Advanced Roofing - Wrap up

Today was the last day of TAFE fot this course. All i have now is to finish my time as an apprentice and get signed of on all the on site requirements before I get my trade so that's pretty exciting. The past few weeks of advanced roofing have been really valuable, my knowledge of the theoretical side of roofing has increased 10 fold and I feel pretty comfortable that I could tackle an oblique roof, develop the bevels and set it out with out to much difficulty. We've wrapped up the last two days of the course with a hexagon end roof and it finished up looking pretty schmick. I'm pretty stoked with myself in terms of how far i have advanced with my math, I remember the first few weeks of TAFE I wasn't excited to realise that this course involved a bit of math (I was a little bit nervous as it is the one subject I've always been pretty average on) but now I breeze through my calculations without much trouble at all. All in all, I've had a great time here, I've not only learnt heaps but also enjoyed my learning experience. Of course that's only possible with good teaching and good fellow apprentices so cheers to Paul and the other boys and whoever else was involved in TTT.

Truncated Hip

Our next project was the truncated hip. Using the roof we had already built for the dorma window, we installed a new plate cutting of the corner of the hip. We then went back to the got the workbook and calculators out figured out our cuts and measurements following the instructions on the work book. Rhys and myself had a little bit of trouble trying to work out the edge cut for the basted hips but then realised it would be half the edge cut for the creeper rafters on the normal roof for that pitch as the new hip is bisecting that angle again. It was an excellent little project that highlighted the skills we've obtained over the last few weeks in the advanced roofing.

Dorma windows

The last couple of days we've been we've been constructing a dorma window. We started by putting some ridge on a high shelf and using that as a hip end. We then laid plates on the floor accordingly, backworking to get the correct span based on the set height of the ridge on the shelf, and filled it in as usual but using a 45degree pitch and not fixing in a jack but leaving a 900mm space in the center as seen in the diagram created by Robert Spencer.

The next step was to decide on the details of the Dorma, particularly the height making sure it wouldn't be higher than the main pitch and the size of the window (in courses) keeping in mind the purpose of the window is to let in light. With all the details decided we framed it out and pitched the roof. It was a great little exercise and I learnt a few interesting things in the process including that the angle of the valley boards that meet on the ridge is the same as the purlin edge cut and the angle of the vb's on the jack is the creeper side cut.

Oblique Roofs

Another great week at TAFE last week. Our focus was oblique roofs which I first thought was going to be a bit tough but after the first day I realised it's not a whole lot different to a normal roof. In brief these are the steps we followed to set out the oblique end. First, calculate the length of the oblique end. Next we work out the positioning of the centering rafters (Lets call the half span A, Long side B, short side C and oblique end D), this can be done by adding (B + D) -C divided by 2) we call this run B or C. Use this run to measure back each way from the corner and you have the position of your Jack and centering rafters. To calculate the Ridge is B-A-runB. This is how to set out the oblique end

roof

The last few days have been great, learning heaps and cant wait to take it all back on site. We've been looking at the different members of the roof, their cuts and how to work them all out using math. I now thoroughly understand how to use the hancock roofing tables as well as learning a few very useful equations using cos and tan to calculate the rise and run of rafters and shortening for the creepers. Yesterday we spent most of the day doing the brown paper drawings which focused on different struts and the standatds that apply to them and I got a lot out of that because the struts is the one remaining part of the roof that I haven't had much to do with on site (usually chriso goes on with that while i do the eaves). Overall i very happy with what i've learnt overthe last couple of days

Back to the roof at TAFE and these first few days have been great. We’ve been focusing on the hip and valley roof which we’ve built on a small frame outside. I’ve really enjoyed doing the roofing units at TAFE cause it gives you a great opportunity to get your head around the theory side of the roof and also have a look at a few different ways it can be done, not just the way you do it on site. Although I’m pretty confident with most aspects of the hip and valley roof I haven’t yet had much practice measuring in and cutting props so it was great to have a go of cutting a few today. The roof we built included a scotch valley and a gable.

friday eaves

Today was pretty flat out. We were focussing on three different types of eaves; boxed, exposed and lined on the rake. I was good to spend a bit of time on some of the types of eaves we dont get a chance to do much of at work. Rhys and myself worked mainly on the exposed eaves and we ran into a few problems. Somehow the setout was messed up a bit which put everything else out adn had to be fixed up. I think our biggest problem was it coming down to too many cooks ruining the broth

roofing

The last few days of TAFE have been really valuable in tems of what I've learnt that I can take back on site. We've been focusing on a hip roof and afew different types of eaves. I've had the time to really unerstand the theary behind it now, not just carrying out the actions

Locks, skirting and two hanging doors

This week at TAFE has been great. The tasks were ones that we don’t get a chance to try on-site, they were challenging, involved fine-mode skills and as we worked individually, we could go at our own pace.

