Farm Building Construction

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 95, Issue 2, 15 August 1957, Page 181

Farm Building Construction

By

H. W. T. EGGERS,

Engineer, Department of Agriculture, Wellington PREVIOUS articles in this series have dealt with foundations, framing, roofing materials, sheathing, and flooring. This article discusses, first, joinery, which beside providing light and access to a building also encloses it and, secondly, internal finishing materials. WINDOWS and doors in the outside walls of a building not only must provide light, ventilation, and access, but must give complete weather protection to the inside. The provision of light is arranged by use of transparent or translucent materials for sections of the building where light entry is desired. This presents no problem, as the section of transparent material can be sealed watertight with the normal sheathing. An example of this is the use of corrugated transparent plastic sheets in conjunction with corrugated roofing materials to serve as skylights. These sheets are available in the same sizes and corrugations as regular corrugated roofing sheets, either galvanised iron or aluminium, and are incorporated in the roof by being substituted for an ordinary sheet of roofing material in any place where lighting is required.

Built-up skylights glazed with reinforced glass are also available for similar installation, but are suitable only for galvanised iron roofing. However, when ventilation or access as well as light is required waterproof sealing is not feasible and the entry of water must be prevented by deflection. This is done by the provision of steps, weather grooves, and cover plates in the frames of the movable sections or on the sections themselves. The frames of windows and doors can be sealed to the sheathing and any moisture entering round the edges of doors and windows is trapped in the weather grooves and does not penetrate to the inside of the building. Internal joinery consists of doors and slides only and is naturally not provided with sealing arrangements to exclude the weather. Internal doors that may be required to admit light may have glass in their construction.

Joinery Sizes A previous article in this series mentioned that building joinery is essentially a factory product. Joinery can be obtained in stock sizes at an appreciable reduction in cost in comparison with special sizes, which cannot be jig produced. The provision of bars in windows also reduces the cost, as a lighter-weight glass can be used. Table 1 gives the stock sizes of doors and windows and the sizes of openings required to accommodate the frames, fitting of which was described earlier in this series. The depth of door or window frame must be equal to the full depth of the wall in which it is placed, including stud and outside and inside sheathing. External joinery may have the facing boards attached or may be obtained without facing boards. If facing boards are omitted, the weatherboarding or sheathing must be butted close up to the frames and a cover piece, scribed to the sheathing, nailed to the frame. Frames of this type are best fitted into the building framework before sheathing is begun, whereas frames with cover boards are best placed after sheathing has been completed.

TABLE I—STOCK SIZES OF DOORS AND WINDOWS

Outside doors Height Width Type. Required openings Front door .. 6ft. 6in. 2ft. lOin. 4 light. Door, height -H Sin. over Back door .. 6ft. 6in. 2ft. Bin. ( Either frame ledge or joists Laundry door 6ft. 6in. 2ft. 6in. J frame ledge open top* Door width + 2Jin. Inside doors 6ft. 6in. 2ft. Bin. Door height 4- ljtn. over 6ft. 6in. 2ft. 6in. flooring 6ft. Gin. . 2ft. 4in. -i -. . . 6ft. 6in. 2ft. 2in. t Wardrobes or cupboards Door width + 2Jin. 6ft. 6in. 2ft. Oin. J . Windows 4ft. 6in. 2ft. Oin. 1. 2.3, 4, or 5 light Window height + 4Jin. 3ft. I'Jin. 2ft. Oin. ' Window width -f 'Sih. for Ift. Oin. 2ft. Oin. 1 light, + l|in ; for each 2ft. Oin. 3ft. Oin. additional light

