CONST MTRL & TESTING: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS

courtesy of Glass by Design

 Other materials used in construction have minor responsibilities but they are still necessary especially for aesthetic purposes. These materials are seldom considered for load bearing materials, and more on the aesthetic design of the structure.

PVC pipes courtesy of India Mart

Click here for downloadable notes on Miscellaneous Materials

The following the miscellaneous materials in construction:

1. Glass
2. Asbestos
3. Thermocol
4. Plaster of Paris (POP)
5. Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC)
6. Wallpaper
7. Bitumen and Tar 
8. Aluminum

Fiber Reinforce Concrete courtesy of Quora

CONST MATRL & TESTING: SURFACE PROTECTIVE MATERIALS

courtesy of Alton Worldwide

Surface Protective Materials are thin films applied on surfaces of any material for the purpose of protecting it. However, most of the time, these materials are more considered for their aesthetic addition to materials.

There are two kinds of surface protective materials namely:

1. Paints
2. Varnish

courtesy of JLJ National Construction LLC

Paints are liquid substances with pigment used as decorative coating as well as protective coating for surfaces mostly are timber and metals. Varnishes are liquid of semi-transparent nature which are applied on timber surfaces and on paint to give the extra gloss.

Painting has several procedures and layers to be performed. It takes more than one coating or application to work on a finished surface. Painting also covers a variety of different finishes - matte, semi-gloss, or gloss.

courtesy of DIY Network

Click here to download PDF notes on Surface Protective Materials

PARKS OF BAGUIO CITY: THE SKATING RINK

The skating rink is located at the other end of the Burnham lake. Although covered and excluded from the park, most children who would like to work on their balancing skill both with roller skates or inline skates are welcome. 

The center of the rink was renovated to be a mini amusement park. Many kiddie rides are available although high and fast rides are not catered. Most of the rides are for smaller children. The city has yet to come up with a real thrilling roller coaster or Ferris wheel.

Inside the amusement park is a ghost house, different kiddie roller coasters, shooting game stalls and bump car area. Tickets range from 10 Php to 50 Php. Food, drinks and pets are not allowed inside but this mini amusement park sure gives joy to small children who are young enough to try the big rides in big amusement parks.

The kiddie roller coaster makes 5 rounds for the fee of 50 Php. All tickets, by the way, are bought at the ticket booth located at the entrance of the park.

Train ride has small toddlers riding the train where a lucky one can go to the front car and ring the bell as the train choo choo along. Ticket for the train is 40 Php per child.

The bump car costs 50 Php for like 10 minutes of ride. 

How to reach the park?

No access for jeepneys for this park; however, one can ride a taxi and just direct it to the skating rink. Better yet, one can just walk from Burnham Rose Garden to the end of the Burnham Lake and you will surely see the skating rink that easily.

Establishment near the park?

Because it is situated at the end of Burnham Park, the skating rink is near the Athletic Bowl on the right and Solibao restaurant on the opposite side. The road going to the skating rink will lead to the University of the Cordilleras.

CONST MTRLS & TESTING: TIMBER

courtesy of Smith Currie

Wood has benefited mankind for so many things. In construction, wood cut down to be used as a construction material is termed as timber. With the movement to save the earth, designers are strongly discouraged to use timber in construction but can take alternative materials which can be shaped and designed as timber.

Click here for downloadable notes on Timber

courtesy of James Latham

There are three kinds of timber used in construction:

1. Cocolumber, from palm trees, is the softest type of lumber used in construction. They are commonly used for scaffolding although the steel alternative is rising popularity nowadays. Cocolumber would usually have discrepancies on the standard sizes and contractors would need to watch for tapered ends.
2. Rough lumber is the type which would still need planing. This type of timber is used most commonly to covered places like studs for partitions where they are covered by other materials. With their cheaper cost, most designers use this kind of lumber for those parts of the structure which would not be seen exposed.
3. Finished lumber is the smoothly planed lumber that we mostly see exposed on sight inside of outside a structure. This type of timber has been cut and planed carefully for aesthetic purposes more than structural.

Seasoning of lumber is vital for construction. Seasoning is lessening of removing the moisture from timber. There are two ways of seasoning:

1. Wet seasoning where timber is left into water for a few days to remove its sap and then dried.

2. Dry seasoning is the method where timber is left exposed to reduced its moisture content before being used in construction.

CONST MTRLS & TESTING: METALS

courtesy of the Balance

Metals are one material in construction which gives more strength to the concrete. As concrete is strong in compression yet weak in tension, metals help with their high tensile strength.


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courtesy of the Balance

There are different kinds of metals with the various specification of structures. In terms of reinforcing steel bars, RSB, there are also numerous grades offered according to the design used. The most commonly used grades are grade 40 (grade 270) and grade 75 (grade 415); however, commercial grade is also available at grade 33 (grade 230). Grades of steel bars are designated colors in the manufacturing plants. These colors are also combined for those bars which are weldable. Non-weldable bars use one color on both ends.

Rebar diameters also vary from plain rebars of 6 and 8mm diameters commonly used for glassblocks laying and other minor construction work. 10mm to 12mm deformed rebars are used for stirrups and lateral ties and also for slab reinforcement. The bigger sizes from 16mm to 25mm diameters are more used on load bearing structures. Special diameters starting 28mm to 50mm are used for high strength designs. 

CONST MTRLS & TESTING: CONCRETE

Concrete is the combination of cement with aggregates, both fine and coarse, with enough proportion of water. Although more commonly called cement, it is technically called concrete.

There are two ways to check proportioning of materials in concrete.

1. Nominal mix which would be following an arbitrary set of proportions already had been checked. This kind of mix is possible for the lower strength requirement of concrete from 5N/mm2 to to 20N/mm2. 

courtesy of the Balance

2. Design mix is the one to be designed as per required in the structure. This is the mix used for high rise structures as they needed higher strength of concrete.

 Click here for downloadable notes on Concrete


Different kinds of concrete are also stipulated in ASTM 150 whereby Type I is the concrete used for all general works and the others - Type II until V - are for special situations. Apart from these 5 main types of concrete, there are also special types of concrete.
 
Workability is one aspect which needs to be given attention with concrete. Workability is the east of working with concrete - transporting, batching, placing, etc. Since workability is in direct proportion with water content, proper proportioning should be done not to sacrifice strength of concrete.

courtesy of Taracon Precast

Pre-cast concrete is a type of concrete which is fabricated from the plant as per specification and then later transported on site. These concrete members usually carry enormous amount of strength which is impossible to attain on site.

Pumped concrete, on the other hand, is concrete which is used for the higher floors of a structure.This type of concrete has high workability, which means it has more amount of water than usual, the strength is just compensated with the use of additives.

CONST MATRLS & TESTING: MASONRY

courtesy of Firth

Masonry units, in this case talks about concrete masonry units (CMU). Being fire resistant and economical, CMUs are commonly used for construction these days. There are two kinds of CMUs:

Click here for downloadable notes on Masonry

1. Solid concrete blocks which do not have any holes in them. These blocks are laid like bricks.

2. Hollow concrete blocks whereby reinforcing bars are placed through the holes provided.

courtesy of Globalsistersreport.org

CMUs may contain minimal gravel but cement aggregate ratio should be 1:6 where aggregates contain 60% fine and 40% coarse.