Hanging doors was quite challenging and to do it properly involved good set out, marking out and fine hand skills. In the end, my doors ended up looking pretty shitty, this was due to a couple reasons, but probably mostly to do with a lack of concentration, coming back from lunch and going straight back into it not stopping to think where I’m at, eager to finish and not switching back into ‘fine’ mode. Also, I lack a bit of practice with the electric planer, I had a go with it when I did a days shelving but apart from that I haven’t used it much, I think all I need there is just more practice.

The skirting was another challenging task that I quite enjoyed. Again it involved fine mode skills and some precise marking out to create a perfect join. The bull nose skirting into the double bull nose architrave and the scribed but joint in the internal corner took some time to get the hang of but after a few goes they were looking not too bad. It was an interesting task that really tested the fine hand skills.

Fitting door locks was another interesting task that took me a few goes to get it right. My biggest problem here was my marking out, the hole for the handle not being correctly positioned and the latch plate being fitted out of square or not central to the edge of the door. I also had to watch my drilling, making sure to keep it square to the door.

Overall it was a really enjoyable week at TAFE. We learnt a lot of new, interesting and highly relevant things that we don’t get a chance to do at work. I’m reasonably happy with my work, I made a few mistakes but I know where I went wrong and I’m looking forward for the chance to hang a few doors again, I’ll get it spot on next time.

Hanging doors, fitting locks and skirting

In this next block of TAFE we're focusing on a bit of fixing work including hanging doors, installing locks and fitting skirting. On monday we started of by watching a few videos about how to go about hanging a door and istalling a lock. We then went out side and chose a dooor frame and measured it up to install the door jambs. After we had fittted the door jambs and they were plumb we grabbed a door and fitted it to the jambs. This was done by putting the door in its place, scribing the overlap and planing it back. We were trying to get about a 2 1/2mm clearance on either sides and the top, mine ended up pretty close on the sides but too big a gap at the top. After we had fitted the doors we marked on the hinge edge were the hinges would be, which was 200mm from the bottom (two hinge lengths) and 150mm from the top (1 1/2 hinge lengths) and one in the centre of those. we then scribed and chisseled away the waste so the hinge finished flush with the edge of the door. We then transferred the hinge placements to the door jambs by wedging the door in it's place, scribe and chisseled. The hinges were then screwed in place and the door hung.

After hanging the door our next task was fitting skirting to a template. This proved pretty tricky but rewarding when you ended up with a nice finish. I had to have a few goes at some of the cuts but in the end I feel I'd got the hang of it or at least gotten a lot better.

We then moved on to installing a lock and door handle to a bit of timber. This wasn't too difficult, it mostly involved just following the instructions on the packet. Overall it's been an enjoyable couple days at TAFE so far and I've gotten a lot out of it.

The past week has been great in terms of learning and the task we did. Our focus was on the set out and installation of concrete formwork and our task involved the setting out of a monolithic house slab.

We used a real house plan from a Australind homeswest house and set the whole house out using pegs, hurdles and string lines. I was glad to have the opportunity to practise set out again because I wasn’t so confident about the process before but now I believe I’ve got it pretty well covered.

The task for the concrete form work involved quantifying the materials we needed, manufacturing the formwork, digging footings and assembly and installation of the form work. We worked in teams of three and I was pretty happy with the end result. We finished with some strong, rigid formwork. The only thing that could have been better, and I was responsible for most of this, was the ends of the formwork were not cut square during the manufacture stage which caused us a bit of lost time cutting it in the field.

We've also slotted in a few tests in the last few days on wall framing, explosive power tools and wall framing. It took a bit out of me doing it all in a week because there was a lot of revision to do but i think I did ok in all of them.

concrete formwork

This week at TAFE we are learning about setting up concrete formwork for a monolithic slab on ground. Yesterday morning we started with a bit of research about concrtete and formply. The research covered types of concrete and their properties as well as the safety issues involved with handling both products. Our next step was setting out the house, we have covered this before but I was grateful for the opportunity to go over it again. This afternoon after having set out all the external walls of the house we started measuring and cutting materials for the formwork.

