This morning we got stuck in and worked quite effectively, nailing in the rest of the joists onto the bearers. We achieved this by aligning the ends of the joists along the string line we had set up the day before. As we already had in the double must joists at either end of the building we measured in incriments of 450mm and marked the bearers, this way we could place the joists on and nail them in at 450 centres. The hand nailing, i found, was quite easy and enjoyable, and also good practice. We nailed either end of the joists at 450 and then measured out the middle spacings of the joists, that way we could take out any bending in the joists and make them all parallel with each other.
After this we moved on to putting on the sheet flooring. The sheet flooring was 22mm particle board with tongue and groove fittings. We put a 3.6m x 1.2m sheet on the corner and made sure it was square with the sting line, that we previously used to aling the ends of the joists. We screwed it on only using 4 screws so that we can easily dismantle later. With the other sheets we staggered the joints in the particle boards for greater strength, with one end of a sheet budding up against the other, with both sheets having the same contact with the supporting joist. So we had 22.5mm contact on the end of the 45mm joist.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Nailing in the bearers and then nailing them in again.
Today we started out continuing building our small house plan. We cut the rest of the bearers, including the two bearers that had to be joined with a vertical scarf joint over the top of a stump. We then set up the string line again so that we could push out the stumps to line up perfectly with the perimeter of the house. The bearers were secured to the stumps by hammering 75mm bullet head nails skewed in from either side.
After all the bearers were done and lined up correctly with the string line we then moved onto cutting and fixing some of our joists. The distance between the outside bearers on both sides, was shorter than the real measurement of 4.3m, so we had to let our joists hang over the edge of the bearers just a little bit.
We rushed ahead and nailed a few joists on to the bearers with one end flush with one bearer and overhanging on the other, but this turned out to be wrong, as both sides needed to overhang a small bit so it would fit the 4.3m dimension. So we had to remove the joists and then denail them, which set us back some time.
When starting again with the joists, we lined up the edge of the joist with the string line by using a spirit level vertically. When it was in the correct position we marked it with a pencil and then nailed them in. We nailed the must joists in at the two far ends of the house perfectly in line with the string lines. We then put in some 35mm packers between the load bearing joists, and nailed them all together.
Greg reynolds and Mike left after smoko because they were ill so we then moved onto our brown paper drawings of the layout of a subfloor, which included stumps, a bearer, joists, wall plates, sole plates, strip flooring and sheet flooring. It also had a brick wall stump. The diagram was done to AS1864 Australian building standards.
I enjoyed having the time to just relax, listen to the radio, talk to greg, paul and rhys, whilst completing our drawings. It was fun but also very productive and i've almost completed my drawing, all we need to do now is to draw in the metal stump that we have just searched up on the net.
How cool is AS1684, it rocks balls! AS1684, the building bible, but without Jesus.
After all the bearers were done and lined up correctly with the string line we then moved onto cutting and fixing some of our joists. The distance between the outside bearers on both sides, was shorter than the real measurement of 4.3m, so we had to let our joists hang over the edge of the bearers just a little bit.
We rushed ahead and nailed a few joists on to the bearers with one end flush with one bearer and overhanging on the other, but this turned out to be wrong, as both sides needed to overhang a small bit so it would fit the 4.3m dimension. So we had to remove the joists and then denail them, which set us back some time.
When starting again with the joists, we lined up the edge of the joist with the string line by using a spirit level vertically. When it was in the correct position we marked it with a pencil and then nailed them in. We nailed the must joists in at the two far ends of the house perfectly in line with the string lines. We then put in some 35mm packers between the load bearing joists, and nailed them all together.
Greg reynolds and Mike left after smoko because they were ill so we then moved onto our brown paper drawings of the layout of a subfloor, which included stumps, a bearer, joists, wall plates, sole plates, strip flooring and sheet flooring. It also had a brick wall stump. The diagram was done to AS1864 Australian building standards.
