23/7/12

We all started down stairs in the classroom today.We have started our next assessment which is sealants,These are;Sillicone,Glues,Paint.Sillicone can be used on

-Metal Roofing.
-Flashings and downpipes.
-Lap joins in zincalunme,colourboard and other bhp decorative sheet metal.
-Skylights and extraction units.
-Air conditioning.
-Sheet metal.
-Aluminium,Brick,steel and Concrete.

Paints stop timber and sheet metal from rusting or rotting in weathered condtions over time.If timber is cut and the insides are exposed then paint,(primer) is then used to seal the timber to prevent moisture and rott from weaking the structural intergrity of the materials used on the job.

Sillicone basically fills gaps where water can have access to on the outside of the house.For roofing,under ridge caps and flashings for fireplace flues.This stops the capillary action,keeping the inside of the house safe from water.

After the classroom session we continued on with the build.I got stuck into the weather boards on 2 sides of the house,Cut lengths at 1955mm for one width of the house.Primed up the ends then put the boards up to the line on the building paper.Grabbed a level and sat that on top of the board then moved the other end to the correct height and nailed them off with the finishing air compressed gun,We nail the boards to each 600mm center stud.One half of the class went ahead and got into the scaffolding exercise that is required for an assessment.I will be doing that later on in the week.Mostly all the boards are up around the house now,We are ready to install flashings to the tops of the windows.One side of the house has been put on hold as the meter box needs to be put up on the house,once that has been sorted we should have it all done and ready to move on to roof iron.

11/7/12

So today we got as far as we could with the Facia.We are now waiting for the last piece to arrive to finish it off.I set up a string line with dodge and blocks to re check the outriggers.Some were out due to the timber warping,so i nailed some packers to the end of the outriggers to get a nice straight facia on the house.I then moved on to doing soffits.They were marked at 200mm centers for the flat heads to be nailed into the soffit plate.Then found the centers of the out riggers which were 900mm on the width of the house.and 600mm on the length of the house.Plastic slots were cut at 605mm for the soffit cement board to slot in to.

Getting the Facia to the correct height.

All the Facia that we have done.

I had ago at weather boards as well.The building paper was already chalk lined ready for me to put the weather boards up onto.Brad,used the skilly to cut a slot out of the board for where the back door was.Our ends were painted with primer to prevent rott and swelling by outside conditions.We should have the rest of the weather boards finished next week when we return,along with the Soffiets and facia when the rest of the materials arrive.

A few of the walls have been straightened on the inside as well due to people removing the internal bracing when they should not have.Now the rest of the ceiling battons are being nailed off ready for gib.

10/7/12

Matt taught the class about how water can get into an external wall on a house or a shed.Whether it be weather boards or iron cladding.There are 4 ways water can get into a wall.

-Capillary Action.
-Kinetic Energy.
-Surface Tension.
-Gravity.

Wind can push the water up into the cracks or grooves in the weather boards or iron cladding.Gravity lets the rain run down the boards on the outside,Whilst Capillary action is when water is obsorbed and seeps it's way up through the timber.There are 4 ways to weather proof a house or building.They are known as the 4 D's.;Deflection,Drainage,Drying and Durability.

Materials that have absorbant properties,Bricks,Clay tiles,Stone,natural roofing and twitch.These obsorb water,while the remainder of the water drains down the face of the materials.A ventilated Cavity allows the water that penetrates the cladding to drain down the inner face of the outer skin.A water proof wall wrap acts as a second line of defense against water ingress,A wall wrap must breath to allow vapour to escape.

Ceiling Battons.

After the small session in class.We all vacated back to the house build.We started fixing the weather boards to the house,Matt made up a guide as to where the chalk lines were to be snapped to on the wall wrap.Then galv Jolt heads,75mm were used.All the joins were mitred.They were directly fixed as the soffiets were 600mm wide.Therefore no cavity batton was needed for the build.Most of the ceiling battons are now installed.They were spaced at 600mm centers.As the Gib boards are 1200mm wide.The windows arrive this Friday ready for us to go ahead and put them in.We will also be finishing the remainder of the facia and soffiets then onto the rest of the weather boards.