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Bird's-Eye View: The Science Behind Construction And Contracting


About Me

Bird's-Eye View: The Science Behind Construction And Contracting

Hi! I'm AJ and I have an unusual hobby. I love abseiling down buildings - legally, of course. It is a growing tourist activity and I have been lucky enough to try it in many parts of the world. When you are on top of a building and then making your descent, you really have time to admire the overall construction and materials used. It is actually mind-boggling to think about the builders and machines who have put together such amazing architecture. I've been reading quite a few books lately about construction techniques and I'm quite in awe of the science involved. I hope that you find the science behind construction as fascinating as I do. Thank you for your time.

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Two tips for those who want to build their own house

If you hope to build your own house in the very near future, you might find the two tips below to be quite useful.

Buy top-quality structural timber

Not every material used for the construction of a house needs to be of the highest quality. However, one type of material which you should not scrimp on is structural timber. When the time comes to start searching for timber for sale, you should seek out the highest-quality wood available.

Finding this wood is important for the following reason: structural timber will serve as your house's 'skeleton' and, as a result of this, will play a determining role in the life span of many other important features of the building, including the roof and the walls (as well as the layers of plaster and paint placed over these walls).

A house's structural framework performs several critical functions; in addition to supporting the roof materials (and therefore preventing these materials from sagging, as well as overloading the foundation and causing it to crack), it also helps to stabilise the walls.

If instead of buying high-quality timber, you choose a cheaper variety, the timber may end up deteriorating prematurely and developing cracks. These cracks could impede the framework's ability to perform the aforementioned functions, which could, in turn, result in a variety of serious issues, such as a sagging roof, a cracked foundation, cracked walls and damaged wall plastering.

Check if the plot contains expansive soil before you start building

Before the building work begins, you should find out if your plots contain any expansive soils (like clay, for example). Expansive soils are ones which swell when saturated with water and then shrink when that water evaporates.

Analyzing your soil content is important for the following reason: when a house is built on an expansive type of soil, its foundation may end up caving in when the soil below it shrinks after a period of water-induced expansion. If this happens, the house may then become structurally unstable and develop cracks in the walls and other structural damage.

However, if you know in advance that the soil is expansive, you and your contractor can then take precautionary measures, which will prevent it from damaging your house in the future.

For example, your contractor may suggest replacing the soil with a less-expansive variety, or alternatively, they may recommend fitting extra structural supports into the foundation to keep it stable even during periods when the soil underneath it swells and then shrinks.