Author: Amira Abdalla

Amira Abdalla

May 7, 2019

Reading #9

In this section of Ching’s book, he first discusses the wall sections. His diagrams show the wall section showing all components needed to function properly and protect the building’s interior and exterior. The stone patterns he presents are: Random, Coursed, Squared Rubble and Random, coursed, broken range work Ashlar. For the exterior wall, Ching shows us two different ways to join bricks when they meet the corner (Quoin, Long-and-short Work). Quoin is an exterior angle that is dependent on the brick’s size, color, or projection, while long-and-short work are rectangular quoins arranged alternately horizontally and vertically. Lastly, Ching gives the types of windows and their ventilation percentages. For example, one of the windows he shows is the sliding window which ventilates only 50% of the room because the doors only expose half the frame of glass.

In this reading, Ching begins with chapter 7 to talk about Moisture and thermal protection. In other words, ways to keeping moisture out and letting enough heat in the building. He suggests flashing along roof edges, wall exterior, doors and windows. In addition, he provides the 3 basic means of controlling heat gain or loss which are: The selection of building materials, correct insulation and enclosure and orientation on the site. Then, he moves on to talk about thermal insulation, and explains that it’s the primary purpose to control the flow of the heat through exterior assemblies to prevent heat loss in cold season and vice versa. Later in chapter 7, he goes in depth to explain that wall flashing collects moisture in the wall, or in other words, kicks water out of the wall. Then, he introduces insulating materials such as Batt ( blanket/roll), Rigid Foam, Foamed-in-Place, Loose fill, and Reflective insulation. Lastly, he defines vapor retarders as a material of low performance installed in construction to prevent moisture from entering and reaching certain places, and the major types of ventilations are: Whole house, Energy recovery, Roof & attic, and Crawl Space ventilation.

In Ching’s long reading of the chapters, he first discusses the different types of arches. He tells us the components of the arch such as the Keystone, which is the center top of the arch. He defines the arch as two or three courses of rowlocks, in addition to the skewback stone, which is a sloped face stone that lies where the arch rests on the vertical componant to complete the form. Furhtermore, Ching moves on to explain the wood joists as the essential subsystem of construction. Between the ceiling and floor finish, a cavity may be present for mechanical functions. His rule of thumb for the depth of the joists is SPAN/16. The types of beams he mentions in his book are box beams, spaces beams, built up beams, and flitch beams. His rule of thumb for their span is SPAN/15 and width is 1/3 or 1/2 of the span. The spans can either be Simple, double, or continuous. For steel web joists, the K series act as zigzags of bent steel beams whin can span at 4 to 6 inches on masonry and 2.5 inches on steel. To create the grid, vertical steel beams can be spaced at about 2 to 10 feet and the horizontal beams underneath can be 24x its depth or less.

In this reading, Ching discusses the bonding of masonry and the faces exposed. Vertical joints (Head joints) and horizontal joints (Bed joints) are the spaces between masonry that help join each layer and between courses. The six different joints Ching supplies in his book are: Concave, V, Flush, Raked, Struck, and Weathered joints. Along with the joints, he also provides us with six patterns of joining the bricks into layers. In Chapter twelve, he mentions lumber and the grade mark for it. Furthermore, plywood is generated by bonding veneers under heat and pressure. The grade stamp for Plywood is usually on the back of the wood panel, APA or the American Plywood Association. This includes the exposure level, which is the durability against weather conditions and panel grade along with span rating. Wood panels are layers of particle board, oriented strand board, and wafer board. In chapter four, Ching discusses the steal beam shapes. His rule of thumb for the W shaped beam is SPAN/20 and grider’s SPAN/15. He explains that composite steel columns are encased in reinforced concrete. Then, he moves on to explain that reinforced concrete beams act together longitudinally to resist applied forces. His rule of thumb for the depth of the beam is SPAN/16. To build a foundation, reinforced concrete columns and beams act together to form a grid that runs across the whole foundation. For flooring systems, the precast concrete units are light enough to achieve efficiency, this provides less depth, reduced weight and longer spans.

In this part of the Ching’s book, he talks about the accessories of a foundation. He begins with stone, its qualities and types. According to ching, stone must have specific strength, hardness, durability, appearance, density and texture. The 3 main types of stone are Igneous Rock (Crystallization of molten magma), Sedimentary Rock (Removal of remains by glacial action), Metamorphic rock (changes in texture by heat and pressure). Some other types of stone are Rubble stone, which are the most rough, broken pieces. Crushed stone are the aggregate in concrete. Dimension stone are the uniformly shaped squares used for flooring and panels. And flagstone which are slabs used for flooring and vertical surfaces. Earlier in chapter 12 he defines bricks as Face (good for color and design) and Common or Building bricks (no treatment of color or texture). Their types vary from greater variation sizes and color range, to moderate, and narrow (FBX, FBS, FBA). Ching also warns us on page 6 chapter 12 that Efflorescence (exposed white powder of concrete from salts) can be treated with moisture absorption. Then, he labels with illustrations all types of blocks and their functions toward building a foundation. Furthermore in chapter 12, he introduces wood as natural, strong, lightweight, and friendly to use as a foundation or a design structure. The 2 major classes or wood are hard (from cherry or maple trees) or soft (from pine or spruce). Along with categorizing wood, he mentions that tree growth depicts strength and joints for enclosure. With his illustrations, he made clear that the grain direction depicts the use of wood as a structural material in the parallel direction to handle tension and compression well. However, tension that is perpendicular to the grain causes split! In addition, keep in mind that radial shrinkage can happen twice as much as tangential shrinkage. To protect your wood from fungi or bacteria (not 100%) dry its moisture to increase strength and stability. Moreover, on page 8, steel in described by Ching as high in strength, low-cost material, which must be coated with fire resistant materials, then he provides illustrations to the different shapes of steel. Finally, he provides the formula to make concrete (Cement+Water+Aggregate). Cement is a fine powder of burning a mix of limestone and clay. The water must be free of all organic materials. And aggregates must make up 60 to 80% of the concrete. The ratio of water to cement should be 0.45-0.60. Because concrete is not great in tension, it’s usually supported by reinforced steel. And now I summarized Ching’s part of his book about Masonry and materials in volumes.