Explosive powder actuated tool

Today we spent the majority of the day learning about the correct and safe use of explosive powder actuated tools. It was a pretty interesting unit and we learnt about choosing the correct fasteners for the job, depending on what material we are fixing to what, steel, wood and concrete. The main focus of this unit was safety as the gun is very much like a real gun. we learnt about the difference between direct and indirect firing (piston or no piston). After we had a few shots each we filled out the work book which reinforced what we'de learnt about the safety issues and types of nails and strength of charges.

cladding

On tuesday we started on the cladding unit. Ours was to research three different types of cladding, timber, hardie sheeting and fibre cement sheeting. As part of the research we looked at differnt fixings used for different products, safety issues and installation. After doing the research i found that the james hardie website was the most exhaustive in terms of providing information about the products they supply. After lunch we spent the remainder of the afternoon doing take offs for cladding, we found that working out the the amount needed for sheeting was far more involved than the workings out for the hardieplanks.
On wednesday morning we started the practical work on cladding. Firstly we made a height rod based on the height of the wall, the size of the cladding, the overlap and coverage of the cladding. We then installed stop battens on the internal and external corners of the walls for the battens to run into and transferred the marks from the height rod onto them. I worked with King1Daley on one section of the wall, we were using pine cladding and it turned out looking pretty good, we took the cladding up to the bottom edge of the window and we're gonna put sheeting above that to take it up to the top of the wall.

Wall Framing

Today we fininshed off the wall framing. I think everyone in our team is pretty impressed with what we've done cause it all finished lookin good and it all went really smoothly. I'm pretty happy with myself in terms of learning, i'm pretty confident I could do it all again without too many problems. I think the area that i need to spend a little more time on is the bracing and straightening once erected.

The next part of the course is external cladding so we will be looking at three different materials that can be used for cladding, researching them and then using them on the walls we built. For more detailed information, see contruction sequence below.

MANUFACTURING

1. Cut the top and bottom plates to the correct length of the walls.

2. Mark the plates at 450 centres for studs making allowances for windows (550x800) and doors (1200x900).

3. Cut studs at 2230 because the overall height is 2400. Take the two thicknesses of the plates off that are 2230.

4. Nail the studs into the plates using the straightest ones for must studs and door ways.

5. Measure and cut noggings. Cutting extra ones around doors and intersections of walls. Noggings and trimmers were also needed in the shower walls and bathroom.

6. Cut out sill trimmers and head trimmers needed at the bottoms of doorways and windows. Notching some trimmers in 10mm into the stud to transfer weight down the wall.

7. Measure jamb studs to be cut into the space between the sill trimmers.

8. Cut jack studs above head trimmers at doors and windows and below the sill trimmers of windows. Making sure that the spacing between jack studs is at 450 or less.

9. Square up the wall frame by measuring the diagonal distance from corner to corner. Once the two measurements are the same put in a brace at an angle between 30 and 60 degrees. Mark the timber where the brace will be and set the circular saw to 19mm and cut along the marks. Sit the brace in the cuts and put a nail in either side to hold it on. Do NOT nail the brace off.

10. Make an incision on the bottom plate either side of the door ways allowing them to be cut out easily later.

11. Over the top and bottom plates on each stud nail on short pieces of hoop iron strapping with clout nails. Also strap the end of the studs that frame the window.

ERECTION OF WALLS 1. Lift the frames into position on top of the sub floor.

2. Stand frames up in place according to the lines marked out on the floor.

3. Level the frame off with a spirit level and then shoot a diagonal brace from the top of the frame to the floor.

4. Put an adjoining wall into position to support the already standing wall.

5. Clamp the two walls together using G clamps and make sure that at the joints the studs are flush with each other.

6. Shoot the adjoining walls together and remove the clamps so they can be used for other frames.

7. Repeat this process until all the walls are upstanding in place.

8. Set up the string line around the bottom and top plates. Making the distance between the line and the plate a pencil thickness.

9. Once the bottom plates and line up and square, nail the plates down to the floor.

10. Use diagonal bracing to push the walls in places to line the top plate with the string line.

11. Use a joist to wedge between the end stud and the bottom plate of the adjacent wall, pressing down on the joist to push the top of the wall out so we were able to nail it plumb.

