Construction Materials: Wood, Masonry, Concrete

Wood Construction

• One of the oldest and most widely used building materials
• About 75% of processed wood is used for building
• Processing and combining wood with other materials is continually being developed

Masonry Construction

• Refers to buildings made of stone, brick, concrete block, and structural clay tile, which are all handled by masons
• Stone and brick have been significant materials for thousands of years
• Stone is the oldest natural building material
• Brick is the oldest manufactured material
• Concrete blocks and structural clay tiles are later developments.

Concrete

• An artificial stone created by mixing cement, aggregates, and water
• Unique because it can be delivered to job sites in a plastic state and molded into virtually any form
• Two major components are cement paste and inert materials
• Cement paste consists of Portland cement, water, and some air, either naturally entrapped or intentionally entrained
• Inert materials are usually composed of fine and coarse aggregates.

Steel

• An alloy of carbon, iron, and other elements in varying amounts
• Amount is dependent on desired properties

Hardwoods and Softwoods

• Trees are divided into hardwoods and softwoods
• Hardwoods have broad leaves
• Softwoods have needle-like leaves
• Hardness is not directly correlated to hardwood and softwood status
• Hardwoods are harder in most cases
• Softwoods generally come from cone-bearing trees
• Hardwoods come from trees that have seeds contained in a seed-case.

Sapwood

• Plays a vital role in a tree's life
• Only the outermost layers are alive
• Transports moisture from roots to leaves and stores food for the tree
• Has a higher moisture content than heartwood.

Heartwood

• Sapwood gradually changes into heartwood
• Becomes less permeable as it does so
• Dries more slowly than sapwood
• Is subject to surface checks and honeycombs more readily than sapwood
• Requires milder drying conditions
• Darker in color and is more resistant to decay than sapwood.

Wood and Moisture

• All wood contains water, commonly called sap
• Most of this water needs to be removed for satisfactory use
• Wood gains or loses moisture to reach a balance with its environment
• "Moisture content" refers to the amount of moisture in wood
• Moisture content is a percentage of oven-dry weight, determined by drying wood at 100-105°C to constant weight
• Wood expands when it absorbs moisture from damp air, and contracts or shrinks when it loses moisture to dry air.

Wood Shrinkage

• The character of shrinkage depends on how the wood is cut in relation to annual growth rings
• Shrinkage and distortion of flats, squares, and rounds are affected by the direction of annual growth rings
• Wood has durability and beauty
• It absorbs shocks from sudden loads and is light in weight.

Major Wood Classifications

• Softwood, used for general construction
• Hardwood, used for flooring, stairs, paneling, furniture, and interior trim

Properties of Wood

• Hardness: measured by the compression under a weight
• Flexibility: the amount a piece will bend before breaking.
• Strength: related to the grain.
• Durability: the relative lifespan of the wood

Defects of Lumber

• Decay: caused by fungal attack
• Checks: cracks or lengthwise separations along annual rings
• Knots: irregular growths interrupting smooth curves
• Pitch pockets: openings between annual rings containing solid or liquid pitch
• Wane: lack of wood on an edge or corner.

Types of Warping

• Cupping: distortion where the board face is convex/concave across
• Bowing: distortion where the board face is convex/concave longitudinally
• Twisting: distortion where one corner is raised

Lumber Definitions

• Strips: pieces less than 2” thick and less than 8” wide
• Boards: pieces less than 2” thick and at least 8” wide
• Dimension lumber: pieces more than 2” thick and less than 5” in any dimension
• Timber: pieces 4” or more on the smallest dimension
• Log: pieces 12” or more on the smallest dimension

Categories of Lumber

• Yard lumber, used for ordinary light construction and finishing work, flooring, plank siding, trim, and molding
• Shop lumber, used in shops or mills for making sash, doors, and cabinets
• Structural lumber, used for heavy load-bearing construction, cut into timbers of larger size

Wood Grain

• Edge grain: annual rings run approximately at right angles to the face
• Flat grain: annual rings run more or less parallel to the surface
• Angle grain: annual rings are at about 45 degrees to the face

Lumber Seasoning

• Air drying: lumber is strip-piled at a slope on a solid foundation to allow air circulation and water runoff
• Kiln-drying: expensive and required for uses where movement is not permitted, dried to a moisture content of 5-10 percent in a heated airtight structure
• Lumber is artificially dried by steam pipes

Manufactured Boards

• Made of wood but doesn't appear in natural state
• By-product of lumber manufacture
• Utilization of wood led to expansion of manufactured boards

Types of Boards

• Plywood is made of an odd number of veneer sheets glued together with grains at right angles
• Strong enough that screws or nails can be driven close to the edges without splitting.

