Architecture, Engineering & Planning EVstudio | Denver & Evergreen Architect | Colorado & Central Texas | Blog » Construction

Stair Construction Tolerance and Dimensional Uniformity

Sean O'Hara — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:50 +0000

The 2006 International Building Code calls out the tolerance for how consistent each stair tread and riser needs to be in a set of stairs. The code refers to it as dimensional uniformity. What the IBC states on stair tolerance is that the difference between the largest and smallest riser height and the largest and smallest tread depth can't be greater than 3/8" within a flight of stairs.

With spiral stairs the 3/8" is measured at the 12" walk line.

Originally posted 2011-05-24 00:36:39.

Types and Design of Wood Trusses

Jim Houlette — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:42 +0000

Here are some great resources about the different types of wood trusses and how they are designed. If you have any questions about roof or floor trusses please let us know.

Alpine Engineered Products – Builder’s Guide

SBCA – Structural Building Components Association – Truss Configurations

Originally posted 2009-08-16 00:01:36.

Avoid Costly Future Alterations: Free Fair Housing and Accessibility Presentation

evstudio — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:18 +0000

This week the Department of Local Affairs (DORA) Civil Rights Division offered one of four free lectures on Fair Housing, Accessibility and Reasonable Accommodations. The lecture is given by DORA's fair housing expert, Jennifer McPherson, she covers the local, state and federal fair housing regulations.

This is a must see for architects, real estate agents, housing property managers, and owners of rental housing. In addition to the free lecture DORA provides stacks of detailed brochures and other materials you can take and hand out at your office to build awareness.

The material covered in this presentation includes an overview of the many levels of fair housing regulations, how they overlap and how to be sure you comply. Fair Housing regulations cover a broad range of classes and vary at the Federal, State and Local level.

Federal Law requires that one can not discriminate based on:

Race
Color
Religion
Sex
Handicap (disabilities)
Familial Status
National Origin

Colorado State Law adds:

Marital Status
Creed
Ancestry
Sexual Orientation

Local Ordinances (City and County of Denver) add yet again:

Age
Military Status
Gender Variance

Keeping in mind that fair housing covers many different protected classes the most common issue for architects is disability. Many of the discussions I have had with clients that must provide accessibility in their buildings revolve around the loss of square footage in a living room or bedroom due to more space required in bathrooms and kitchens. Of course, if these requirements are carried out within the building it could result in very costly alterations in the future in order to comply. During this lecture you are given clear ideas of how to communicate why these requirements are necessary.

Educating architects, real estate agents, developers and owners on this topic is one way to ensure we are preventing future noncompliance. This key for the DORA Civil Rights Division because currently the division is a reactionary or complaint-driven agency. Meaning, the division needs to improve its education and outreach to transform into a more preventative department.

The more we can educate our clients the more we can provide fair housing! The next FREE lecture is June 1st 9:30 am-11:30 am offered at 1560 Broadway, Conference Room 110 B (first floor), Denver. The following two lectures are offered September 7, 2010, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and November 2, 2010, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at the same location.

Another helpful organization to check out is Fair Housing Accessibility First. This site gives you a detailed look at design and construction requirements with regard to accessibility.

Originally posted 2010-04-13 00:01:57.

Why Hire an Architect When a Contractor Offers to Design-Build

Sean O'Hara — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:15 +0000

Design-build is a common delivery method in construction and a popular buzz word in the industry. What it generally means is that you hire a single person or company who both designs your project and builds your project. Design-build can be great and it can be a real mistake. What is important is to know who the players are behind the design-build label.

Just to admit bias to new readers, EVstudio is an architecture and engineering company, we participate in many projects titled "design-build".

Design-build can be a great setup where you have a company that has experts and licensed professionals working on both the architecture and construction portions of the project. They can typically deliver a project on budget and they may be able to reduce your upfront design fees because they bury them in your total project cost.

Unfortunately, what often happens is that the design-build team is an outgrowth of only one profession. You frequently have a general contractor who has decided that they can do the design work as well. Suddenly you are hiring someone to design your home who is only marginally qualified and yet you are paying enough for the service to hire a full time architect. With this approach you are also hiring someone to design the project who is often most concerned about the simplest details and is likely to give you reasons that you can't have something more complex.

