*
Hi Matt, I could not agree with you more. There are many different ways to do the jobs. Some better than others. The location of the structure dictates what is necessary. I also get tired of hearing EGGSPERTS (experts that talk more than they work)tell people that their way is the only way. Regards Norman
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
The RealTruck AMP Research Bedsteps give you easy access to your truck-bed storage.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
*
Thought some of you may be interested in seeing how we build 'em. ( the right way up )
Frame is 3x2 Cypress at 18" centers, Trusses Radiata Pine.Brick base, slab on ground.
*Preparation for tie down ( cyclone codes ) comprises of drilling 14 mm holes through plates to take a 12mm threaded rod ( booker rod ) which is then epoxied into the slab. These rods are placed at every corner/next to every opening/at each end of a bracing panel and no further apart than 3 meters. They are continuos top plate to slab.
*Rods are then tightened with the help of a rattle gun. Battens are metal top hat section atv 900 centers. Tie down is transferred to trusses with "cyclone ties" to the top plates. ( plates are 3x2 cypress with a 3x1 1/2 ribbon plate)
*Hey Mark.We have similar eathquake requirements, but we don't yet have to go up to the top plate. We through bolt at corners and at any opening that doesn't have a full 4' sheer panel next to it. At least that was what we had to do last time I built a new building in Pierce County - it can vary from town to town too, depending on the inspector.Do you HAVE to use an epoxied bolt, or can you pour them in when you pour your foundation? Is building on a slab the norm there? Thickened edge, with rebar around the edges and welded wire mesh in the field? - jb
*Hello Jim,Yes building on slab is 90% the norm although we have just completed a timber floor job. Standard scenario is footers 2' deep by 18" wide, rebar in them usually 4 y16 deformed bar (y16 is 16mm bar ) ligs at 600 centres with starters r10 (10mm) at 900 centres to tie the slab in. In addition we have thickening beams tie the outside footers through the middle at around 4 metre centres. Perimeter is then bricked up to slab height..poisoned for termites..sub drains intalled.....sand fill to bring up to height for slab..vapour barrier...mesh...and pour.mark
*What kind of soils are we talkin there? Do you get freezing weather? - jb
*Rattle Gun = Air Wrench!Cypress framing - WOW! Cypress is not used much here as it is in very short supply.I notice the brick ledge is 6" or so wide. What will this house be sided with? Brick veneer? What type of sheathing do you use?
*Matt,We never sheath. Why do you sheath?? House is veneer yes.Cypress is the most common framing timber here though that is a regional thing as we are in cypress country. One of our local mills exports flooring top the states. We pay around $450AUD a cubic meter for sized stuff.
*Jim,As everywhere else soils vary considerably, however we are on the edge of grain growing country with highly expansive/reactive clay soils. We are currently starting a job where we are doing a clay removal. This entails excavating the site to a depth specified by the engineer ( in this case around 5 feet,) then filling and compacting in layers with an approved fill. This allows a cheaper footing design than what would have been required ( even with the excavation and fill costs, in this case around $5,000 )No we don't have soil freezing problems like you do.
*Once the roof has been battened, the fascia is fitted, in this case metal fascia. Here the roofer is setting up the fascia brackets prior to hanging the fascia.
*View of Fascia once installed. Mesh is for birdproofing. Gutter is clipped onto fascia. Soffitt is slipped into groove in bottom of fascia.
*View of soffitt/fascia details. Soffitt is Hardies FC vented soffitt fix to a 2x1 1/2 ledger . Header visible is a 300 x 87 Hardwood laminated beam. In background are the ceiling battens ( metal ).
*Why do we sheath? Humm?? good point - to add structural integrity to the wall frames? to provide some type of barrier between the brick veneer and the framing/insulation? Do you put some kind house wrap, tar paper, etc between the brick veneer & the wall frame? Is there some kind of permanent diagional bracing in your walls - what keeps the walls from "racking"?I think this thread is great as your pictures show the epitome of regionalized building. Standard frame with brick veneer, but very different. I get tired of reading posts "this is the way it is done." When instead people should be saying - "This is the way we do it here".
*Let's see if I have this: a cubic yard is about 3/4 of a cubic meter, 27 cu ft = a cubic yard, 12 board feet per cubic foot, and the conversion rate for the Australian Dollar to the American Dollar is about $1.29AUD/US$. That would mean that you are paying about $0.96US per board foot (standard US archaic measurement for wood...). Is your cubic meter of wood all wood, or do you get the 1 inch of nominal thickness actually equals 3/4" after the wood is planed as we do here in the US?If you don't sheath, what do you use to provide strength against racking, particularly in earthquake areas? The steel rods from the plates down to the foundation would seem to be good for lift-off strength, but wouldn't appear to do all that much for racking.How good is the quality of the Cypress? I have never used it. My wood listing says it is "medium hard and has poor resistance to splitting". How is it to work, do you have to pre drill holes near the end of boards? I noticed that you used mostly metric measurements except for talking about the depth of the foundation - do you guys interchange metric and English measurement often, or do certain areas each have their standard of measurement? (How often do you guys "crash and burn" from mixing measurements - like the recent US Mars mission space explorer that was fed English measurents when they should have been metric?)