Method of Ordering Joinery manufacturers work to simple nomenclature, and diagrams used in ordering greatly help them to interpret requirements correctly. Window sections are known .as lights, and the number of lights to a frame determines its length. Where a fanlight is provided in a section the section is “split”. The diagrammatic method of recording requirements is shown in the illustration at left. Joinery can be supplied “hung” or “unhung”. If it is hung, the movable sections are hinged and mounted in the frames at the factory and then removed for transport. If it is unhung,

the doors and opening windows are sent without hinges and must be fitted in situ. It is always advisable to order joinery hung, as hanging after glazing is a hazardous undertaking which may result in broken windowpanes. Joinery is supplied glazed, and if special types of glass are required, they must be stated when the order is placed. If special types and sizes of doors or windows are required, the manufacturer needs to know the sizes of openings, and the height should always be given first; for example, a cupboard door which may be 3ft. wide and 2ft. high would be ordered as a 2ft. by 3ft. door. Orders for outside doors must state if the frame is to be provided with or without a step, as doorsteps are sometimes eliminated to enable floors to be flush to the opening. Architraves, skirtings, and sill boards are not provided with the joinery, but are included in the internal finish. INTERNAL FINISH When a building has been framed, roofed, and sheathed and the external joinery (doors and windows) has been fitted it is completely protected from the elements. Before the building can be used something more than weather protection may be required. Treatment of walls and ceilings and provision of internal joinery and facilities such as cupboards constitute what is known as finish. A fertiliser or grain store does not require either heat insulation or a high degree of cleanliness and therefore will not require lining or covering of the floor, which may be either rough-floated concrete or timber. On the other hand a honey house requires both insulation and a high degree of cleanliness, so for this type of building internal lining and a smooth-floated concrete or close-boarded timber floor is essential. The importance of factors governing finish must be decided by the use for which the building is being constructed. These factors are utility, convenience, cleanliness, insulation,

ventilation, draught-proofing, comfort, and appearance. The use to which the building or its compartments are being put decides the order of importance of those factors. Finishing Materials and Methods Finishing materials for a building or its compartments should be chosen in relation to the use to which the space is being put and also in relation to the degree of importance of the factors listed above. For example, a kitchen, which is subject to a steamy atmosphere, fat vapours, and cooking odours, requires a lining material and finish giving a smooth, hard surface

which can easily be washed down; it also needs good ventilation without draught. On the other hand a sitting room can be lined and finished with materials which require dusting only to keep them clean and needs no more ventilation than can be normally provided by window openings. A laundry, which is subject to steam but not odours, should be lined and finished as a kitchen, but normal ventilation through window openings would suffice. The “New Zealand Standard Code of Building By-laws” recommends that all rooms should be provided with windows giving a total area of window space not less than a tenth of the floor area of the room, and that not less than half that area should be “so constructed as to open for the admission of air”. This means that a room, say, 100 ft. square should be provided with a total window area of 10 sq. ft., 5 sq. ft. of which should open for ventilation. . One window 4ft. 6in. by 2ft. 3in. with an area of just over 10 sq. ft. would suffice for light, and the opening half, 2ft. 3in. by 2ft. 3in., would provide sufficient ventilation for, say, a bedroom of this size, but these areas would be found inadequate for a 10ft. square kitchen, which, being a workroom, requires both good light and ventilation. . Both light and ventilation can be provided by modern louvre-type

windows, the whole area of which can be opened for ventilation. For windy situations where window openings may cause draughts kitchen ventilation can be obtained by the use of an exhaust fan placed so that cooking odours are not permitted to spread, but are caught at the source and dissipated outside the building. The choice of lining materials for a building should be made not only in relation to the use to which the building is being put, but in relation to the covering which will be applied to them. For example, though some materials have good insulation properties, they are not as suitable for papering over as for painting. Linings may be classified as shown in Table 2. Where steam or moisture is present linings should be finished with a nonabsorbent surface. Hardboard, plasterboard, or wood panelling should be finished with a good-quality high-gloss enamel, as a glossy surface remains clean longer than a satin or matt surface. Softboard is not suitable for the application of a high-gloss enamel covering, as its texture nullifies the advantages of the gloss. Any lining can be papered or painted provided the surface of plaster or plaster-board is sealed to “fix” any alkali which may affect the finish. Paper may be painted over to give a washable finish to a previously unwashable wall.