Plywood Types

• Soft plywood: used for structural purposes

• Hardwood plywood: used for paneling and finishing where one face is hard finished

• Exterior or marine plywood: made for external use

• Hardboard: made from exploded wood chips, bound together without fillers or adhesives, equally strong in all directions but brittle, color varies from light to dark brown

• Particle board: made from wood chips, curls, fibers, etc., bound and pressed into sheets, equally strong in all directions, not brittle, resists warping

Table 1: Timber Species of the Philippines and Their Main Uses

Acacia

• Botanical Name: Samanea Saman (S. American, “raintree”)
• Main Uses: Carving, furniture, fancy cabinet work, general construction.

Afu

• Botanical Name: Anisoptera Palosapis group
• Main Uses: Rotary cut veneer and plywood

Agoho

• Botanical Name: Casuarina
• Main Uses: Marine piles, telegraph poles.

Akle

• Botanical Name: Serialbizia acle
• Main Uses: High-quality furniture, cabinet making, gunstock, carving, sculpture, interior finish, and panels; Walnut substitute.

Akleng Parang

• Botanical Name: Albizia procera
• Main Uses: Furniture, cabinet making, carving, house posts, bridges

Almaciga

• Botanical Name: Agathis
• Main Uses: Mining timber; Walnut substitute; strong, durable.

Almon

• Botanical Name: Shorea almon
• Main Uses: Sawn timber, veneer, plywood; Manila copal gum Rotary cut veneer, plywood, cabinet and furniture making, flooring, boat planking and framing, pulp, paper, fiberboard, sawn timber, general construction.

Amugis

• Botanical Name: Koordersiodendron
• Main Uses: Veneer and plywood

Anabiong

• Botanical Name: Trema orientalis
• Main Uses: Pulp and paper, fiberboard.

Api-api

• Botanical Name: Avicenia Mangrove
• Main Uses: Veneer, plywood, decorative plywood.

Apitong

• Botanical Name: Dipterocarpus spp. Especially D. gradilorus
• Main Uses: Sawn timber, veneer, mining timber, transmission poles.

Aranga

• Botanical Name: Homalium
• Main Uses: Building construction.

Bangtikan

• Botanical Name: Parashorea
• Main Uses: Rotary cut veneer and plywood, cabinet and furniture making, flooring, boat planking and framing, pulp, timber fiberboard, sawn timber, construction.

Bagras

• Botanical Name: Eucalyptus deglupta
• Main Uses: Pulp, paper, sawn timber, core stock and face veneer.

Bakan

• Botanical Name: Litsea
• Main Uses: Dissolving pulp, fiber wood, charcoal.

Bakauan (Bacawan)

• Botanical Name: Rhizophora mangrove
• Main Uses: Dissolving pulp, fiber wood, charcoal.

Balakat

• Botanical Name: Ziziphus
• Main Uses: Sawn wood

Balu

• Botanical Name: Cordia
• Main Uses: Sawn wood.

Banaba

• Botanical Name: Lagerstroemia
• Main Uses: Pulp and Paper

Bansalagin

• Botanical Name: Mimusops
• Main uses: Pulp and Paper

Banuyo

• Botanical Name: Wallaceodendron
• Main uses: Decorative panels, veneer, plywood, gunstocks, high grade interior work, cabinet making, carving, sculpture.

Balete

• Botanical Name: Kingiodendron
• Main Uses: Furniture, cabinet work, doors, interior finish, house construction.

Batikuling

• Botanical Name: Litsea
• Main Uses: High-premium wood for furniture, wood carving, novelties.

Batitinan

• Botanical Name: Lagerstroemia
• Main Uses: Pulp and paper.

