fitting the door frame, cladding

before fixing the cladding we had to fit the door frame in, this involved sitting the frame in, and packing the 10mm gaps we left at each side of the frame, we put the level over it, and made sure it was straight, once it was all straight we nailed it in. The next step was to fix all the cladding to the timber wall frame, once again we already had all the materials. the first step was to string-line the first line of cladding to get it as straight as possible. if you dont get the first sheet right the rest of the job will be out. once we had the line we started nailing up the cladding, we were pre-drilling holes and using clouts. once we worked our way to the top of the window frame, we had to cut smaller peices for in-between the window frames.

cladding safety

when installing cladding you must always use the correct ppe. this includes: dust mask when cutting, eye protection, ear protection: earmuffs, earplugs....

weathertex cladding

for the outside of the wall we are using weathertex cladding. when using the cladding you must predrill holes before nailing through it, if you dont then the nails will cause the cladding to crack or split. the recommended nails to use are clouts, if you use the incorrect nails you could risk loosing the whole lot with a gust of wind. the maximum centers for the cladding is 600mm,The preferred spacing is 450mm. Rigid fixings such as screws and masonry nails or anchors, should not be over-tightened into the signboard surface. Clearance holes should be drilled in the signboard to receive these fasteners and assist product performance.

7 steps

1. Ignorance: dont be lazy when setting up the scaffold, set it up correctly, dont cut corners.

2. instability: never move the towers when people of tools are up on it, never move the tower over unstable ground.

3.Exceeding the safe work height: never build the scaf higher than its suposed to go, there are different rules for different scaffold, also whether you are inside or outside, if outside consider the winds and what their going to do.

4. mountaineering: never climb up the outside of the scaff, there should be a ladder on the inside.

5. unsafe platform: always make sure your platform is set up correctly and safely. this means put together right, and set up on the correct flooring.

6: untied tower: always make sure the ladder you are using is tied to the top of the scaff, if not you shouldnt be using the scaffold at all.

7: overloading: never overload the tower with anything, people or tools. the safe work load is 400kgs with full scaffold.

timber frame

once all the scaffolding was finished, the next step was to remove anything in the way of the stud wall going in. so we spent the next half day taking down the wire fence that was up, once it was down we went to the class room to be shown a bit about stud walls, and wat was to be done next.

the next day we started sorting out the wall, we had all the timber and materials already, so we got straight into it. first we measured all the top and bottom wall plates, and the trimmers, we cut it out and set it out on the floor so once it was all nailed we could stand it straight up. we made the wall in 5 sections, joining it bit by bit. we had one setback that we got around quickly, our lecturer read 900 instead of 600 when measuring the plates. this ment we had to change all the sizes of the windows to make it all fit together. overall i enjoyed building the room, i think its better doing hands on work, just like you would at work.

scaffolding

on monday we started out with scaffolding, first up we were told about the job that needed doing, the measurments and heights ect... then we had to do a rough guess of how much scaffold we would need. we started setting up the scoffold, one side was an A-frame, and the other was a portable scaff on wheels. i found the portable scaff easyer you could move it when you wanted unlike the A-frame.

portable scaffold. A-frame scaffold.

self analysis

step ladder.
with the step ladder i learnt a new way of chiseling out, and in general i learnt how to put together a step ladder...
this will be value to me because its given me more skill in using chisels and plainers.
i think i went well in drawing up the ladder, and putting the ladder together.
a couple of the slots for the steps were a bit rough, but they turned out good. i think i can do this better next time now because ive had more practice.
i gave myself a 7/10.