Finishing the floor

Today we spent most of the time cutting the joists for the floor and nailing them into the bearers. Again it was so bloody hot. Once we finished the the joists we moved right on to the sheet florring. First we had to measure the floor to workout how many sheets we needed. Then we had to cut the sheets up the way we had to and then we screwed them into the joists. I thought it was great because it looks hell good. After lunch we finished off our drawings and write down a few of the main rules because we need to know and remember what we have learnt in the last two weeks. Also we have to remember the rules of AS1684 because it will be in our test the next time we come to TAFE which is in two weeks time.

One dead, two dying and three remaining

Today was a little different from the past three days. We had a bad start because I believe that we didn't really have a meeting at the start of the day to discuss what each of us were going to do. Not only that but Rhys decided that the bearers were out by 20mm and that we should make it right or try and work around it but I think that a couple of the guys might of had a big one last night and with the hot sun wanted to just smash in the joists and get out of there. Me and Rhys went of and started to cut the joists and by smoko were a little pissed because only two joists were nailed in and they had to be pulled out because the joists were not in line with the outside of the walls. That pissed Rhys right of because he was telling everyone that in the first place but no one listerned. After smoko Greg died in the ass because he was struggling with a stomich bug and I've got to say he was not looking good. Then fiftheen minutes later Mick decides that he is aqlso sick and goes home also. This only left me, Rhys and Rob. All we did was to finally get the end joists inline with one another and then we went back into the classroom to start our drawings. We sped through our drawings and got alot done but when it came to dwaring up the steel stump we had to go to B block to do some research. That also went well and I feel that even though we got of to a pretty bad start it ended being quite a productive day.
The thing that we had to remember today was the AS1864 which is what the rules are for building the floor.

Building the floor

We started yesterday on consturting the floor. Firstly we all helpped each other to get the dimentions so that we could get the stringline happening. That involved cutting pegs, making herdles and smashing them all into the ground to prepare the stringling. We then got out the dumpy and got the high point and transferred that hight to the rest of the herdles. Then we got out the stringline so that we had the perimetre of the house. It was a every proud moment between the boys because we managed to get the stringline right the first time and it was bang on, we were perfect to the millimetre. Then we went back into the classroom to workout together how many stumps, bearers and joists we needed. Then we went back out and me and Rob started to dig the holes and Rhys and Greg cut the stumps and nailed the sole plates to the bottom of them. Before we left me and Rob put in one stump perfectly so it would become the reference point for the rest of the stumps. The next day again me and Rob worked together to dig the holes and put in the stumps, made them level but this time, Greg suggested that we make the stumps a little high so that we could come back and cut them down to the right size. This ened up to be a good idea because it waas easier and in the end saved alot of time. Rhys and Greg worked together doing the same thing me and Rob were doing and we finnished that job pretty quickly. Me and Rob then went around with the electrical dumpy and got the right hight for every stump and then we got out the circular saws and cut all the stumpys to the right lenght. Me and Rhys started to cut the bearers and passed them to the boys and they started to nail the bearers to the stumps. That's where we stopped because the other class came in and started to destroy what they had built. We will commence tomorrow.

Friday and Monday

On Friday we started off with doing up our site plan, safety plan and a construction plan for levelling and set out. That took up half the day. Then after lunch we sat our second assessment and that went on until afternoon tea. I think that I may of done ok in that. Then for the last hour and a half we learnt all about stumps, bearers and floor joists. This is all part of the constuction of a sub floor.

Today we spent most of the day by doing a more full on version on the sub floor. We used the Australind plan the same one that we used the other day. I enjoyed today because I feel that I remembered what I learnt the other day and I found it pretty easy. The only thing that pissed me off was at the end when we were doing the cutting list and the quote sheet. The reason why is when we got on to the quote sheet and were doing the floor joists most of the boys had different things written down so none of us had the same answer. But I guess I still learnt something so it wasn't all bad.

