces

• Good noise-reduction properties

However, despite its strong points, the following drawbacks also exist:

• Low initial skid resistance unless a fine aggregate gritting or a crushed sand finish is applied

• High cost of the mix compared with ...

read more

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

Improvements in highway design methods and practices are reflected in this Third Edition of the handbook. The chapter on environmental issues has been updated throughout in view of ever-evolving regulations in that area. The chapter on highway design includes information from the latest AASHTO “Green Book.” The trend to replace bridges with spans up to about 60 ft (18 m) with stiffened special long-span corrugated steel and precast concrete drainage structures is documented in the chapter on culverts. The chapter on safety systems shows the trend to use median barriers over wider median widths than in the past. Metric units have been added throughout the text and in tables and figures wherever feasible.

The reader is cautioned that independent professional judgment must be exercised w...

read more

Table of Contents

 

• • •

viii

 

CHAPTER 3:

Tools

Tool Safety Tools to Own Tools to Rent

 

34

 

CHAPTER 1:

Inspecting a House

 

34

image19

 

The Roof 7

House Exterior 9

Interiors 11

Mechanical Systems 15

Estimating Project

Difficulty and Costs 17

 

CHAPTER 4:

Building Materials

 

CHAPTER 2:

Planning

 

Creating a Home That Suits You 19

Documenting What’s There 21

Design Constraints 24

From Preliminary Designs

to Working Drawings 25

An Overview of Renovation 28

Case Histories 29

 

image16image17image18image20

image36 Inspecting

a House

With a little practice, you can train your eye to see both a house’s potential and its pitfalls.

Подпись: For Nesters: Keeping Emotions in Check When shopping for a house, it's hard to keep emotions in check. Unless you're buying a property solely as an investment, you're probably looking for a nest. If you're like most of us, you'll imagine yourself living there, surrounded by friends and family. Those warm feelings are all understandable human stuff but probably not the best frame of mind for making one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. By all means, listen to your feelings; just don't lead with them. Look at a lot of houses. Read this chapter to get an overview of house systems and learn building lingo. Then scrutinize every house you enter—whether it's for sale or not. Be cold eyed: Look beyond the lace curtains and the fresh paint. Look for problems and try to figure out what's causing them. Then when you begin shopping "for real" and find that certain place that wins your heart, you won't lose your head. Also, if you like a house, check out the neighborhood, and talk to neighbors to see what they are like. Ask about traffic, schools, shopping, city services, and crime. This will help you imagine what living there will be like.

Every house f you know

where to look, you can see how skillfully the house was built or remodeled, how well it ...

read more

Water Engineering in Ancient Civilizations. 5,000 Years of History

Pierre-Louis Viollet published the first edition of his book as I was finishing my academ­ic career at the University of Iowa. I decided then that a challenging first project in my new life would be to spend a few months translating his work into English. A few months curiously inflated to nearly three years as other projects caught my attention, and meanwhile Pierre-Louis published the second edition of his book. I am pleased to have been able to complete this most enjoyable and educational task, and thank Pierre-Louis for having given me the opportunity to make his wonderful work available to a wider audience.

To the extent possible, I have attempted to preserve Pierre-Louis’ organization of material at the paragraph level...

read more