I enjoyed having the time to just relax, listen to the radio, talk to greg, paul and rhys, whilst completing our drawings. It was fun but also very productive and i've almost completed my drawing, all we need to do now is to draw in the metal stump that we have just searched up on the net.
How cool is AS1684, it rocks balls! AS1684, the building bible, but without Jesus.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Stumping
Today we kicked off straight away with the stumps that we had initially started yesterday. We put in 26 stumps in the ground. We started off by placing one stump in at the perfect height and made it out datum point for the laser level, that way later we could use the laser level to make the other stumps the same height. Our datum stump was 148mm above our string line level.
Greg and I teamed up to put in the stumps because it made it quite a bit easier to get a good level position with the stump. Everytime we put a stump in the ground we made sure the 148mm mark was either equal with or above the string line. When it was above the string line level we simply marked it with the laser level to saw off later. We had a 20mm tolerance with regards to getting the stump close to the string line, and in hindsight it was probably a little too much.
Once all the stumps were in we got the laser level and the staff and marked each stump with the datum height. When we had marked all the stumps we then used a combination square to square off the lines for cutting later. This was a pretty simple and easy process and was done fairly quickly.
After this we set up two circular saws and began cutting along the square lines we had drew in previously. The base plate was not square with the blade, eventhough it read 0 degrees, the saws had been damaged so were out. We used simple squares and squared up the blade with the base plate. Once we had this sorted out we could then actually saw correctly. To cut the stumps to the right height it involved getting down on your knees and using the saw to cut horizontally. Also the pencil lines did not show up very well on the CCA H4 treated pine so this made it hard to make accurate cuts.
We then moved onto the bearers, and with our small plan there weren't too many. We set them up on the drop saw while using a rolling stand because the lengths of timber were quite long. We cut the bearers out of 100 x 75mm rough sawn. We mounted and hammered in a couple of the smaller bearers by hand. We also noticed that one of the bearers had a bow in it so we corrected that and there was another bearer that had a substantial twist in it. We didn't get around to nailing it so we'll just have to wait and see how it will turn out tomorrow.
All in all i enjoyed today because we had a chance to just get stuck in perform to the best of our abilities. Paul gave us less supervision so we were able to nut out problems just amongst our group, which i feel is a better way to learn and also helps us develop a kind of specific group dynamic. We also got to talk about a whole heap of different subjects whilst we working to keep ourselves amused.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Today we primarily worked in the class room, working on a house plan. We did a materials and construction costing sheet based on a small 3 bed room house plan. To start off we drew a rough sketch of the house plan up on the white board with a few dimensions attached. This way all of us could see the whiteboard and any mistakes made could be easily erased as we moved along.
First of all we started off with the bearers. Keeping in mind that the bearers could only span 1750 maximum, we began placing in the "must" bearers. The "must" bearers are the ones that run along the edge of the house and also underneath all walls, this is because the weight needs to be directly run down to the stumps.
Once we had the must bearers in, we then segmented the house into different sections or rooms, and divided the space between the parallel must bearers by 1750. So say a room had a width of 3890, we would simply do 3890 / 1750 = 2.22, you then round it up to 3. Then the room would have two must bearers with three bearers spread evenly between them.
Once we had these wemoved onto stumps. Stumps had a maximum span of 1450. We put in the "must" stumps which were ones directly under walls and around the perimeter of the house. You then get the length of the bearer and divide it by 1450 and then multiply that by how many bearers of the same length there were. We followed this method throughout the house by using the segmentation idea used in the bearers.
Then we moved onto the soleplates, which is quite simple because the number of stumps is known and there is a sole plate for each stump. Each stump had to be 300mm length minimum.
All stumps and sole plates have to be H4 CCA treated pine.
We then moved onto joists, which followed the same method as the beares but needed to be 450 maximum span.