What I would advise all clients entering a design-build setup to do is make sure that you know who is actually doing the designing on the project. You should be meeting with the architect directly and be pleased with the design work that you are receiving. When we participate in design-build we meet with clients directly for the design and the contractor meets directly for the build. They only pay one bill but it is distributed according to the work involved. The architect is your advocate and more able to provide solutions based on years of full time design experience rather than excuses.

Another solution that works well for the client is hiring an architect and a contractor at the same time and working as a team throughout the project. We do this with many of our favorite contractors and it is a rewarding way to bring experienced professionals and still give the client an integrated project. While it is not truly design-build it offers many of the advantages.

There are a large number of project delivery methods in architecture and construction, please ask questions or give us a call.

Originally posted 2010-01-20 00:01:06.

Q&A

evstudio — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:14 +0000

One of our primary goals in writing the EVstudio blog is to answer your questions about EVstudio and your larger questions about architecture, planning, development, construction, new urbanism, real estate, Denver issues, Colorado issues, AIA issues etc. Please let us know any questions or issues that you'd like to see addressed on this website and we'll turn around answers ASAP.

Looking forward to your input. Thanks

Originally posted 2008-06-01 21:41:36.

New Website Coming

Construction Update at Homestead at Saddle Rock

DJ Zehnacker — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:10 +0000

Since construction commenced the week of 7/11, the Homestead at Saddle Rock project has wound down. The experts at Ground Masters worked hard and finished installing the improvements and landscaping around the grading/drainage problem areas.

In addition to new concrete pans, EVstudio Civil Engineering designed improvements to include NDS drainage inlets with 6” PVC piping. Now that they are installed, these drainage units are discrete and aesthetically pleasing. The inlets are hardly noticeable and are accompanied by appropriate landscaping rock.

In the final weeks of the project we continued to work with the contractor to ensure that all proposed improvements were constructed per plan and functioned as intended. The new retention ponds will prevent ponding elsewhere on the property. If there are any heavy storm events like those of this 2011 summer, the ponds are designed with emergency overflow to drain away from existing structures.

Located just off of Arapahoe Road and E-470, these condos are situated adjacent to the Saddle Rock Golf Course. We had the pleasure of working with both the Homestead at Saddle Rock HOA and the property manager (Hammersmith Management).

For more information related to surface drainage adjacent to structures, check out these posts http://evstudio.info/the-importance-of-proper-drainage/ and http://evstudio.info/surface-drainage-adjacent-to-houses/

Originally posted 2011-10-05 14:57:37.

Construction Material – Aerated Autoclaved Concrete

Anthony Ries — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:07 +0000

Aerated Autoclaved Concrete, or AAC is a building material that has been around since 1914, mainly in Europe, and available in the United States since the mid 1990s. It is, as the name implies, a masonry product and it consists of aggregate that is no larger than sand.

As a building material it is suitable for low and mid rise structures such as single & multi-family homes, churches and hotels. It has also been used in panel form as a cladding material.

AAC comes in block and panel form. Generally blocks are used to create walls and the panels are used to create floors and roofs. In some applications panels have been used vertically in order to create the walls. The structure rests on an appropriately engineered foundation. The interior finish can be plaster or furred out drywall. The exterior is often finished in a breathable stucco or paint.

Advantages of AAC:
Non-combustible
High acoustic insulation, assemblies can reach a STC of 60
Easy to work, AAC can be cut with a handsaw
Comes in familiar masonry wythes
Improved indoor air quality
Light weight in comparison to CMU (concrete masonry units)
No thermal bridging
Up to double the R-value of foam cored CMU
Thermal mass
Manufacturing process creates no waste
Resistant to mold and fungus
Can be used to gain LEED points

Drawbacks:
Product must breathe due to initial moisture content
Lower load bearing capacity when compared to CMU
Can be hard to find qualified installers
Should be finished inside and out.

The cost of AAC tends to be a bit higher material wise. However the lighter weight of the materials can translate into a less expensive foundation. Additionally, with a knowledgeable crew the system can be constructed in less time. This not only creates a costs savings in terms of labor but more importantly time. On a larger project, AAC can reduce construction time by up to a month or more.

As always it is best to explore materials and construction methods early in a project in order to determine what is best for your project, labor market and material accessibility.

Originally posted 2010-04-24 00:01:37.

