Old construction – new construction

Although houses being constructed today may look similar to much older ones the similarity is not much more than skin deep. Behind the traditional brickwork are to be found improved mate­rials, higher standards of design and a wealth of technological innovation. If you're going to take on either those in the building trade or the vendors of dwellings on an approximation to equal terms, it helps to know how houses got to be the way they are. This is particularly true if, like most of us, you buy a house that's been resisting the elements and the fates for a good many decades. And if you're a 'new-build'-owner, you need to know how houses are being designed and built today. This is covered in the chapter on building techniques, but for now here is a rough guide.

Older houses are invariably provided with foundations by a widening of the brick walls below ground level, in modern houses, the walls are usually built on a concrete strip, but they can also be erected on a raft, a slab of concrete under the whole house, or on concrete columns called piles. The concrete may be reinforced with steel mesh or rods.

A damp-proof course (DPC), in which an impervious layer is set low down in the walls to prevent moisture rising through the brickwork, will probably be absent in properties built before the end of the 19th century or even later. Early DPCs of tar and slate have been replaced by rolls of polythene.

Since 1945 all walls have been double-skinned, with a cavity that acts as a barrier to the entry of damp and the escape of heat. The two walls are held together by the placing of metal or plastic ties at regular intervals between them during construction. Cavity walls are rarely found in houses built before 1919, but those erected between the wars may be either solid or cavity construction.

Both leaves of cavity walls used to be brick, but clinker and ash breeze blocks subsequently came into use for the inner skin. These have the infuriating characteristic of being almost impossible to get a screw-hold into, making the attachment of wall furniture extremely difficult. However, breeze blocks have now been replaced by a range of aerated concrete blocks which provide better insulation and take wall fixings more readily.

Modern homes are well insulated. The wall cavities can be filled with insulation foam or beads, or insulation board can be inserted during construction. Insulation of lofts and lagging of pipework is regarded as essential.

Stone lintels were formerly widely used to support brickwork over openings such as doors and windows. Now they have generally been replaced by rolled-steel joists (RSJs), reinforced concrete or lightweight steel box sections.

Floors have traditionally been supported on joists, lengths of timber set into the external walls and supported at ground level in the centre of the house by sleeper walls. Nowadays the joists are likely to be set into metal brackets, called hangers, fixed to the walls or to other joists. However, many modern homes will have a solid rather than a suspended floor at the ground level. This is a slab of concrete into which a damp-proof membrane (DPM) of plastic or bituminous material has been inserted. Suspended floors will now usually be covered with sheets of plywood or chipboard that slot together, rather than with the softwood boards that were once common. Suspended floors have the advantage of being warmer but the disadvantage of being susceptible to rot in places that are never seen. Solid floors are cheaper, but harder if you fall on them, and also colder, unless polystyrene insulation board has been sandwiched in the concrete during construction.

Internal walls are no longer made of brick but are either blocks or stud partitions, timber framing covered with plasterboard. The lime, sand and horsehair plaster that is still found on the walls of old houses has been superseded by gypsum formulations, and the wooden laths that provided a base for the plaster by expanded metal lath, a kind of metal trellis. But today ceilings and walls are less likely to be plastered than to be dry lined by having plasterboard fixed against them and then skimmed with plaster or decorated directly.

Roof construction has changed dramatically in recent years. Flat roofs, which at one time could be made weatherproof only with sheet lead, are now common, thanks to the introduction of bitumen-coated felts and special plastics. A traditional pitched roof is constructed on the site and consists of lines of rafters set at intervals and supported by purlins running the length of the roof. Where the rafters reach the apex of the triangle they are fixed to a ridge board. The bottoms of the rafters rest on the wallplate and are tied across the house by the timbers that act as ceiling joists. Purlins are supported by struts and joists by hangers. This method of construction has largely given way to that of truss roofs. These are a series of timber triangles, jointed with toothed metal plates in a factory before being transported to the site, where they are assembled in place. Truss roofs need no support from internal walls and are quick and cheap to install. Their chief disadvantage is that the triangles are so narrowly spaced that the loft becomes an unusable tangle of timber.

Externally, roofs appear to have changed little. The exposed ends of the rafters are still usually hidden by a fascia board running along the top of the wall, and the space underneath may he enclosed by a wooden soffit. At the gable end, the ends of the purlins and ridge board can be closed off with a barge board. Roofs are now under-felted with waterproof material to guard against leaks. On top of this go the battens to which slates and tiles are fixed. Concrete tiles have superseded clay ones as they resist the weather better. The metal strips called flashings in valleys and around chimney breasts were traditionally made from sheet lead, but nowadays zinc and aluminium are common.

Inside the house, cast-iron and lead pipes have been discarded in favour of those made of copper, stainless steel and uPVC. A stag­gering variety of building boards such as hard board, chipboard and blockboard has been substituted for solid timber. Doors and win­dow frames are now made from uPVC and aluminium as well as from wood, while heating is controlled by a microchip-operated boiler, radiators and storage heaters rather than by a sooty drudge with a firelighter in one hand and a poker in the other. Internal sanitation, trouble-free drainage and instant access to electricity and gas have all come to be regarded as everyday necessities.

2. LANGUAGE

LEVEL A

Ex. 1. Learn to recognize international words. Check the pronunciation in the dictionary.

Pneumatic, guarantee, ventilation, canal, strategy, provision, concept, drainage, conducter, decade,technique, polythene, interval, bituminuous, polystyrene, sanitation.