First of all we started off with the bearers. Keeping in mind that the bearers could only span 1750 maximum, we began placing in the "must" bearers. The "must" bearers are the ones that run along the edge of the house and also underneath all walls, this is because the weight needs to be directly run down to the stumps.
Once we had the must bearers in, we then segmented the house into different sections or rooms, and divided the space between the parallel must bearers by 1750. So say a room had a width of 3890, we would simply do 3890 / 1750 = 2.22, you then round it up to 3. Then the room would have two must bearers with three bearers spread evenly between them.
Once we had these wemoved onto stumps. Stumps had a maximum span of 1450. We put in the "must" stumps which were ones directly under walls and around the perimeter of the house. You then get the length of the bearer and divide it by 1450 and then multiply that by how many bearers of the same length there were. We followed this method throughout the house by using the segmentation idea used in the bearers.
Then we moved onto the soleplates, which is quite simple because the number of stumps is known and there is a sole plate for each stump. Each stump had to be 300mm length minimum.
All stumps and sole plates have to be H4 CCA treated pine.
We then moved onto joists, which followed the same method as the beares but needed to be 450 maximum span.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Sub Flooring and Levelling Work Books
Today we stayed in the class throughout the duration of the day as it was quite hot outside, and it was better to get some paper work out of the way. During the morning we started on the setting out and levelling work book, basically filling in missing words. The book talked about different types of levelling devices such as the spirit level, dumpy level and laser levels.
Next we moved onto Australian building standards for sub floors. This talked about the different types of joining bearers over the top of studs, such as butt joints and vertical scarf joints. Also i learnt about cantilevering with the studs where a stud can be placed 25% of the maximum stud span, in from the edge of the structure. Joists that sit ontop of the bearers, running perpendicular, can also be housed out but only a quarter of the entire width of the joist.
I learnt that floors have to have 10mm spacings around the edge next to the wall, to allow for expansion of the wooden floor in different weather conditions. Two joists must be placed directly underneath where a wall will placed, to make it stronger, but the inside joist must have at least 12mm of overhang so that the floor can sit on the joist around the entire edge of the room.
I found the excersise when we were set three problems solving the lengths of timber we would need to adequately make a small room, quite fun as we could just sit down and nut it out ourselves but also be able to talk to each other about how we figured the problem out and what answers we came up with. Most of this time was quiet and just cruised along nicely.
Next we moved onto Australian building standards for sub floors. This talked about the different types of joining bearers over the top of studs, such as butt joints and vertical scarf joints. Also i learnt about cantilevering with the studs where a stud can be placed 25% of the maximum stud span, in from the edge of the structure. Joists that sit ontop of the bearers, running perpendicular, can also be housed out but only a quarter of the entire width of the joist.
I learnt that floors have to have 10mm spacings around the edge next to the wall, to allow for expansion of the wooden floor in different weather conditions. Two joists must be placed directly underneath where a wall will placed, to make it stronger, but the inside joist must have at least 12mm of overhang so that the floor can sit on the joist around the entire edge of the room.
I found the excersise when we were set three problems solving the lengths of timber we would need to adequately make a small room, quite fun as we could just sit down and nut it out ourselves but also be able to talk to each other about how we figured the problem out and what answers we came up with. Most of this time was quiet and just cruised along nicely.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Revenge of the Setting out of the Building Perimeter
In a galaxy far far away....
Paul joins up with the rebel outfit of the Dale Alcock all star apprentices and attempts to flout the evil plans of the despicable House plan from hell. During the running battles of the North oval battle field, Renna went missing and the team was left fledgling under the might of slaughterous string lines. Also Paul, Mike and Greg were struck down by back pain and could not fight off the amassing wooden stakes army. Rob and Rhys had to regather the teams falling morale for one last revenge against the setting out the building perimeter.
First of all today we headed out in the morning to the North oval. Before we left, we gathered the tools we would need to adequately set out string lines to a building plan. The tools we had were Rip saws, claw hammers, sledge hammers, spirit levels, dumpy levels, a staff, cordless drills, roof carpentry squares and string lines. We also collected 3 stacks of 1" x 2" x 2.4 to make the hurdles.
