Basic training resources for reading plans
I’m with a growing general contracting company that’s given me the job of finding a way to train the crew in reading plans. We have a lot of smart but inexperienced guys who’ve never had the formal training to do very basic plan reading, eg. frame a window opening in the right place by looking at a plan. What I am having a hard time finding is a few diagrams for this purpose- something showing a plan for a small, basic project, like a one room addition, with little arrows indicating how to look at the plan and determine, say, stud height, r.o. dimensions, door location, etc. something to let them look at a plan and have a clear idea how to lay it out, where to put the king studs, if there’s a double top plate and so on.
There have to be some simple practical diagrams out there, right? I don’t mind paying for it. All I can find are ones that identify the parts of a frame. I need ones that show how to make a plan into a frame.
Replies
DIY
Take a few photos of some of your compoeted jobs, closeups and wide angle both of various details
Copy the details of the plans for the jobs above,
Cut and paste onto powerpoint slides, add balloons and expalnatons.
done Maye 30-40 slides?
ps u did not look very hard, eh, figured somebi=ody would puch 4-5 keys for you?
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=ppt+building+plan+reading&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS466US467&q=ppt+building+plan+reading&gs_l=hp....0.0.0.21628...........0.WDVsWO8z4HA
user
Your best bet would be to hire and adequately pay a lead carpenter. With any luck he can take your group of smart laborers and teach them how to become carpenters. If you don't have someone on the job that knows what they are doing, your growing company will be short lived.
Best of luck.
I'd try to find a drafting textbook and extract sections of that.
Google search "Methods of Dimensioning Doors and Windows" and the result should be a page from the Appendix of Architectural Graphic Standards. Included in this section are an explanation of common graphic symbols including material poche, drawing symbols, MEP symbols and drawing methods. Another resource would be any of the Francis D. K. Ching books. These are pretty informative regarding basic drafting conventions.
You can find most books on Amazon as older editions/used for little $$$.
Good luck!
Yeah, I'm sure the "intro to
Yeah, I'm sure the "intro to drafting" textbook I had in college 40 years ago would be plenty. (I suppose you'd need to find an old one, though, since newer ones would be all about how to use drafting programs, vs pencil.)
The Ching books focus on hand drafting. This might be a surprise to you but most architectural schools still teach hand drafting, at least it is required in first year. But I'm certain that varies from program to program. Typically, on a day to day basis an architect uses hand drafting and sketching to work through problems and then sometimes finalizes the design in a CAD drawing.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction
Found a college textbook that's just what I needed. "Print reading" was the magic phrase.
I like your Melville quote. The critcisms made on the poor by the other poor can be pretty preposterous too.