30/5/12

So this morning,I went back over all the internal walls to see if the walls were plumb,A few were out mostly because the Trusses were put up yesterday.One wall was out 15mm at the top.The tack was removed and the wall was moved to the correct position.Then the air compressed nail gun was used to nail the wall to the blocking.After all the walls were checked for plumb.Me and Regan were told to rip some timber down at 21mm and 25mm thick lengths of 1995mm for packing in the lounge door frame,To do this we went to the joinery class to use the table saw.

We then nailed the packing lengths to the frame and removed the trimmer studs,A 10mm cut was made on the bottom of the lounge door frame so that when it comes to cutting the bottom plate for the door so You don't go cutting into the finished floor.The frame was then stood and tightly fitted between the hall way walls.A straight edge and level was used,then we used the 3.4.5 method to get a 90 degree angle,1200mm at one end,900 at the other and from each end point they should meet at 1500mm.Then the frame was nailed home.

After lunch,Me and a few others decided to fit the end dwangs to the frames,since all the walls are Plumb and square.For this I used the as powered Nail gun.I had to mark where some of the new dwangs were to go as there were no marks on some of the studs.

29/5/12

 So to start of the day,We went upstairs to learn about trusses,there are so many trusses/roofs to choose from,I learn't what a hip roof was,It is a roof that is pitched on all sides,On a slight angle.Here are a few definitions in regards to trusses;

Valley = Where two roof planes meet at an internal corner.
Apex/Ridge=Top point of the roof.
Hips=The angles that glide down on the roof.

After our little session in class,Me and a few others were to complete the finishing touches for the opening in the lounge for the sliding doors.I got the router out and clamped the guide that I had made for the straps to the stud and boundary joist.The router was set to the right depth,I nail punched in existing nails to stop the router from hitting the nails.Once the the timber was routered into I put the strap in place and nailed in 6 galv nails in each end of the strap,(More can be put in if the builder chooses to)

Next up I had to grab a nail plate and mark a pencil line around the outside at the top plates down to the stud next to the opening.Then chizled out the chunks and nailed the plate into place so it was all nice and flush with the exterior wall.

After lunch we returned to find out that we were to be blogging till 3pm,After this we finally got to install the roof trusses,now it's starting to look like a house.We followed the roofing plans provided by ITM,These are constructed by them and advanced machinery.Not any odd person can build them,You have to be qualified to be able to.The first truss is lifted up and tacked into place,then another one at the far end is tacked to it to prevent it from falling.The same process is done at the following end.Once both ends are even,a string line is then attached to the tops making it easier for the others to be set up.Next up,Perlins!

28/5/12

Big opening in the lounge/Kitchen

Mark went back over on how to use Moodle and Blogger ect,Due to a bunch of people who have not been keeping up to date with their work.Once we went back over this we had smoko, After smoko we moved back to the house build.I had a look at the board to see what my group was assigned to doing,(half of my group was here) me and Jesse,had to cut the lintel to the length of 3720mm,as the architects had botched up the plans,I ripped 2 90x45mm timber in lengths of 2315mm for the new studs,2 trimmer studs were cut at 1965mm,So double studs finally come into play in stead of blocks.

New dwangs will be made to match,I used a Skilsaw to cut the lintel down to the right length,Made a minor mistake then Cam came and showed us how it was done.A spirit level was used to get the studs all level/plumb.We then realised that the lintel looked slightly bowed.So I set up a dodger block.By the time this happened it was time to pack up and get ready to blog.Tomorrow we will have all the studs in the correct spots and nailed down using 4 inch reds steel nails with the paslode nail gun.And if the lintel is bowed then bracing will be installed and used to pull the bow out.

Amended Plans to comply with NZS3604

2 Trimmer studs along with a stud,another is yet to  be  put in place.

23/5/12

Me,Tom and Phil went out to Mt Bigs school with Dave today to work on an extentionFirst off we stopped off at Placemakers to pick up a few items such as nails,6 sheets of ply,H4..My jobs were to get measurements of the studs lining up with the rafters that slope on 8 degrees.Skilsaw was used on an 8 degree angle to trim the top of the stud so it would fit into place.4 inch nails were used to hold them in place.Dwangs were 355mm in length and were hand nailed in as the nail gun had no battery left.The ply on one side of the building was nailed off and finished.Now that the studs are all in place along with the dwangs it is ready for ply.

We then returned back to class,All of the house walls are now erected in place.I measured the large opening in the lounge for the big window.Turned out that the top of the opening was out 15mm and the bottom was out by 60mm,Which is a massive problem!,I used a sabre saw to cut through the nails holding the studs in place.Ear protection was used while cutting.Once these were out we re-marked the bottom plate.Hammered the studs to the right spots and nailed them into place,ready for the window to be put in.

Cam and Matt then picked up that the top plates on the exterior wall on the wet area side was out by like 5mm.This was fixed so now we have to string line our internal walls and then get them all plumb.A peice of 4x2 was used to move the exterior wall while we got the doger block all sorted and in place.