Benguet pine

• Botanical Name: Pinus kesiya
• Main Uses: Transmission poles, sawn timber, mining timber, resin, paper.

Betis

• Botanical Name: Madhuca betis
• Main Uses: Picker sticks for textile industry.

Binggas

• Botanical Name: Terminalia
• Main Uses: Picker sticks for textile industry.

Binuang

• Botanical Name: Octomeles
• Main Uses: Pulp and paper, sawn timber.

Bitanghol

• Botanical Name: Calophyllum
• Main Uses: Pulp and paper, sawn timber.

Bitaog

• Botanical Name: Calophyllum
• Main Uses: Pulp and paper, sawn timber.

Bolon

• Botanical Name: Alphonsea
• Main Uses: Sports goods, ash substitute.

Bolong-eta

• Botanical Name: Diospyros
• Main uses: Picker sticks for textile industry.

Dagang

• Botanical Name: Anisoptera Palosapis Group
• Main Uses: Rotary cut veneer and plywood.

Dalingdingan

• Botanical Name: Hopea
• Main Uses: Construction timber, bridges, doors, floor boards, window frames and sills, furniture, agricultural implements.

Dangula

• Botanical Name: Teijsmanniodendron
• Main Uses: Construction timber.

Dao

• Botanical Name: Dracontomelon
• Main Uses: Dracontomelon

Dita

• Botanical Name: Alstonia
• Main Uses: Pulp and paper.

Dungon

• Botanical Name: Tarrrieta
• Main Uses: Picker sticks for textile industry.

Falcataria

• Botanical Name: Albizia
• Main Uses: Sawn timber, pulpwood, plywood.

Gisok-gisok

• Botanical Name: Hopea
• Main Uses: Railways sleepers, posts.

Gubas

• Botanical Name: Endosperum
• Main Uses: Matches, pulp and paper, soft sawn wood, filling for flash doors.

Guijo

• Botanical Name: Shorea
• Main Uses: Construction timber, sawn wood, cabinet and furniture making, bridges, dock piling, ship frames, lorry bodies; naturally durable.

Hagahak

• Botanical name: Dipterocarpus Apitong group
• Main Uses: Construction timber.

Igem

• Botanical name: Podocarpus
• Main Uses: Sawn timber and plywood.

ilang-ilang

• Main Uses: Sulfate Plywood.

Ipil

• Main Uses: High grade construction, furniture, cabinet making, house post.

Ipil-Ipil

• Botanical name: Leucaena
• Main Uses: Pulp and paper, fuel, fodder.

Kaatoan bangkal

• Botanical name: Anthocephalus
• Main Uses: Pulp and paper, matches, wood carving, telegraph poles.

Kader

Main Uses: Rotary Cut Plywood.

Kalamansi

Botanical name: Neonauclea Main Uses: Rotary Cut Plywood.

Kalantas

Botanical name: Toona Main Uses: Plywood veneer, cigar boxes.

Kalunti

Botanical name: Shorea Main Uses: Cabinet and furniture making, flooring, veneer and plywood, boat planking and framing, pulp, paper, fiberboard, sawn timber, general construction.

Kalumpit

Botanical name: Terminalia Main Uses: Wood carving, inlays, novelties.

Kamagong

Botanical Name: Diospyros Main Uses: Wood carving, inlays, novelties.

Kamatog

Botanical Name: Erythrophloeum Main Uses: General construction and housing furniture, cabinet works, apitong substitute.

Karaksan

Botanical Name: Linociera Main uses: Bowling pins, bobbins.

Katmon

Botanical name: Dillenia Main uses: High quality furniture, cabinet work, interior finish, musical instruments, flooring paneling, doors, window frames.

Kuyugalu

Botanical Name: Sindora Main uses: Light temporary construction, boxboards, wooden shoes, dugout, canoes.

Kupang

Botanical Name: Parkia Main uses: Rotary cut veneer and plywood.

Lanipau

Botanical Name: Terminalia Main uses: Sawn timber, peeled and sliced veneer and plywood, pulp and paper, fiberboard, furniture and cabinet making.