Seismic Testing of a Mid-Rise Wood Framed Structure

Adam Denton — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:59:46 +0000

NEESWood Capstone Test Structure

After the destruction caused by the 1995 Kobe earthquake the Japanese government took it upon themselves to construct the world’s largest seismic testing table, often referred to as a “shake table”. This testing facility, called Earth-Defense, was built to its enormous size out of necessity. Space to build new structures is a rare commodity in Japan and it was essential to be able to test large mid-rise (4 to 7 story) structures that maximize usable space while minimizing the building footprint. The Earth-Defense shake table is 50’ x 65’ and can support an astonishing 2.5 million pounds while “shaking” test buildings in three directions at once.

The NEESWood Capstone project shown in this video was conducted last summer to test the viability of wood framed mid-rise structures. Mid-rise structures are more traditionally constructed out of steel and concrete, but with the trend towards “green” construction it is becoming desirable to use renewable construction products like wood in larger commercial, residential and mixed use projects. The NEESWood Capstone project tested a seven story mixed use building consisting of a steel framed commercial (retail) main level and six stories of wood framed residential units. This test building was constructed in its entirety within the walls of Earth-Defense. The test building was constructed with many proprietary wood and steel products along with new NEESWood construction methodologies, all of which being beyond the scope of this article.

The portion of the results this test that was of most interest to me as an engineer was the “real life” forces experienced in the structure. As engineers in school we are handed exhaustive volumes of information that we are expected to accept as “the unquestionable truth”. There is an understanding that all of this information has been determined by hundreds of collective years of expert design experience, material testing and are always in a continuous state of refinement. As an engineering student I accepted that this was the adopted standard practice of my trade, but I always wondered how all the design theory I was being fed related to the real world. Hundreds of gauges were installed throughout the Capstone structure to test the forces actually experienced during an earthquake. It was quite satisfying as a design professional to see that the calculated anticipated forces at play in the structure were very close to those actually recorded.

For more detailed information on NEESWood Capstone project please follow this link.

Originally posted 2010-07-15 00:01:06.

$$ Value Engineering

DJ Zehnacker — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:59:43 +0000

One thing that is often overlooked by civil engineers (or many engineers/architects for that matter) is the design component of value engineering. What is "value engineering"? Well, simply put, it is taking cost of construction into consideration during the design phase of a project. Sounds simple, but many designers overlook this component. Value engineering can be as simple as having a good understanding of the governing design code for a particular project and sticking to the code when completing a design. For instance, we have a residential subdivision project that we are working on in which we were able to re-visit the water system layout/design and eliminate a significant number or proposed water valves due to the fact the governing code had changed. Eliminating some water valves did not compromise the integrity of the proposed water system, yet, it allowed us to shave off thousands of construction dollars. The savings enabled our client to allocate more construction dollars to "fun" things like landscaping, entry monuments/signage, etc. After all... let's be honest... given the choice, most people would agree that spending money on landscaping, fencing, etc. is much more satisfying than spending money on extra water valves located 5' underground! Bottom line, however, is that value engineering should never be considered at the expense of compromising the integrity of the design.

Originally posted 2011-01-02 00:01:30.

Quickly Construct Concrete Pad Footings with FASTBAG

Adam Denton — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:59:39 +0000

At a recent seminar I attended I was introduced to the Fab-Form product called FASTBAG. This product is brilliantly simple….a textile bag you can fill with concrete and reinforcing bars to take the place of the wood formwork traditionally utilized to construct pad footings.

FASTBAG in the field.

The bags come in multiple sizes designed to replace standard pad footing sizes. While the shape of the filled bag does not look like the traditional footing the contact patch and load path are designed to be identical to a square footing as illustrated below.

I admit I have not seen these bags used in practice and unless I come across a project that requires the use of multiple pad footings I am not certain they would pay off over traditional wood forms for new construction. However, I do a lot of retrofit structural design for residential repairs and remodels and I see that the FASTBAG would have a wonderful application in this arena. I have had many projects that require new concrete pad footings to be constructed in very close quarters such as crawlspaces. I can see this product being a considerable help to a contractor who needs to construct a footing deep inside a crawlspace with only 20” of clear space to maneuver in. Stay tuned to this blog for a follow up report on the real world application of this product.

Originally posted 2011-03-31 00:21:24.