Ex. 2. Match words in the left column with words in the right column to make word combinations:

Rubble conductivity

Finishing material

Damp-proof partition

Inner board

Insulation course

Rolled-steel wall

Sleeper skin

Suspended felt

Softwood floor

Stud joist

Bitumen hold

Heat masonry

Screw foam

Ex.3. Match the word to the correct preposition.

1. protect	a) against
2. keep	b) into
3. divide	c) off
4. provide	d) with
5. preserve	e) from
6. prevent	f) out
7. distinguish	g) to
8. find	h) at
9. concern	i) for
10. lead	j) by
11. reinforce	k) on
12. borrow
13. deal
14. take

Ex. 4. Insert appropriate preposition:

The concrete may be reinforced ____ steel mash or rods.

An impervious layer is set low down in the walls to prevent moisture rising ____ the brickwork.

Stone lintels were used to support brickwork ____ openings such as doors and windows.

Nowadays the joists are likely to be set ____ metal brackets.

Hangers are fixed ____ the walls or other joists.

Modern homes have a solid rather than a suspended floor ___ the ground level.

Internal walls are no longer made ____ bricks.

The lime, sand and horsehair plaster are still found ___ the walls of old houses.

The bottoms of the rafters rest ___ the wallplate and

are tied _____ the house by timbers.

Ex. 5. Give English equivalents.

Огнеупорный материал, бутовая кладка, дополнительная нагрузка, различные отделочные материалы, защитить несколькими слоями, нулевой цикл, сертификат о завершении строительства, строительство «под ключ», проектно-изыскательские работы, местные и иностранные подрядчики, традиционная кирпичная кладка, непроницаемый слой, теплоизоляция труб, скатная крыша.

LEVEL B

Ex. 6. Find words in the texts with the similar meaning to the words below.

To build, stage, tier, demand, drainage, fire-proof, help, replace, reveal.

Ex. 7. Give definitions to the following words:

Foundation, sleeper wall, rafter, pitched roof, concrete strip, ridge board, strut, joist, purlin, truss roof, turn key construction, suspended floor, solid floor, plumbing.

Ex. 8. Mark true and false statements:

1. Nowadays buildings are constructed either for housing or for industrial purposes.

2. The excavation is dug after the foundation walls have been constructed.

3. As a rule the contractor doesn’t supply spare parts during the maintenance guarantee period.

4. In modern houses the walls are usually built on a concrete strip.

5. A damp-proof coarse prevents moisture rising through the brickwork.

6. There are few double-skinned walls in modern houses.

7. Cavity walls are rarely found in houses built before 1919.

8. It is very difficult to get a screw-hold into breeze blocks.

9. Modern homes are poorly insulated.

10. Stone lintels are used nowadays to support brickwork over openings such as doors and windows.

11. Nowadays joists are likely to be set into metal brackets, called hangers.

12. Truss roofs need support from internal walls and are quite expensive.

13. Roofs are now under-felted with waterproof material to guard against leaks.

Ex. 9. Translate from Russian into English.

1. Люди строили свои первые укрытия, чтобы уберечься от ненастной погоды и поэтому эти строения были примитивны.

2. Фундамент предотвращает соприкосновение стен и полов с землей.

3. Строительство «под ключ» - это, как правило, долговременное предприятие, в которое могут быть вовлечены как иностранные , так и местные субподрядчики.

4. Современные дома в основном строятся на бетонном ленточном фундаменте, но так же могут стоять на сплошном фундаменте или на сваях.

5. В домах, построенных в конце 19 века и ранее, отсутствует гидроизоляционная прокладка с непроницаемым слоем, которая сейчас используется для предотвращения проникновени влаги сквозь кирпичную кладку.

6. Теплоизоляция труб является необходимым условием в современном строительстве.

7. Прокатные стальные балки используются для поддержания кирпичной кладки в оконных и дверных проемах.

8. Традиционная скатная крыша строится из стропил, расположенных через определенные интервалы и соединенных прогонами по всей длине крыши.

9. Крыши покрываются водонепроницаемым материалом, чтобы предотвратить протекания.

Ex.10. Translate the texts using a dictionary and then retell it.

BEAMS

Beams are very important members in many engineering structures and machines. A beam is a structural member that is subjected to forces acting perpendicular to it.

Common examples of beams are the steel beams used to support floors in buildings. In some cases of beams, the load will not be perpendicular to the beam but will act more at an angle.

Beams are usually classified according to the way in which they are supported. A simple beam is one that lies on two supports at the ends. In a built-in beam the ends are so fixed so that they cannot turn when a load is applied. A beam can be built-in at one end and simply supported at the other. Sometimes the ends of beams in structures and machines are built-in but not enough that the beam might be considered fixed.

Acantilever beam is one that is fixed at one end and free at the other. If a beam lies on more than two supports, it is called a "continuous beam".

THE HISTORY OF BRICKWORK

Brick is a universally used structural material which in modern times is made by pressing clay into blocks and burning them to hardness. Bricks in their most primitive form were not burned, but were hardened by being dried in the sun. In that form they were utilized during many centuries and are used even today in regions with the proper climate. Brick probably existed in times of which no record remained.

Since the Middle Ages, brickwork has been in constant use everywhere, in every sort of construction and in every architectural style. Good bricks are practically idestructible by fire or atmospheric action and more durable than stone. At the beginning of the 19^th century. Mechanical processes came into everyday use and by the end of the century had almost entirely replaced the ancient hand-fashioned methods.

Contemporary bricks are rectangular blocks with the standard dimensions 2 by 3 by 8 in. They are produced in a great variety for widely different purposes.