GCED Quiz
At some of the past Timber Frame and Log Home Shows, John has given a seminar titled "The Successes and Failures of Contracting your Timberframe Home." At the end of that seminar, the attendees we're given a "GCED Quiz." This is that quiz. While it is a quiz, it is also meant to give you a heads up on areas you need to think about if you do decide to contract your own home. To see the answers, click on the question.
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Show All | Hide All- Do you know what information is required to receive a building permit in your area?
- What are three of the numerous factors considered when effectively laying out a jobsite?
- Can you read a plan? Can you define the terms: floor plan, elevation, section, roof drawings, schedule, foundation drawing, etc., and can you rectify dimensions or information from one to another?
- Can you define the term "grade"? Specifically how it relates to elevation, commonly referred to as "100 grade" or (100'-0").
- Can you name or draw four of the numerous roof styles? Additionally, can you identify the slope of a roof using a mathematical term commonly used by carpenters?
- Can you define the terms: footing, foundation wall, pier, post pad, brick ledge, pilaster, #4 rebar, and #6 rebar?
- Footing: the reinforced base, or bottom, of the entire foundation; usually concrete, wider than the wall or pier it supports to distribute loads over a wider area.
- Foundation wall: a reinforced wall, usually concrete, below or partially below ground, which supports the perimeter or other structural elements of the building. The foundation wall sits on the footing.
- Pier: a reinforced vertical support column, usually concrete, designed to support point loads independent of a foundation wall.
- Post pad: a horizontal reinforced square or rectangular section of concrete designed to support point loads independent of the footing.
- Brick ledge: the portion of the foundation wall designed to support stacked brick or stone, usually the outer 4"-5" of the wall and usually 4"-5" less in height, thus forming a ledge.
- Pilaster: a reinforced vertical support column, usually concrete. A thickened area of the foundation wall designed to support point loads, typically on the interior side of the foundation wall.
- #4 or #6 rebar: the most common type of reinforcing steel used for concrete foudnations, #4 bar is 1/2" diameter, #5 bar is 5/8" diameter, #6 bar is 3/4" diameter. Each # is 1/8" difference in diameter.
- Do you know how to "square" a foundation wall? Do you square before or after it is poured with concrete?
- Do you know how to "square" the sub-floor? Do you square before or after the plywood is applied?
- Do you know what a "rough opening" (RO) is?
- Can you name two factors which affect RO's?
- Can you define the term "egress"? Specifically how it relates to rooms within a single family residence.
- Do you know the difference between a post and a beam?
- Can you define the terms: dead load, live load, point load, and uniform load?
- Dead load: a load permanently applied to a structure and acting at all times. (ie. the weight of the materials)
- Live load: a variable load on a structure, not constant in application. (ie. the wind or snow)
- Point load: a load where live and dead loads are concentrated into a single point. (ie. a post of a timber frame)
- Uniform load: a load where live and dead loads are evenly distributed along the entire bearing surface. (ie. a stud framed wall)
- Can you define the term SIP?
- Do you know the difference between a hot roof and a cold roof?
Every jurisdiction is different. What information is required to receive a building permit varies greatly from state to state, county to county, or city to city. Set up a meeting with your local building official to discuss your plan. Once they get a feel for the breadth and scope of your timber home, they will be able to guide you in the required information needed. The local building official is who you need to satisfy in order to receive a building permit.
There are many factors to consider when laying out the job-site. We will focus on three essential factors: the setbacks from property lines, the existing water table, and the orientation of the home. The setbacks should be a known dimension, commonly 10' - 15'. This means that no part of the house can be within 10' of the property line. Most common violations are the overhangs of the roof, a portion of the driveway, or a section of the deck. The existing water table will determine the depth of the foundation or type of foundation . The orientation of the home depends on many things. Although the view is important, consider the prevailing winds, any solar gain from the travel of the sun. and elevation changes from the access road to your driveway. Remember, water always flows downhill.