*Mark,It looks like the bird mesh is on top of the rafters?JonC
*Casey,A cubic meter is all timber..wether sawn or sized.I use imperial in defferance to you jokers..although I was raised with both imperial and metric ( and prefer metric it is the only way to go )....no burning..least not that I'll admit to here...we don't have earthquakes..we do have cyclones..all bracing is calculated from two directions ( lateral ) and usually achieved by ply braces ( see photo ) or hardie brace....rods increase the lateral resistance by a factor of about 4...also provide uplift tie down...Cypress is ok when green though doesn't take long to dry out..it does split but we overcome that by using cut point nails in our guns..it has excellent termite resistance and in ground attributes..when used for flooring we always use end matched so we don't have to bore thew ends..Mark
*View of frame on 6 of 8 "apartments " we are currently building. Today we are battened off on the top level ready for roof...6 weeks since we started ( stick frame )..some bracing panels visible ( ply ) the top walls are fire walls isolating the apartments...the white stuff is sound proofing..the pink stuff is Hardies Villaboard...these walls will later be sheeted again to with 13mm firecheck ( sheetrock) to achieve 60/60/60.
*Jon,No..on top of the battens..this shot may help.
*Matt,Our climate extremes are not as great as what some of you have to endure...consequently many here do not even use paper on walls let alone roof...here it is seen as a sign of " quality" construction if you do so. This project calls for fire retardent paper on roof and walls however I prefer to use Tyvek ( though I don't know if it's the same as your Tyvek ) As for sheathing and structural integrity..there is such a thing as over kill. For example..these units are designed to withstand winds of up to 33 meters/second ( the lowest on the cyclone codes we have ) ...this is acheived by calculating forces from two directions at both lower and upper levels..( bracing is calculated seperately to up lift ).On an average lowset slab on ground brick veneer home of around 200 sq/meters this would need around 6 8x4 ply braces. Some internal walls may be braced also with either ply or metal angle let into the studs though I tend to steer away from that as the ply gives a much greater rating. All these ratings are more than doubled by the addittion of hold down rods ( stops racking ).Mark
*Upper level floor ( particle board glued and screwed to I joists ) . Nail gun is a Senco SN 650. Top of lower fire wall just visable with tie down rods protruding through to incorporate into upper fire wall. Stairwells in background.
*One of the rules of construction that got broken on this site. ALWAYS GET YOUR EARTHWORKS COMPLETED BEFORE YOU START. However this job got fasttracked so fast that there wasn't time ( waiting on engineers calcs for stormwater drain size ) so to avoid the liquidated damages of $200/day a start was made. Consequently we put up with this leg breaking scenario.Laser level in foreground, electrician on right ( orange conduit is for electrical ) is running his cables in the conduit ( the conduit coming through the slab is for the main switchboard for the whole project.Plumber on left installing driveway drainage pit ( plastic ). The grey fill is crusher dust/cracker dust/quarry dust. This basalt country and the dust is left over from quarrying operations and reasonably cheap..we use it for fill under slabs also."I" joists leaning against fire wall. Would you believe the OSB used in them comes from Canada ( no OSB plants in Australia ). It has "Ainsworth Lumber Co." stamped all over it.
*The brackets are set up at the last rafter on each end of the building and on long runs, one in the middle. String lines are then run between and all other brackets lined up with the string to ensure a straight fascia. Note the scaffold brackets hooked over top plates.
*Hi Matt, I could not agree with you more. There are many different ways to do the jobs. Some better than others. The location of the structure dictates what is necessary. I also get tired of hearing EGGSPERTS (experts that talk more than they work)tell people that their way is the only way. Regards Norman
*Mark, thought this one up after yesterday's liquid lunch. Came to me while I was thinking about "rattle gun" and other such nomenclature differences. What do you call those nails with two heads. Used for concrete formboards. Shhh...no one tell, wanna' hear what Marks says.BTW: mind if I borrow "rattle gun"? I think it fits real well.
*Hey,I know I'm not the best chippy in the world, but this is Fine Homebuilding and I haven't stooped to doing formwork yet...but I'll ask around about those nails.You're welcome to Rattle Gun.
*While trenches are open for stormwater drainage other trades take advantage. Orange conduit for electrical, white for telephone. Black poly is water and black with yellow stripe, Gas. ( trace wire for gas just visible )
*Garage floors are visible to the right. These are screeded with a fall to the door to facilate hosing out. Amenities block to the left..( note the absence of a door to discourage shirkers ).A half sheet of mesh bent to a circle serves as a skip to contain rubbish...periodically removed to the tip by Bob-Cat.
*Mark,Thanks for a great series of posts. Very informative. Can you give us more as you finish up this project?Steve
*Jim,Just realized I didn't address your question on bolts....no we can use either...it's just faster to epoxy them in given that there is always trouble standing and lining up a frame on precast bolts not to mention the inevitable stud that falls right on a bolt.
*OK I asked around at work today about those nails...just got dumb dora looks.."formwork nails "..." double headed nails " replies..why do I get the feeling that what you blokes call them is going to be rude????
*You're welcome Steven, and I will try to post some shots..just as busy a Petes one legged man at the moment.
*Set out time on the next stage. Here trenches are marked using lime.
*Trenching is carried out with a Bob Cat. We have used Backhoes in the past but they cause too much tearout. Trenching is faster and reduces the amount concrete used.
*Trenching almost complete. The "criss cross" footers are thickening beams to tie the foundation together.If the roof in the foreground looks unfinished...that's because it is.
*Reinforcing steel is a welded cage of 4x 16mm deformed bars with 10mm ligs at 600 centers. These cages are dropped into all the trenches ( including the thickening beams running behind the electrician.