Blog Archives

Installing Posts

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

From the plan, we know that the posts should be six feet (1.8 meters) long. With the eight-by-ten girders on top of them, this gives six foot ten inches of clearance to the underside of the rafters at the lowest point. And it is seven foot eight inches to the ceiling, so there is a cozy, but not oppressive, feeling of space in the room. The rafter clearance is a few inches greater near the house.

Jaki and I were joined by family and interested friends for the remainder of the framing and roofing projects, including sons Darin and Rohan, Anna Milburn-Lauer, Bruce Kilgore, Diane Lukaris, and Stephanie Bayan. Work became fun with this rotating crew, a huge advantage.

I cut eight-by-eights with a chainsaw...

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OIL-BASED VERSUS LATEX

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

Whether you’re painting exterior or interior sur­faces, latex paints are probably the best bet. The next sections explain why.

Two essential definitions.

► Oil-based paints and stains may contain linseed oil, tung oil, or synthetic resins called alkyds. Because alkyds are the most common "oil" in oil-based paints, professionals often use the term alkyd instead of oil-based. How­ever, oil-based is the broader, more inclusive term for products that must be thinned and cleaned up with solvents. Today only about 10 percent of house-paint sales are oil based.

► Latex paints and stains are water based and thus can be thinned with water and cleaned up with warm, soapy water. In recent

LANGUAGE: PRIMERS, PAINTS, AND STAINS

An important base coat, primer is applied to substrates such as raw wood,...

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Bau-Biology Standard SBM 2008: A Unique Indoor Environmental Assessment Tool

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

The professional Bau-Biology Standard SBM 2008 provides a uniqueand comprehensiveassessment and evaluation system consisting of over30 indoor environmental parameters. The Standard uses an unorthodox approach because it is not based on single threshold limit values derived from medical dose responses. Instead, the Standard uses a gra­dient scale with four different levels based on the concentration levels normally encountered in na­
ture or non-problem buildings. The evaluation cri­teria are determined by the deviations from this normal state and are expressed as categories of change. The categories are: normal environment, slight change, significant change, and severe change...

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Different Types of Management

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

There are many ways to manage framers. It is important to know the different management styles and the effects that they have on employees, so that you can create the most productive framing crew. There are three main styles of management: autocratic, bureaucratic, and democratic.

Autocratic: The lead framer has the decision­making power and does not delegate authority.

Discussion and suggestions are generally not permitted. This style sometimes motivates framers to please the lead framer instead of to improve productivity. It also discourages framers from finding creative solutions.

Bureaucratic: The lead framer enforces established rules, regulations, policies, and procedures to run the crew. This style does not allow for creative The autocratic lead framer

solutions.

Democratic: Framer...

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Painting

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

Подпись: Sometimes art doesn't hang on a wall: It is the wall.

Painting is probably the most popular reno­vation task because its effects are immediate and striking. For not much money or effort, you can get a complete change of scenery and heart. If you own a few basic tools, your costs will be lim­ited to the few tools you’ll need to rent and the paint you choose.

This chapter covers both exterior and interior painting, including trim, doors, windows, and cabinets. For information on stripping and fin­ishing floors, refer to Chapter 20.

Essential Prep Work

If you want painted surfaces to look good and last long, the substrate—such as drywall, plaster, and wood—must be stable and dry before you start. Thus prep work (preparing surfaces) is crucial for a good paint job, vital advice that recurs in this chapter...

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Asthma from a Chlorinated Swimming Pool

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

When B. W. was a five-year-old boy he came with his parents to consult with Dr. Elliott about his asthma. The most recent flare-up had occurred during a school field trip to the local swim­ming pool. Upon further questioning, a pattern emerged revealing a relationship between water and the triggering of the child’s asthma. Dr. Elliott suspected that the chlorine in the water was act­ing as an irritant to his airways. She suggested that thefamily swim in a public pool that had switched to ozone for water purification. In that particular pool, chlorine was used as a supplement, but only in very small quantities. They were happy to note that their son could now swim comfortably with his friends without difficulty breathing...

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The destiny of Shi Huangdi, first emperor

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

The eulogy of Shi Huangdi (formerly Zheng) is engraved on the gates of the city of Jishi. It recognizes not only his destiny as a conquerer, but also his contributions to hydraulic infrastructure:

“He took down the inner and outer fortifications,

“He opened the watercourses and erected dikes,

“He leveled the dangerous gorges.”[405]

His overall influence was clearly civilizing, and he put into place the administrative structures that made the unification of China inevitable. He is harshly treated by Chinese historians, however. Indeed, in a conflict with the scholars in 213 BC he massacres a number of them and burns their writings.

Shi Huangdi’s famous army of 6,000 men in terra-cotta is buried in his monumen­tal tomb near his capital Xianyang, about thirty kilometers from the prese...

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Design Methodology for MSE Walls

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

Figure 8.32 shows the general design equations given by AASHTO for MSE walls with a horizontal backslope and a traffic surcharge. Included is the calculation of safety factors for overturning and sliding, and the maximum base pressure. Inclusion of a traffic sur­charge is required only in those instances where traffic loadings will actually surcharge the wall. Separate surcharge diagrams are applied for the two conditions shown. For sta­bility of the mass, the traffic surcharge should act at the end of the reinforced zone so as to eliminate the “stabilizing” effect of this loading. However, for purposes of determining horizontal stresses, which are increased as a result of this surcharge, the loading is

Assumed for bearing capacity and overall (global) stability comps.

Assumed for ov...

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Reinforced Fill Materials

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

Well-graded, free-draining granular material is usually specified for permanent-placed soil reinforced walls. Lower-quality materials are sometimes used in reinforced embank­ment slopes. Experience with cohesive backfills is limited. However, low strength, creep properties, and poor drainage characteristics make their use undesirable. Some current research is focused on the use of cohesive soil backfills.

The following gradation and plasticity limits have been established by the AASHTO-AGC-ARTBA* Joint Committee Task Force 27 for mechanically stabilized embankments:

U. S. sieve size

Percent passing

4 in (100 mm)

100

No. 40

0-60

No. 200

0-15

Plasticity index (PI) less than 6 percent

It it recommended that the maximum particle size be limited to /4 in (19...

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FALSE BEAMS

Posted by on 24/ 11/ 15

There are several ways to construct false beams. Two are shown here. The first is to make a ladder frame (imagine a ladder set horizontally) clad with finish boards. This type, shown below, runs perpendicular to ceiling joists so its top board can be screwed to them; end-nail "ladder rungs” to the top board before installing it. Once the top board is secured to joists, attach the bottom board and then the sides. A power nailer is a must because the assembly is shaky till all the boards are on.

The second type, shown in the photos on the facing page, is more correctly called a box beam because there’s nothing false about the steel I-beam it’s disguising. You can order I-beams with bolt holes predrilled, making it easy to bolt plywood nailing blocks to them...

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