This seems like a silly question but most mistakes are the result of not reading or understanding the plan. The floor plans, or plan view, show the rooms from above. These plans usually display the majority of the dimensions and highlight certain areas, with "tags", that will be shown in greater detail in other sections of the overall plan. Find a specific window on the floor plan and then try to find that window in the elevations and schedules. Find a "tag" on the floor plan and then try to find that "tag" in the subsequent section and detail drawings. This is called rectifying information from one type of plan (floor plan) to another (elevation).
The term "grade" can be used many different ways. Generally, grade is a horizontal reference line by which all vertical dimensions are established. Sounds easy, the catch is that some vertical dimensions are below grade. Here is how it works, the sub-floor of the house is generally used as the horizontal line representing grade. We refer to this line as "100 grade". Mathematically it is written as 100'-0", or 100 feet and 0 inches. The peak of the house, shown on the elevation, may be dimensioned as 129'-6". This means the peak is 29 feet and 6 inches above the sub-floor. The top of the concrete footing may be dimensioned as 90'-0". This means that the top of the footing is 10' below the subfloor. This vertical dimension is below grade but since grade is 100'-0", the footing dimension is still represented as a positive number.
Common roof types are gable, hip, shed, dutch-gable, dutch-hip, gambrel, mansard, etc. The pitch of a roof is always represented by a rise in run formula. If a gable roof is referred to as having a 8 in 12 pitch, this means that for every 12" of horizontal travel, the slope will rise 8". The rise of the roof is always recorded first, followed by the run. This is because the run is a constant, it will always be 12". The rise varies by design. The higher the rise in relation to the run, the steeper the slope of the roof becomes.
In simple terms:
Foundation walls are notorious for being out of square and out of plumb. Walls should be squared, before the concrete is poured, at the bottom of the forms as well as the top. This will help insure the walls are plumb. After the forms are filled, the walls should be checked again and while the concrete is still wet, adjusted back to square. This procedure can only be done at the top of the forms because the bottoms will now be too heavy to move.
The sub-floor is a combination of three components, the sill plates, the floor joists, and the sub-floor (plywood) itself. The sill plates are bolted to the top of the foundation and must be "squared' rather than simply following the edge of the foundation wall. The floor joist system is attached to the sill plate and checked for square and plumb. Once the floor joist system is attached, the sub-floor is applied. It is imperative that the overall dimensions of the existing floor joist are not allowed to bow outward while laying the subfloor. This will result in a sub-floor with incorrect length and width dimensions. The last step is to check the deck for square.
A rough opening (RO) is the length and width dimension needed in order for a door or window to fit properly into the allowed space.
The manufacturer of the door or window and the thickness of the finished floor. A 3'x3' casement window has different rough openings from one manufacturer to another. Switching from Pella™ to Andersen™ windows will change the RO sizes. The RO height for doors assumes a 3/4" thickness for your finished floor. If you decide to use natural stone on your floors, or a gypcrete floor to house radiant floor heating tubes, you will need to adjust your RO upward due to the increased thickness above the sub-floor.
Egress: the act of coming or going through an exit.
When building a new home, all bedrooms need at least one egress window. Any habitable space in the basement needs access to an egress window. In
order for a window to be considered an egress window, it must conform to the following restrictions. It must be at least 24" tall, at least 20"
wide, the sill must be no higher than 44" from the floor, and contain a net open area of 5.7 square feet.
In its simplest terms, a post is a vertical member in a timber frame. A beam is a horizontal member of a timber frame.
In simple terms:
A Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) is two sheets of plywood, or OSB, bonded together with a foam core. The foam core acts as the center web of an I-Beam, while the outer and inner plywood skins act as the top and bottom webs of the I-Beam. The panels are very stiff and resist lateral loads very well.
These are terms used when discussing SIP roof systems. Any roof, where the attic space is vented, is a cold roof. Any roof, which is not vented, is considered a hot roof. Since SIP roof systems do not have attic spaces, they are considered hot roofs.
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