Tag Archive for ‘Design’
Post Tensioned Slab on Grade Sport Courts
Why use a post tensioned slab-on-grade for your sport courts? Performance and long term total cost. A post tensioned concrete slab on grade requires little maintenance compared to a asphalt or mildly reinforced concrete slab. In addition, post tensioned slabs do not require control joints in the slab, giving the players a smooth surface over [...]
Fastening to Concrete – Wedge Style Expansion Anchors
There are many situations were it may become necessary to attach a timber ledger to a concrete wall. It is desirable in many new homes to lower the elevation of the finished floor to make a home more wheel chair accessible. An example of the differences between the finished floor elevations that can be achieved [...]
The Yellow Barn at Conifer: Early American Pre-fab in the Mountains
The historic “Yellow Barn” (well, it used to be more yellow than it is today) at the corner of Highway 73 and Barkley Road in Conifer has long been a well known and beloved landmark and icon of the mountain community. What many may not know, however, is that it and it’s two accompanying historic [...]
Installation Complete for Solar Panels on Arvada Annex Building
EVstudio recently had the opportunity to observe the installation of the forty photo-voltaic panels atop the City of Arvada Annex Building. To maximize the potential for solar collection the use of an existing steel framed sight wall originally designed to screen the Annex’s roof top heating and cooling mechanical units from being viewed from street [...]
2009 Code Update: Deck Attachments
The 2009 International Residential Code has new provisions concerning the attachment of decks to homes. Most significant in this is the new hold-down tension device requirement of R502.2.2.3. This device is illustrated below and will certainly add construction costs to deck addition projects due to the invasive nature of the interior tension device attachment. From [...]
Walking on Thin Ice With Structural Changes
This post focuses on the most misunderstood law of structural physics that all too frequently results in very costly remediation and occasionally, can cause complete collapse. The structural system here is the simple post and beam system that occurs in nearly every building type whether you’re building with wood, steel, concrete or any other structural [...]
Separation of Top of Foundation Wall and Adjacent Exterior Grade
One of the most commonly asked questions to the structural department involved the required distance between the top of a foundation wall and the adjacent exterior grade. The 2009 International Residential Code requires a minimum of 6 inches of separation where brick veneer is not present. The idea here is to provide a buffer zone [...]
Quickly Construct Concrete Pad Footings with FASTBAG
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. The bags come in multiple sizes designed to replace standard pad [...]
Colorado Architecture Month – April 2011
EVstudio and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Colorado Chapter are now gearing up for the festivities to take place across the state during this year’s Colorado Architecture Month in April! Architecture Month celebrates Colorado architecture and design and includes a number of great free events hosted by AIA Colorado. This year’s events include: Delicious [...]
All Mandatory Local Building Codes Now Free Online
It has been reported to us that the results of a recent lawsuit have made all mandatory building codes accessible to the public. An archive of adopted local building codes in PDF format are located here. We cannot vouch for the completeness of this archive and it is always a good idea to check with [...]
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