Amira Abdalla

March 8, 2019

Professor Montgomery

ARCH 1231

In this part of the book by Ching, he explains the structural topologies of the buildings. First, he summarizes the pieces that make up the structure and their functions. For example, the vertical joists are supported by the horizontal beams which are defined by the length of the vertical parts. In order to build a strong foundation, the more rectangular the structure is the better (ratio of long to short is 1.5 : 1). Think of an X and Y axis. The horizontal beams are the X (independent) axis which define the spacing that depicts where the vertical joists Y (dependent) should be placed. Furthermore he describes a structural pattern as a grid. He defines the intersections as the location of the columns or a threshold in the design. The spaces between vertical joists define the movement spaces. And finally, any spaces present between 2 structures can be filled in with a third structure such as load bearing walls. Later on, he writes about structural stability as a series of structures working together to keep the foundation stable if joined correctly. For example, the horizontal diaphragm acts as the compression plate that tests the Braced and rigid frame to keep out any angular changes in the structure. The shear wall also acts against gravity which prevents the structure from digging into the ground. Moreover, he warns us that structures must be arranged symmetrically to avoid any distortion. With that said. He vividly explains with the use of images to help the reader visualize the meanings of his terminology.

In this part of the chapter by Ching, he talks about the science of the structures. First, he explains that structural forces have vectors. All vectors must have 2 or more forces, magnitude, and direction. The sum of all vectors R, is represented by a diagonal line resulting from a parallelogram. And in a circular motion, all vectors lie on the tangent line. To achieve equilibrium in structural design the amount of tension must be equal to the amount of compression between forces acting against each other, which also supports Newton’s Law of action and reaction. Furthermore, he goes on to explaining columns. He explains that columns function best when they’re slender and rigid to support axial loads. They’re subject to bend when the compressive stresses are applied to the kern area. Columns, if they’re too long and slender or too short and thick, they are weak and subject to shortness and bending. He then defines beams as horizontal supports to loads. They too can bend if the elements supported are heavier than the beams can handle. Another way of deformation is the vertical shear of the column gets pushed forward. Trusses are defined as member of webs and chords supporting each other. Like columns and beams, frames and arched vaults can also bend if the line of thrust does not follow the arch axis. In the last part of his chapter he shows different examples of domes such as lattice, geodesic a d schwedler domes, with a note than they’re all steel. In addition, he provided many examples of connections between columns and beams, and explains that connectors can be either points, lines, or surfaces.

In the beginning of the chapter of Building Elements in “building Construction Illustrated” by Francis Ching, he describes architecture as more than just the art of building. The beauty of architecture is the various ways to design a beautiful house. But, architecture is more than just the design of a beautiful house, it’s how successful this beautiful house will function. So, learning about construction and the systems that make up a successful house is also necessary with the process of design.

The structural system is the skeleton that supports the foundation of the building. It’s made up of superstructure system, which are the vertical extensions. Beams, columns, floors, and roofs. And the substructure, which is underneath to build the foundation.

The Enclosure system is what provides protection and privacy. The components of this system are doors (For access), windows (For light and view), Exterior walls and roofs (For privacy and protection and noise barrier), and Interior walls (For comfort and space units).

The Mechanical system provides all the services needed to make the building functional. This system is composed of water supply system (For human use and sanitation), Sewage disposal system (Removes wastes), Heating and air conditioning (Interior comfort), Electrical system (For power and lighting), Vertical transportation (Move from 1 level to another), and fire fighting system (To detect fires).

Francis Ching, the author of “Building Construction Illustrated” talks about means of egress in one of his chapters. According to him, and online sources, means of egress is an unobstructed path which allows individuals occupying the building to exit safely. The three components a means of egress (or a way to exit) need to have are: Exit access, Exit, and Exit discharge. The width of any exit depends on the number of people occupying a portion of the building (square feet per occupant). Ching stresses that any exit must be unobstructed, lit by emergency lighting, and as direct as possible for occupants to reach and exit court at ground level.

In chapter nine, Ching focuses on the components, rules, and requirements of stairs. Generally, stairs consist of risers and treads. To generate stairs you need to have the formula for it. First, take the height of floor finish to floor finish and divide it by the preferred riser height. The rounded off quotient is a whole number of risers. Then divide the total rise by the quotient and the answer would be the riser height. There is always a minimum of three rises per flight to prevent tripping.

Moreover, the width of the stairs depends on the number of people occupying the floor area. Typically, the minimum width is 44 inches  or 36 inches for 49 people or less.

Building code requires that the handrails must be on both sides on the stairs unless allowed otherwise, and should not be interrupted by a newel post. Most handrails should be 34 inches to 38 inches high and should extend 12 inches parallel to the landing.

Ching goes on to discuss the different types of stairs and their requirements. The straight-run stairs, which lead to one level to another without any winders. Quarter turn stair is an ‘L’ shaped. Half turn stair creates a semi circle at an angle of 180 degrees at intervening landings. Winding stairs are often restricted because of their small foot landing. Circular stair are usually helpful if the inner radius is twice the width of the stairs. And finally, spiral stairs are not recommended but they occupy the least amount of space.