First of all we picked a main starting point, which we hammered in a small picket into the ground, placed a nail in the middle of the picket, and then placed the tripod directly over the top of the nail using a plumb bob hanging from beneath the dumpy level. We initially had the dumpy level at 0 degrees so that we could simply rotate the dumpy level 62 degrees to guage our other boundary line. So after we had done these two steps we had two boundary lines, one which was going to be our straight edge for the house foundation, and another at 62 degrees from the straight edge.
We then measured 7 metres directly perpendicular to the 62 degree line, and then ran our 8.390 measurement square to the straight line, until it met up with the parallel line to the 62 degree line. This is too hard to describe without a diagram and a detailed step by step description.
To set up our two main lines perfectly at a right angle to one another, we employed the 345 technique, which is simply using the lengths 3 metres and 4 metres down each length of string, and then using the pythagoras thereom to see if our diagonal between those two points made 5 metres. So 3m across one line, 4m across the other, and if the lines are square then the diagonal length between them should be 5 metres.
When we roughly had our starting pickets in the ground, which were only roughly staked in, we placed our hurdles around each corner roughly 500mm away from the rough stakes. After we had 4 corners of hurdles in we used the staff and the dumpy level to mark out our level on each on the sides of the vertical hurdle pickets. Each picket had a different height marked on it, but when all viewed together they were all perfectly level because the ground had a slight decline to the left.
When we measured the length (12470) and the width (8390), we measured at roughly where the lines intersected one another, which in the end turned out the wrong way to do it, because the strings would stretch and move throwing our measurements out. This caused a bit of frustration amongst the group, but was easily solved when we measured from fixed screws on the hurdles, as they did not move and we could get some accurate parallel lines happening.
At the end, once we were satisfied that we had two parallel lines measuring 8390 and two other parallel lines measuring 12470, that made a large rectangle, we measured the two diagonals to see if our rectangle was square. I calculated on a calculator, using pythagoras, that the diagonals should measure 15030, and with a little tweaking our diagonals measured the same.
I enjoyed todays excersise as it was a challenging one, but it felt like we had a few too many people involved doing the same job, so when a couple of people were figuring something out, some one else would already be doing the job and do it wrong. We also didn't have a set leader, so the person doing the calculations and making the problem solving decisions was continually changing. This meant that the way we going about the project kept changing so mistakes were over looked, so then we had to back track occassionally. During this project things did become frustrating and tense but it was good to see no one throwing in the towel or losing it and bringing the rest of the team down haha although it would've been funny.
Paul joins up with the rebel outfit of the Dale Alcock all star apprentices and attempts to flout the evil plans of the despicable House plan from hell. During the running battles of the North oval battle field, Renna went missing and the team was left fledgling under the might of slaughterous string lines. Also Paul, Mike and Greg were struck down by back pain and could not fight off the amassing wooden stakes army. Rob and Rhys had to regather the teams falling morale for one last revenge against the setting out the building perimeter.
First of all today we headed out in the morning to the North oval. Before we left, we gathered the tools we would need to adequately set out string lines to a building plan. The tools we had were Rip saws, claw hammers, sledge hammers, spirit levels, dumpy levels, a staff, cordless drills, roof carpentry squares and string lines. We also collected 3 stacks of 1" x 2" x 2.4 to make the hurdles.
First of all we picked a main starting point, which we hammered in a small picket into the ground, placed a nail in the middle of the picket, and then placed the tripod directly over the top of the nail using a plumb bob hanging from beneath the dumpy level. We initially had the dumpy level at 0 degrees so that we could simply rotate the dumpy level 62 degrees to guage our other boundary line. So after we had done these two steps we had two boundary lines, one which was going to be our straight edge for the house foundation, and another at 62 degrees from the straight edge.
