Week 4 Basic Building Construction Objective This chapter

Week 4 Basic Building Construction

Objective • This chapter discusses basic building construction; building components, how they go together, terminology, and the drawings that show them

Introduction • The ability to interpret plumbing or mechanical systems drawings will enable you to check – If the fixtures and appliances you have specified have been acknowledged – If all is in place to receive them • Communication with tradespersons will be facilitated if the designer has a working knowledge of construction vocabulary and building parts

Introduction (cont’d. ) • A building consists of – Substructure: everything below grade, or ground – Superstructure: everything above grade • Structural engineers – Design the foundation – Determine the size of and distance between all structural components needed to support the building’s stresses and loads

The Foundation • The base upon which a building is placed – Provides a level surface to build on – Forms the basement walls, carries the building’s loads, or weights, and keeps moisture-sensitive materials off the ground to prevent rot and insect infestation • Foundation plan: shows walls, footings, grade beams, and pilasters • Basement plan: shows these elements plus interior

The Foundation (cont’d. ) Figure 7 -3 Basement plan. It shows the same information as a foundation plan plus interior spaces.

Foundation Terms • Concrete: mixture of cement, water, aggregate, and possibly admixtures • Aggregate: blend of sand, rock, crushed gravel, and cinder ash • Admixture: chemical that makes concrete stronger or more workable • Footing: widened bottom of a foundation wall, pier, or column

Foundation Terms (cont’d. ) • Structural member: carries the weight of other components • Beam: horizontal structural member • Grade beam: portion of a slab that is thicker than the rest • Pier: short post found under buildings, as in crawlspaces or porches

Foundation Terms (cont’d. ) • Post: vertical, structural member outside a wall that supports beams • Column: vertical, structural member outside a wall that supports beams • Pilaster: post or column attached to a wall – Strengthens the wall where heavy beams will rest

Foundation Types • Slab-on-grade (monolithic foundation): concrete slab on the ground • T (spread footing or perimeter foundation): wall built on top of a footing, which is a wide base • Piers and columns: vertical structural members on square footings that support beams • Other types: stepped footings, piles, wood, brick, and stone

Foundation Types (cont’d. ) Figure 7 -8 Pictorial showing grade beam, post, pier, column, foundation wall, and footing.

Foundation Materials • Cast or poured concrete and concrete block are the materials most commonly used to make foundations • Concrete masonry units (CMU): precast item • Concrete block: available in different shapes, sizes and weights – Typically manufactured in lengths of 16", heights of 8" and widths of 4", 6", 8", 10", and 12”

Foundation Materials (cont’d. ) Figure 7 -18 A concrete block wall. It is strengthened with reinforcing bar (rebar) and a bond beam, which is a course of bond blocks.

Wood Construction Figure 7 -20 Components of a wood skeleton–framed house

Wood Construction Terms • Dimensional lumber: wood used for framing • Engineered wood products (EWP): wood veneers and fibers that have been laminated to produce longer-spanning, load-bearing • Oriented strand board: wood product made of layers of wood and glue pressed together to create 4' 8' panels

Wood Construction Terms (cont’d. ) • Beam: umbrella term for a horizontal loadbearing member of wood, steel, and/or concrete • Girder: large beam that supports smaller beams • Rafter: inclined beam at the roof • Joist: horizontal beam in ceilings and floors • Lintel: beam over a door or window

Wood Construction Terms (cont’d. ) • Trussed rafter: fabricated member placed at the roof, consisting of an upper chord, a lower chord, and a web • Trussed joist: fabricated member with parallel upper and lower chords • Stud: vertical load-bearing member inside a wall • Cripples: short studs placed above or below a wall opening

Wood Construction Terms (cont’d. ) Figure 7 -38 2 -D and 3 -D views of a wood-framed wall.

Wood Construction Terms (cont’d. ) • Plate: horizontal board – Bottom plates evenly distribute loads placed on them – Top plates tie studs together • Sheathing: vertical covering of boards on exterior walls that goes under the final finish • Decking: horizontal covering of boards on the roof or floor

Wood Frame Types • Post-and-beam – Timber framing: oldest framing method and was the method of wood building used throughout the world for 2, 000 years • Skeleton – Balloon – Platform

Masonry • Bond: arrangement of brick or blocks in a wall • Mortar: mixture of cement, sand, and water that hardens used as binding agent • Wythe: continuous vertical section of a masonry wall, one unit in thickness

Masonry • Veneer: non-load bearing, aesthetic masonry facing attached to, and supported by, a structural backing • Brick: rectangular mass of clay hardened by heat

Masonry (cont’d. ) Figure 7 -64 Brick laid in walls. Cavity walls enable the positioning of header bricks.

Masonry (cont’d. ) • • • Stone: rock or hard mineral matter Glass block Acrylic block Structural clay tile Terra-cotta Four masonry wall construction types – Solid, cavity, faced, and veneer

Steel Terms • Arch: bent truss • Rigid frame: consists of two columns and a beam or truss • Prefabricated components: made into units and assembled at a factory • Two types of steel construction – Steel skeleton and large-span construction

Construction Drawings • • • Title page or cover sheet Survey Structural discipline drawings Architectural discipline drawings Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, ventilation (HVAC) and plumbing discipline drawings

Summary • Buildings are made of wood, steel, and concrete • Components are made on site or fabricated in standardized sizes in factories • Techniques and systems have evolved throughout the years in step with technology advancements • Understanding buildings’ basic construction is necessary to competently draft drawings that describe them