The processes of finishing or decorating using paint, enamel, paper, or distemper require a knowledge of trade techniques to produce satisfactory results. All these processes are within the capabilities of most amateur builders, but to ensure success a sound knowledge of technique must be obtained before any work of this type is undertaken. Practice will soon produce good results, and amateurs are well advised to practise on a section of wall where poor results will not be noticed. Lining materials for ceilings may differ from those used for walls. For example, walls may be papered and ceilings may be finished white with distemper. Paper-covered plasterboard would be suitable material for the walls and fibrous plaster sheets for the ceilings. Fibrous plaster is very suitable for ceilings. It is relatively soft and so is fairly easily damaged, but used for ceilings it is less liable to damage than on walls. Architraves, Mouldings, Skirtings Architraves, mouldings, and skirtings round off corners and frame openings and provide a finish between walls, floor, and ceiling and must be aesthetically satisfying. A suitable moulding between ceiling and walls can give the effect of greater

height, and moulded wall angles not only assist cleaning but also produce the impression of spaciousness. Skirting boards protect the base of walls from damage by knocks. They should be of a shape and dimensions not only to prevent the collection of dust but to blend with mouldings and architraves. Architraves round window and door openings provide that finish and appearance which together with colour, mouldings, and skirtings form the complete picture that must be in harmony and satisfying to the eye. The illustration on page 183 shows a contrast in finishing methods. The panelled door, heavily moulded architrave, and high and heavily moulded skirting were in vogue 40 years ago. The modern flush door and plain architraves and skirtings are much more functional, having no dust pockets and embodying simplicity which lends itself to ease of manufacture, and are much more pleasing to the eye than the earlier complicated moulding. Lining and colouring of walls and ceilings, the fitting of architraves, mouldings, and skirtings, and arrangement of cupboards and all the small items that make up internal joinery are a question of taste and should be chosen and arranged with a view to being pleasing to the people who must live with them from day to day.

* A frame ledge door has the frame of the door itself filled with tongue and groove planking. A frame ledge open top door has a glass top panel. Window widths can also be Ift. 10in., but are always in a full inch measurement to suit the glass, which is not cut to fractions of an inch.

Class Typo Suitable applications Suitable finishes Methods of Joining How available Timber • fibreboard Softboard Lining of all rooms Paint, distemper Mouldings, beading, Sheets, various mouldings, except bathroom, kitchen, laundry Paint, distemper Mouldings, beading, tooled edges Sheets, various mouldings, decorative tiles Medium-board except bathroom, kitchen, laundry tooled edges decorative tiles Any lining Paint, enamel, disBattens, beading Sheets only Hardboard temper, paper Lining of any room temper, paper Paint, enamel. Battens, beading Sheets, sheets tooled to tile paint finished. Suitpaper pattern either plain or fine able for bathroom, kitchen, laundry paper pattern either plain or fine lacquered Plaster-board Fibrous plaster Any lining Paint, enamel, disStopping Sheets and mouldings Paper-covered board temper, paper Any lining temper, paper Paint, enamel, disStopping Sheets only temper, paper Lath and plaster Paint, enamel, disStopping Sheets only Lath and piaster Lime-cement plaster temper, paper Lime-cement plaster Any lining Any lining Paint, enamel, dis- j Gypsum plaster Any lining temper, paper 1 Paint, enamel, dis- f Continuous application Materials worked on site temper, paper J Wood panelling Plain or ply panels Any lining Oil, varnish, paint Battens, beading, butted Sheets: Ordinary bonded for normal work, resin bonded for damp situations; striated panels Metal-faced ply ed for damp situations; striated panels Laundry, kitchen, bathPaint or enamel Metal strips Sheets: Galvanised steel. room aluminium, tinned steel, or copper. Metal on one or both sides Plastic-coated Paper laminates Any lining, table and No finish required Metal-covered beading Sheets only. Plastic on one laminates , Paper laminates Wood laminates Any lining, table and bench tops or metal mouldings side only Any lining, table and No finish required No finish required Metal-covered beading or metal mouldings Metal-covered beading Sheets only. Plastic on one side only Sheets only. Plastic on one bench tops or metal mouldings or both sides Vitreous sheet One type only Lining of wet places, No finish required Joined by butting or Sheets only table and bench tops with beading Plastic wood Double walled Partition walls, giving None required Joined with H section Sheets only, 8ft. x 4ft. lln. laminate panels Double walled structural panel Partition walls, giving plastic finish both beading or with timor Igin. thick sides None required Joined with H section beading or with timber spacers and metal cover moulding Sheets only, 8ft. x 4ft. lln' or lgin. thick

TABLE 2—WALL LINING MATERIALS