Exterior Walls.

One of the main walls in the hall way.



Photo taken from the lounge.



All walls are stood.

The walls went up quite fast as the numbering made it easier,We later on found out that the linen cupboard wall was not made up,So we are now in progress with the making of that wall.The internal walls are braced from the top plate to the exterior top plate.

22/5/12

So this morning,We went up stairs to have a quick revise over the different timbers we use in our country ect,After that we then went on to learning about the different treatments for timber that we use for our builds.H1.2,H3.1,H3.2,H.4 and H.5The higher the the number the more protected the timber is against Boreing,Fungus,Dampness basically rotting.H5 are used for piles and fencing along with H4.

H1.2 is mostly used for framing,It is protected from the weather above ground,But with an exposure to moisture.It is protected from borer and fungal decay.

H3.1 and H3.2 is exposed to weathering above ground level with periodic wetting,basically protected against Fungi and borers.
Also used for decks and external beams as long as it does not touch the ground.

H4 is exposed to the weather in the ground or in fresh water,ground contact or conditions of severe weathering,mostly used for fence posts and landscaping timbers.

H5 The highest treated timber,Used for ground contact.To be used for piles posts for decks.

We were given a small chart with a summary as to what each treatment does.Once we had been in the class for an hour we moved back to the EShed where we done our first Wall assessment.After this Me and Tom set out to correct yet another few walls,The first one have the lintel put in the wrong way and the second being that they used 90x45 for a lintel over a wide space when 6x2 was ment to have been used,plus gal nails were not used for the lintel.I cut the 6x2 up to the correct length,1670mm then used galv nails,nailed in at 300mm centers,4 nails for each 300mm row.Each row to be shot in different directions.This is done so the lintel has no way of coming apart at all.

After this I then finished nailling in the Second top plates,After the walls were plumb,A few others went around and used the plumb bob,We then braced From the inside and removed the outside braces as they will be an obstacle later on in the build.

21/5/12

We all started with 1 hour session in class in regards on how to use a plumb bob and how to straighten our frames using bracing.I never knew how to use a plumb bob or what it was untill today.It is quite an interesting tool to use.It is set up at the top of the Top plate,A nail is nailed in for the string line for the plumb bob to be attached to.The string is to overhang over the timber.A 100mm gap is something managable measurement to be used.A rule is then used to measure from the inside of the string to the outside of the exterior frame at the top plate.Once that measurement is gathered then the next one is to be taken from the bottom plate.If it is 103mm at the bottom then it is out.which would mean the bottom plate is sticking out an extra 3mm.

Dodger block-3 blocks with the same width and a string line with a nail at each end.

If there is rain and or wind then it is practical to use a bucket fill of water(Plumb bob in bucket) as this stops it from moving when trying to get the measurements.This is a highly accurate way of finding plumb for the walls.

Spirit level and straight edge is used at each corner of the building to get level,then bracing is nailed in at the top and can then be used as a guide to move the wall backwards and forwards.So that the right position can be found,Once this is done then you can brace to the boundary joists to keep it in the correct position.For the bigger spaces.Such as the lounge,bracing will come into the middle of the room(sercured to blocks to the floor) as the outside of the house will need to be wrapped with builders paper.It is also vital that the internal walls are inside the house before the last exterior wall is sercured in.

After being in the class room we went out to the workshop to continue squaring up the remaining walls.Once we had done that,Me and Brad,were given the task of setting up a dodgem block,on the outside of the wet area exterior walls.We removed a quarter of the tacked nails in the bottom plate then used a block and ran it between the string line and bottom plate to see how much we had to move the plate.At 600mm centers we nailed the plate down,A dogyu was used to move the bottom plate to the right spot.Then the nails were used.

16/5/12

Started the day with Pulling frames apart and moving studs to the correct places.New dwangs were made up for the walls as a few were quite messy and split.Once this exterior wall was done I moved on to with routering out the Large lintel in the lounge to fix a nail plate in place so it was flush with the timber,6 (35mm) gavlnised nails were required at each end of the strap to comply with NZS3604.These straps are there to prevent uplift in weathered conditions.The top jack trimmer studs and studs are chizled for a nail plate to be put in place.

Guide made for routering out a 4-5mm deep cut.

Nail Plate installed from top plate to stud and jack trimmer stud.

Once this was done we were instructed to measure the top and bottom plates to see if they were at the correct lengths,once this was done we then measured the diagonals there were a few frames that didn't match up so I used a sledge hammer to knock them to the correct place,once all measurements matched up a brace was then nailed diagonally to the frame on the out side.2 (100mm)hand nails were used to sercure the brace at the bottom and one at the top.Once these are all braced we then stood the frames up,They were pushed firmly up against the already standing wall then nail gunned together.Nails were then put into the bottom plate to the floor.Once we had atleast 3 walls standing,We made up the second top plates,Clamps were used to keep the timber from bowing.The second top plates overlap each wall to structure it and to keep joins away from other joins.