We then measured 7 metres directly perpendicular to the 62 degree line, and then ran our 8.390 measurement square to the straight line, until it met up with the parallel line to the 62 degree line. This is too hard to describe without a diagram and a detailed step by step description.
To set up our two main lines perfectly at a right angle to one another, we employed the 345 technique, which is simply using the lengths 3 metres and 4 metres down each length of string, and then using the pythagoras thereom to see if our diagonal between those two points made 5 metres. So 3m across one line, 4m across the other, and if the lines are square then the diagonal length between them should be 5 metres.
When we roughly had our starting pickets in the ground, which were only roughly staked in, we placed our hurdles around each corner roughly 500mm away from the rough stakes. After we had 4 corners of hurdles in we used the staff and the dumpy level to mark out our level on each on the sides of the vertical hurdle pickets. Each picket had a different height marked on it, but when all viewed together they were all perfectly level because the ground had a slight decline to the left.
When we measured the length (12470) and the width (8390), we measured at roughly where the lines intersected one another, which in the end turned out the wrong way to do it, because the strings would stretch and move throwing our measurements out. This caused a bit of frustration amongst the group, but was easily solved when we measured from fixed screws on the hurdles, as they did not move and we could get some accurate parallel lines happening.
At the end, once we were satisfied that we had two parallel lines measuring 8390 and two other parallel lines measuring 12470, that made a large rectangle, we measured the two diagonals to see if our rectangle was square. I calculated on a calculator, using pythagoras, that the diagonals should measure 15030, and with a little tweaking our diagonals measured the same.
I enjoyed todays excersise as it was a challenging one, but it felt like we had a few too many people involved doing the same job, so when a couple of people were figuring something out, some one else would already be doing the job and do it wrong. We also didn't have a set leader, so the person doing the calculations and making the problem solving decisions was continually changing. This meant that the way we going about the project kept changing so mistakes were over looked, so then we had to back track occassionally. During this project things did become frustrating and tense but it was good to see no one throwing in the towel or losing it and bringing the rest of the team down haha although it would've been funny.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Dumpy Level Distance Measurement, Dumpy Level Rise and Fall Graphing
Today we started off by taking the dumpy levels out and measuring several different points around the entire perimeter of the Tafe college. Each point was roughly 60 metres away from the previous point. In all there were around 17 different points. To measure each point we set up the dumpy level inbetween two points and sighted the datum point, which was to be our neutral level, also written as 10 000.
We then kept the dumpy level, on the same point and simply turned the dumpy level around roughly 180 degrees to face the next point. We measured the next point on the staff as well. Once we had measured the first point, after the datum, we moved the entire level and tri pod, and set it up inbetween the next two points (marked on the ground). So we had the level set up around 30 metres from the last point and 30 metres away from the next point.
By amounting 34 different measurements, we then began to work out how much difference was between each set of two measurements, so the height of the point in front of the tripod minus the height of the point behind the tripod.
After we had completed this we then moved on to graphing our figures and our work can be seen on the graphs Greg, Mike and I have. We chose to graph the rise and fall of the terrain based around the 10 000 scheme, so first off we had two measurements that when equated came up with -860, so we did 10 000 - 860, which equalled 9 140. So we marked a dot on the graph at 10 000 and then one at 9 140, and joined them together. We repeated this process using a calculator and came up with a line graph that showed the change in height of the terrain.
We also showed on our graph how far away each point was away from the datum point, and came up with a heighest point being around 2.5 metres above the datum point.
After this we learnt how to estimate quite accurately how far away the staff was from the dumpy level by only using the dumpy level. All you have to do is sight what height the top stadia is at and then subtract the bottom stadia height. Once you have this then you multiply it by ten and it will give you a rather accurate measurement of how far away the staff is from the dumpy level.
