020303c Commercial Exteriors Flashcards
What is a curtain wall?
A curtain wall is a wall that carries no load but it’s own.
What is the primary function of a curtain wall?
The primary function of a curtain wall is to separate the outside environment from the inside.
What is cladding?
Cladding is any part of the vertical building exterior that is directly exposed to the environment.
What are some examples of cladding?
Window (glass) and their frames, masonry, concrete, natural stone, metal, wood and stucco.
Name and describe the two approaches to keeping a building watertight.
A) The barrier approach - based on the premise that every raindrop should be DEFLECTED at the first defence with a watertight cover.
B) the RAINSCREEN approach - seeks to put a cover around the bundling, but provides some method of water control should it get past the first line of defence.
What is the prime difficulty when using glass as a cladding material?
The method used must hold it in position and prevent water leakage at the same time.
How is natural stone used now as compared to its use in early low-rise buildings?
Natural stone is now sliced into relatively thin sheets to reduce the expense of using solid blocks.
What is masonry?
Masonry is defined here as the use of preformed unit blocks or natural stone units attached to one another with mortar.
What are some examples of masonry?
Bricks, concrete blocks, stone and prefabricated units made from these materials.
Why are masonry units such as bricks supported individually at each floor?
Bricks are supported at each floor to reduce the total amount of expansion and contraction.
What is stucco?
Stucco is cladding made up of sand, Portland cement and lime.
What special considerations are to be made after the application of stucco?
Stucco should not be allowed to freeze or dry out before it has hydrated.
What product has proven to be the most durable and easily mounded cladding?
Concrete
What is the benefit of pre-cast concrete?
Better curing conditions, easier placing, higher face quality, easy insertion of brackets or weld plates into the concrete, easy application of coatings before installation and pre-installation of other parts.
Can wood siding be installed in directions other than horizontally?
Yes vert or horiz
What are the five most common styles of wood siding?
Clapboard Bevel Rabbeted Ship lap Drop siding
What is one of the main characteristics of vinyl siding that must be considered during application?
That it expands and contracts much more than other cladding materials.
How must Cementitious siding be handled to reduce breakage?
Upright
What is the basic structure of exterior insulation and finish systems?
A layer of rigid insulation followed by a layer of mesh embedded with a base coat of the proprietary coating. This is followed by a layer of the finish coat.
EIFS can be either polymer-based or polymer-modified T or F
T
What are two drawbacks to Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems?
Easily punctured and prone to mould forming behind the barrier style moisture prevention.
Is the rise of a masonry arch always the same as the radius?
Not always the same. For a Roman arch, it would be the same, but a segmental arch would be different.
What is a springing line?
A springing line is the theoretical starting point of the arch.
How is the arch template supported?
Opposing wedges and then dimensional lumber under the wedges directly under the template. The wedges allow fine adjustments of the height and simple release once the mortar has cured.