12. Nail metal braces off once all walls are square and level.

13. Measure and cut noggings and trimmers where needed and nail them in place.

14. Cut out bottom plates where doorways are and do any final adjustments needed.

wed & Thurs

The last few days have been really valuable in terms of learning. Yesterday we spent the major part of the day drawing details of wall framing on brown paper. We had to check the AS1684 (Australian Standards) and then draw details of of th e wall frames based on these standards. It was an great way to improve my tech drawing and also learn about the wall framing in a way that I wont forget.
Today we spent the whole day constructing the frames. We worked in teams of 3 and had about 3 walls to build per team. It all came together surprisingly easy and well, I think everyone new their stuff after all the drawings yesterday.

wall frames

For the next couple of weeks we'll be focusing on wall frames. Yesterday we started of by finishing up some of the portfolio work on the sub floor. Great for me to catch up as I missed the last day of the last block. We then got into the work book on wall frames, looking at the various components of wall frames and how they come together. We also had a look at as1684 at the australian minimun standards for wall framing. We finished of the day by getting started on the drawings for the wall frames.

Today we were straight out there cutting and marking top and bottom plates. We also had to finish of some flooring, using hardies compressed cement sheet. Again we finished of the day with the drawings.

Tuesday, Wednesday

Over the past few days we've been going flat out constructing a sub-floor. Its great to put into practice what we've been planning in the classroom. We started by setting out the borders of the floor and then and then digging the appropriate amount of holes the stumps based on the max span allowable. We then put the stumps in and plumbed them up. Next we had to mark the hieght on the stump using a laser dumpy and then cut off the tops with a power saw. Doesn't sound like much for two days but it also included working out max spans and bearer positions and sizes and things like that in the classroom. I'm pretty happy with my understanding of what needs to be done and my ability to do it so far.

set out and sub floor monday & friday

On friday we started by creating a site safety map for the outside work areas. After lunch we had a small test based on the 'carry all' from the last project, I think I went ok but a few questions stumped me. In the afternoon we started looking at the set out for a sub -floor.

On monday morning we started drawing up a stump, bearer and joist plan for a sub floor. This involved looking at a plan and deciding the must bearers stumps or joists and then working out how many more in the spaces based on the minimum spans.

After we had drawn the plans we wrote up a take off sheet and quote sheet to work out what we would order and what we would charge as if it were an actual job. The take off sheet included the number and actual length of the materials as well as details about the set out while the quote sheet included the orderable lengths, labor charges, Gst, overheads and profits

thursday

Today, as it was stinkin hot, we stayed indoors and did a lot of theory. We started up by finishing up the work book on levveling and set out. After smoko, we had a look at the building standards hand out. There was a lot of relevant info in there so I'm gonna have to go through it again but it's also good to keep as a reference.

After lunch, we went through the work books on sub flooring, focussing on estimating and ordering materials needed for a floor of set parameteres. A lot of math involved but managed to get through it without too many difficulties.

dumpy tuesday

Today we spent familiarizing ourselves with the dumpy, using it to plot rise and fall and to measure distance. In the morning, in teams we plotted the rise and fall of the perimiter of the TAFE campus using the dumpy. After completing the circut we were only 45mm out over a 900m course so we were reasonably happy with that. We then plotted our results on a chart that included a line graph and the rise and fall of each 60m segment of the perimiter.

After lunch we focused on using the dumpy to measure distance. This can be done by positioning the dumpy over a mark (using a plumb bob for accuracy) and the staff at the point to which we plan to measure the distance. We then take the measurement on the staff between the top and bottom stradia marks and every centimetre equals 1m. Using the dumpy, the distance between the points we measured was 56m, we then double checked with a long tame and the distance was 55.8m.

Tommorrow we are going to take a look at setting out

Tafe "08

First day back at TAFE in 08 and feeling refreshed and ready to get into it. We started of by taking a look at what we'll be doing over the few weeks, levelling, setting out and sub flooring.

Our first task was to take a look at different types of leveling devices available to us and then researching one of them individualy and presenting our findings to the rest of the group. I chose the plumb bob and it was quite interesting to find that this tool dated back to the ancient egyptians. It was a good exercise to familiarise ourselves to the tools available to us.

After lunch we had a go at setting up and checking a dumpy level for level. This involved driving to pegs into the ground at either side of the dumpy, getting them level and then setting up the dumpy at the other side of one of the pegs and checking ig they still sight as level. The link below has more detailed instructions on how to check the accuracy of the dumpy level.

http://www.cmiindustries.com.au/dumpycalib1.html