The construction of a building

Houses are built of wood, brick, stone and concrete. Many new types of individual houses are made from reed slabs, rolled gypsum concrete panels or wooden sheets. A lot of houses are built of prefabricated blocks (prefabs). All the parts of such houses are produced on an industrial scale in factories and assembled on the spot.

The building process takes place under the supervision of formen and engineers. The structure is put up by bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers, plumbers, painters, lock­smiths, glass-cutters, etc. In the construction of a house the first step is to make a careful survey of the site and to examine the soil in order to find its bearing power. Next, the building lines are staked out. After this, the foundations are built. The excavation is dug for the basement and then followed by the actual building of the foundation walls below ground level. Then the foundation work is finished by providing anchor­ing sills. That is the case of a wooden building. In the case of a brick structure, the building of the walls may be directly proceeded with. Foundations are to keep the floors and walls from contact with the soil, to act against the action of the frost and to prevent from settlement. The part upon which the stability of the structure depends is the frame­work. It carries the loads which are imposed on it. To do this work prop­erly and safely the floors, walls, roofs and other parts of the construc­tion must be correctly designed and proportioned.

The designer deter­mines the size of the walls, the floor joists, the beams, the girders and the parts which make up the framework. He also decides how they are to be spaced and arranged. The building of a wall consists in laying down courses of bricks and bonding them together with mortar. The instrument used by the bricklayer is called a trowel. In order to shape the brick to the necessary size or to chip it, the brick chisel and the hammer are used. Walls are constructed to enclose areas and to support the weight of floors and roofs. The walls may be solid and hollow. Besides brick, stone, concrete and other natural and artificial materials are used for the construction of walls.

When doors or windows are to be made, a lintel (перемычки) is usually inserted in the wall above the opening. The entrance leading into the house from the street is called the front door, from the yard — the back door. The sashes are placed in position only later and so, of course, are the window panes. The panes are fastened in with the help of glazier's putty. Storeys are separated by several successive layers: the firestop joists and rough flooring. The regular flooring is placed upon the rough floor, being supported by stringers and girders. The staircase leads to the upper floors. The staircase consists of stairs (steps). When we ascend or descend from step to step we hold on to the banisters (handrails). The steps between two landings are called a flight of stairs. Floor boards are laid in several different ways. Of these the more usual are: Plain jointed, when the boards are simply laid side by side, a nail is being driven in through the boards into each joist. Tongued and grooved, one board can first be nailed and the other board, upon being slipped into it, will be kept down by the form of the joint. Thus the nails are prevented from appearing on the surface of the floor. Walls may be either covered with wall-paper or only plastered. In both cases, lathwork is first made which is subsequently covered with plaster. The chief instruments used by the plasterer are the trowel and the float. The whole structure is crowned by the roof which covers the building and protects it from exposure to the weather. It ties the walls and gives strength to the structure. A complete roof consists of covering, sheathing, rafters, purlins and roof trusses.

The covering is the outer or weather-resisting coating of the roof. The materials mostly used for the covering are shingles, slate, tiles and iron. The sheathing is the layer of boards or other material to which the covering is attached. The rafters are the inclined beams which support the sheathing. The purlins support the rafters. The roof trusses are the frames which support the roof and trans­mit its weight to the walls or columns of a building. The wall-plates are plates which are laid on top of the wall to distribute the weight transmitted by the trusses. The ridge is the highest horizontal line of the roof. After the building of the house proper is completed there will be need to make a number of connections: sewer and water pipes with fau­cets (taps). This particular part of the work is undertaken by plumbers, while electrical, gas, and other connections are made by the electricians, etc. Architects have worked out the details of a few types of comfort­able and inexpensive individual houses — summer cottages. These houses are so simple that anyone with a knack for building can as­semble one of them himself.

Exercise I

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the first step in the construction of a house?

2. Are the building lines staked out after this?

3. Then the foundations are built, агеn’t they?

4. When does the actual building of the foundation walls begin?

5. Do we provide anchoring sills when the foundation work is finished?

6. That is the case of a wooden building, isn't it?

7. Is the part upon which the stability of the structure depends called the frame­work?

8. Does it carry the loads which are imposed on it?

9. What do we call the tools used by a bricklayer?

10. Can you name the chief tools used by a plasterer?

11. Are you able to explain the difference between a front door and a back door?

12. Natural and artificial building mate­rials are used for the construction of walls, right?

13. Will there be a need to make a number of connections after the building of the house proper is completed?

Exercise II

Complete these sentences:

1.In order-to build a house a careful ... of the site has to be made and the soil has to be examined in order to... 2. When the building lines are staked out, the... . 3.The foundation work is finished by providing... 4. Foundations keep the floors and walls from... 5. The stability of a structure depends on... 6. The designer decides how ... are to be spaced and arranged.

Exercise III

Translate from Russian into English

1. Кладка наружных стен дома идет быстро, так как их собирают из готовых блоков и панелей.

2. Несколько лет тому назад перегородки, отделяющие в квартире одну комнату от другой, сооружали вручную, потом штукатурили и красили.

3.Теперь перегородки прокатывают из гипса, песка и опилок.

4.Затем их поднимают краном и устанавливают в квартире.

5.В настоящее время прокатывают железобетонные стены домов, которые в 5 раз легче и в 1,5 раза дешевле кирпичных.

Exercise IV

Read and translate these dialogues:

I — What do we call that part of a building on which the walls rest?

— We call it the foundation.

— And what do we call the top covering of a building?

— We call it the roof.

II — What is the purpose of a column?

— A column either supports or decorates part of a building.

— Can a column stand alone as a monument?

— Of course, it can.

III — What is a house?

— It's a building made for people to live in.

— And what is a building?

— It's a structure. Houses, schools, factories and theatres are all buildings.

IV — What is a beam?

— It's a long, thick, heavy piece of wood or concrete.

— Where are beams used?

— They're used in building.
V — What is lime? Do you know?

— It's a white substance obtained by burning limestone.

— Is it used in making cement and mortar?

— Right. It's used in making cement and mortar.
VI — What sortof a mixture is mortar?

— It's a mixture of lime, sand and water.

— What is it used for?

— It's used to hold bricks, stones, etc. together.