Lauan, Phil. Mahogany

Botanical Name: Shorea Main uses: Sawn timber, pulpwood, veneer and plywood.

Loktob

Botanical Name: Duabanga Main uses: Drying oil for fiberboard.

Lumbang, Bagilumbang

Botanical Name: Aleurites Main uses: Veneer, plywood, construction timber.

Lumbayau

Botanical Name: Tarriietia Main uses: Veneer, plywood, construction timber.

Magabuyo

Botanical Name: Celtis Main uses: Pulp and paper, sports goods.

Mahogany

Botanical Name: Swietenia (tropical America) Main uses: Veneer, plywood, furniture, paneling.

Makaasim

Botanical Name: Syzigum Main uses: Building construction, veneer, paneling.

Malaanonang

Botanical Name: Shorea Main uses: Railway sleepers, picker sticks, Molave substitute.

Malabayabas

Botanical Name: Tristania Main uses: High grade construction, furniture, cabinet making, house posts.

Malaipil

Botanical Name: Intsia Main uses: Veneer, plywood, sawn timber.

Malakauayan

Botanical Name: Podocarpus Main uses: Toothpicks, ice cream sticks.

Malapapaya

Botanical Name: Polyscias Main uses: Building construction.

Malayakal

Botanical Name: Shorea Main uses: Pulp and paper, toothpick.

Malugai

Botanical Name: Pometia Main uses: Construction timber, bridges, doors, floorboards, window frames and sills, furniture, agricultural implements.

Mamalis

Botanical Name: Pittosporum Main uses: Veneer, plywood; furniture and as substitute for white lauan.

Manggachapui

Botanical Name: Hopea

Manggasinoro

Botanical Name: Shorea

Manggis

Botanical Name: Koompassia

Mangroves, Tanbark

Botanical Name: Rhizophora

Maranggo

Botanical Name: Azadirachta,

Mayapis

Botanical Name: Shorea

Mindoro Pine

Botanical Name: Pinus merkusili

Molave

Botanical Name: Vitex

Moluccan sau

Botanical Name: Albizia falcataria

Narek

Botanical Name: Hopea

Narig

Botanical Name: Vatica spp.

Narra

Botanical Name: Pterocarpus

Nato

Botanical Name: Palaquim

Pahutan

Botanical Name: Mangifera

Palisay

Botanical Name: Terminalia

Palosapis

Botanical Name: Anisoptera

Panau

Botanical Name: Dipterocarpus Apitong Group

Para Rubber

Botanical Name: Hevea Brasiliensis

Philippine Mahogany Group

Botanical Name: Mostly Almon, Batikan

Salingkugi

Botanical Name: Albizia

Sangilo

Botanical Name: Pistacia Main Uses: High quality wood for furniture, wood carving, novelties.

Supa

Botanical Name: Sindora

Taba

Botanical Name: Tristania

Taluto

Tamayuan

Botanical Name: Strombosia

Tangile

Botanical Name: Shorea

Teak

Botanical name: Tectona

Tiaong

Botanical name: Shorea

Tindalo

Botanical name: Pahudia

Toog, Phil. Rosewood

botanical name: Petershianthus

Tuai

botanical name: Bischofia

Ulaian, Phil. Oak

botanical name: Lithocarpus

Unik

botanical name: albizia

Vidal lanutan

botanical name: Bombycidendron

White nato

botanical name: Pouteria

Yakal

botanical name: Hopea

Yati

botanical name: Tectona

Yemane

botanical name: Gmelina

Masonry

• An assembly of brick, stone, concrete masonry units, structural clay tile, architectural terra cotta, glass block, or similar material
• Bonded together with mortar to form walls and other parts of buildings
• Refers to man-made units formed and hardened into modular building units

Two Basic Masonry Categories

• Unit masonry: manufactured units like brick, concrete block, glass block, gypsum block, and adobe brick
• Stone: natural quarried material assembled with mortar, metal anchors, fasteners, and sealants

Brick

• Block of clay or other ceramic used for construction and decorative facing
• Durable
• Cost effective
• Resist dampness and heat
• Color depends on the clay used and proportions
• Some bricks are made of fireclays for fireplaces or ovens
• