Blog Archives

Guidelines for Fastening Sign Panels to Single-Support Systems

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

The following guidelines should be followed for fastening sign panels to supports:

• Bolts smaller than %s in (8 mm) should not be used to fasten sign panels to the support. The bolts must be long enough to provide for bolt extension beyond the fastening nut.

• Carriage bolts, or hex bolts with washers between the hex head and sign face, should be used to reduce the possibility that the sign might separate from the support upon impact. Flat washers and lock washers should be used at the nut end of the bolt.

• The bolts must be tightened sufficiently to prevent loosening, but not so tight as to distort the sign face.

LOCK WASHER HEX NUT

RECTANQULAR HEAD BOLT

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Let the House Breathe a Bit

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

When mechanical systems are sized for a home, they’re often designed with the mind-set that the house is never open to the elements. I find this is rarely true; in fact, most of my clients very much want to connect their home’s indoor and outdoor spaces. Doesn’t it make more sense, then, to

I Overhangs

design houses to work in partnership with their environment rather than to function with no regard for it?

To understand best what ventilation can do for your home, you need to remember two simple principles: One is that heat al­ways moves from hot areas to cold areas, and the other is that warm air rises.

If you are designing a new house, spend some time on the site, learn where the breezes come from, and use that informa­tion when locating the windows on your house...

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FASTENING SIGN BLANKS ON SINGLE-SIGN-SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

Regardless of the type of support that is being used, there are three general rules that must be followed: (1) the top of the sign should be 9 ft (2750 mm) above ground level to reduce the possibility of intrusion into the passenger compartment upon impact, (2) the retaining bolts must be snug but not so tight as to distort the sign face, and (3) the bolts must be of the proper size and length to prevent the sign blank from separating from the support.

FIGURE 7.37 Improper installation of slip base anchor piece.

Fastening to a U-Channel. Signs are normally mounted on the front face of the U-channel. This is the widest face of the U-channel...

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Slip Base Designs

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

Slip base designs for single sign supports provide the opportunity to use stronger sign supports than would be possible without the slip base design. The purpose of the slip base is to provide a separation plane between the sign support and the anchor system. The two pieces are fastened together with bolts that must be properly tightened, or

Post type and diameter

Embedment type and depth

Comments

Standard (schedule 40) steel pipe Less than 2 in

Direct burial to at least 42

An earth plate measuring 4 in X

(51 mm) ID

in (1070 mm)

12 in X 0.25 in (100 mm X

Equal to or less than

Commercial anchor system

300 mm X 6 mm) must be bolted or welded to the buried end to prevent rotation. Follow manufacturer’s

2 in (51 mm) ID

such as Poz-Loc

instructions.
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Variance-Reduction Techniques

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

Since Monte Carlo simulation is a sampling procedure, results obtained from the procedure inevitably involve sampling errors, which decrease as the sam­ple size increases. Increasing the sample size to achieve a higher precision generally means an increase in computer time for generating random vari­ates and data processing. Variance-reduction techniques aim at obtaining high accuracy for the Monte Carlo simulation results without having to substan­tially increase the sample size. Hence variance-reduction techniques enhance the statistical efficiency of the Monte Carlo simulation. When applied properly, variance-reduction techniques sometimes can make the difference between an impossible, expensive, simulation study and a feasible, useful one.

Variance-reduction techniques attempt to re...

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LUSBY

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

The Lusby has a full bathroom, a kichen (sink, stovetop, refrig­erator), a fireplace, two closets, ample shelving, a downstairs bed­room and two lofts for additional sleeping and/or storage. The great room has a high, cathedral ceiling. In addition to the 117 square feet listed, this house contains more than 60 square feet in the lofts.

" u

Square feet: 117

House width: 8’

House length: 19’

Road Height: 13’-5”

Dry Weight: 5400 lbs

Porch: 3’x 7%’

Great Room: 6’ x 6%’ Kitchen: 3[4]/2’ x 61/2’

Bathroom: 3’x 6’

Ceiling height: 6’ 6710’ 6” Loft height: 3’ 8”

-sizes are approximate

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POST-FORMING A COUNTERTOP

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

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2. Plastic laminate can be brittle when it’s cold, so the assembly is next moved to a bench with a heated edge. Inverted, the countertop is clamped to the bench and the backsplash is pulled to its final position—at a right angle to the countertop.

 

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3. The ’/i-in. spacers placed earlier are removed, and coved strips along the joint between the countertop and backsplash are hot-glued. Coved strips keep the top and back pieces in place and, because the cove has the same arc as the laminate, they support it as well.

 

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1. At a custom-counter shop, the post-forming machine is a vacuum press that applies heat and pressure to wrap the laminate to the shaped edges of the countertop and splashboard...

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Unevenness or irregularities

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

The last problem encountered when spreading SMA (and other asphalt mixtures, too) is unevenness caused by the approach of a paver on mixture residue left over on a bottom layer. Figure 11.33. shows how such residue builds up.

Different type of scrapers, sweepers, and other similar inventions fixed to the paver cannot fully protect it from causing unevenness. The care of cleanliness of the bottom layer is the responsibility of the paving crew. It consists not only in the skillful handling of a shovel but the proper coordination of mixture delivery from the dump truck into the paver hopper.

The material that is dumped in front of the paver also can cool before compac­tion, causing an internal porous area that can later trap water and then disintegrate the SMA layer.

11.8.2.5 Summary

Althoug...

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ADHERING LAMINATE YOURSELF

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

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1. After rough-cutting the substrate and the laminate and touch-sanding them, spray both surfaces with a water-based contact cement. (Wear a respirator mask with organic vapor filters.) The curved piece at left, separated from the counter by a ’/4-in. spacer, will become the backsplash. The gap will enable the laminate to bend in a gentle radius.

 

2. After allowing the contact cement to set for 15 minutes—surfaces are usually warmed to speed drying-place ’A-in. sticks atop the particleboard, and then place the laminate on the sticks. The sticks allow you to accurately position the laminate over the substrate without allowing cemented faces to touch.

 

3...

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More About Trusses

Posted by on 21/ 11/ 15

While trusses may be a little off the title subject of this book, they can be an easy, quick, and relatively economic method of building a roof, and they marry well to a strong one – or two-story post-and-beam framework. Trusses can be engineered for a variety of roof shapes, as seen in Fig. 4.44. They are great for garages, and are frequently used now in housing. Normally, there is no attic space in a trussed roof, but, as we have seen, the use of special “attic trusses” can yield quite a bit of upstairs space. Attic trusses will be heavier and more expensive, because the bottom chord of the truss has to be strong enough to support living space. But the extra cost is quite effective on a “square foot per dollar” basis.

Manufactured trusses are not particularly pretty, but, since t...

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