We then kept the dumpy level, on the same point and simply turned the dumpy level around roughly 180 degrees to face the next point. We measured the next point on the staff as well. Once we had measured the first point, after the datum, we moved the entire level and tri pod, and set it up inbetween the next two points (marked on the ground). So we had the level set up around 30 metres from the last point and 30 metres away from the next point.
By amounting 34 different measurements, we then began to work out how much difference was between each set of two measurements, so the height of the point in front of the tripod minus the height of the point behind the tripod.
After we had completed this we then moved on to graphing our figures and our work can be seen on the graphs Greg, Mike and I have. We chose to graph the rise and fall of the terrain based around the 10 000 scheme, so first off we had two measurements that when equated came up with -860, so we did 10 000 - 860, which equalled 9 140. So we marked a dot on the graph at 10 000 and then one at 9 140, and joined them together. We repeated this process using a calculator and came up with a line graph that showed the change in height of the terrain.
We also showed on our graph how far away each point was away from the datum point, and came up with a heighest point being around 2.5 metres above the datum point.
After this we learnt how to estimate quite accurately how far away the staff was from the dumpy level by only using the dumpy level. All you have to do is sight what height the top stadia is at and then subtract the bottom stadia height. Once you have this then you multiply it by ten and it will give you a rather accurate measurement of how far away the staff is from the dumpy level.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Leveling Using Dumpy Levels and Laser Levels
Today we commenced our TAFE for 2008 and started the day off with doing some research o different types of levels. As i progressed through my research i discovered i was doing the same level as Rhys so i changed to a different type of level called the Theodolite. As i read it became clear that this piece of equipment is very complicated and also very accurate, measuring within a second (a minute measurement of an angle).
The Theodolite consists of a telescope mounted on a vertical axis and also a horizontal axis. This means that the telescope can be moved not only a horizontal plane but also a vertical one so you can figure angles of rise and fall by simply reading the guages near the adjusting knobs. This gives it a significant advantage over other simpler dumpy levels.
Later on after we had presented what we had learned about each different type of level we had each researched we moved to the outside parking lot and began talking about and using the Dumpy levels and also the Laser Level. We learnt about setting the tripod rougly level, then proceeding to screw the actual level ontop of the tripod. Then we would adjust the three adjustment screws and by sighting the bull's eye spirit level, accurately make the level, level haha.
We then started staking in a few wooden poles. We made two of them level from a particular point by placing the staff ontop of the wooden pole, reading the height that was visible, then placing the staff ontop of the other pole and hammering the pole until the level showed the same height.
After we then moved the entire tripod and dumpy level to a different location, made it level again and then sighted the two poles again, with the staff ontop. The staff showed a different eight, but as long as the other pole showed the same height, then we knew that the dumpy level was accurate. It turned out though, that in our three different locations, we were coming up with different variations in height, proving that the dumpy level was most probably not accurate.
The Theodolite consists of a telescope mounted on a vertical axis and also a horizontal axis. This means that the telescope can be moved not only a horizontal plane but also a vertical one so you can figure angles of rise and fall by simply reading the guages near the adjusting knobs. This gives it a significant advantage over other simpler dumpy levels.
Later on after we had presented what we had learned about each different type of level we had each researched we moved to the outside parking lot and began talking about and using the Dumpy levels and also the Laser Level. We learnt about setting the tripod rougly level, then proceeding to screw the actual level ontop of the tripod. Then we would adjust the three adjustment screws and by sighting the bull's eye spirit level, accurately make the level, level haha.
We then started staking in a few wooden poles. We made two of them level from a particular point by placing the staff ontop of the wooden pole, reading the height that was visible, then placing the staff ontop of the other pole and hammering the pole until the level showed the same height.
After we then moved the entire tripod and dumpy level to a different location, made it level again and then sighted the two poles again, with the staff ontop. The staff showed a different eight, but as long as the other pole showed the same height, then we knew that the dumpy level was accurate. It turned out though, that in our three different locations, we were coming up with different variations in height, proving that the dumpy level was most probably not accurate.
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