Friday and Monday

Flooring in the heat

Today we started on flooring. At first we got a start with our work books about levelling and set out until 10:00. When we got back we then started talking about building codes and then went on to flooring. I found that part of the day hell interesting because I can see that thinks are all coming together. When we were talking about the building codes and weight distrubtion you can see why things are done in certain ways. When we got on to the flooring we talked about the different ways in which we could construct a deck. I like that section because it seems so easy to do if you plan it right and it should all clme together. After lunch we were doing excersises to learn how to order the right amount of timber and martials for the job that you would be doing. I like that part because there is a bit of maths involed not too hard and you can see how big a job will be after you calculate how much martial you need. The rest of the day was a bit of a lose for me because it was so bloody hot. The temperture must of been 39c it was that hot. I feel stuffed.

Flooring

Setting and levelling the building perimetre

Today we started out by getting all the gear nessary to set out the the boundery and perimetre of the building. When we got there we started by setting out the boundery. We decided to make one side of the boundery 30m. Once we got that done we set up the dumpy at the start of the string line. Then we used the dumpy to measure 61"54' to the left and then we put out another string line 9.8m. Then looking at the map we had to make a parallel string line 7m from the boundery. The next step is important to figure out the corner for the front of the house. From the back boundery we measure out four metres which is the side of the back of the house. Then we Added on another 8.390m for the lenght of the actual side of the house. Then we put those two measurments together to get 12.390m which passed over the parallel line which we made earlier. We then got the carpenters' square on the 30m and square up the line that that passes over the parallel line and that is the exact make which the corner for the front of the house gose. Once that line is secured we came off 4m from the boundery line and put in another peg which is for the back corner of the house. Then we measured from the peg 12.470m and then placed another peg for the far end corner of the house. While all the time making sure that the string line was parallel for the boundery line. The fourth and final peg was worked out by exactly the same as the front line. We measured from the boundery line, came in 4m and then added 8.390m. We got the carpenters' square and the boundery line with the new string line and at the end of that line was final coner of that house. We then constructed herddles to place around each peg about 300mm off the pegs. Then with the dumpy we agreed on a random hight for the cross members and we levelled out all the cross members until they were all the same. After that we put screws into the cross members in line of the pegs and then put string lines on two sides of the house and they became the true lines. But we made sure that the string lines were parallel from the boundery lins because they were fixed and could not be moved. We did the same thing on the otherside of the house with lining up the screws with the pegs. Then we measured from one string line to the other that was parallel to it. We measured one side and then the other and if it was wright we measured from corner to corner and if that was wright that means that all our measuring was spot on. But it didn't quite work like that we did have to adjust a little but we did get there in the end.

Survying and distances

Today kick ass. We started off by survying the whole perimetre of Tafe to find all the rises and falls. Then we got back and put it all into a graph and a table. In my group was Rob and Mick and we were hell better then Greg and Rhys. The thing I loved about that excersise was that as we were graphing we could clearly see how the ground was rising and falling.

In the afternoon Paul taught us how to use the Dumpies to find the distances between two points. That was really good because it gives you a close estermation of the distance. Our Dumpy was only 300cm off over 63m which isn't all that bad.

Tomorrow we are going to learn how to mark out the floor of a house and I can't wait.

First day back at Tafe

Today was the first day back at Tafe for the year. We did a fair bit today which had a lot to do with leveling. We spent some time researching different types of levels and I chose to do the spirit level. Then once we had researched it we wrote about it and then we went back to class and did a presentation. It went pretty well and then we all wentto lunch.

After lunch we went outside and with the Dumpys, starffs and tripods and learnt how to use them. I liked it because it was easy to learn and we did a couple of exercises which was great because I find when you use something for the first time and you now what you are doing it's a good feeling to know that you have achieved something.

After that we went back into the classroom and as a team we wrote about what we did. How to set up the Dumpys and how to level. Tonight I will type up what we did and will hand it in tomorrow morning.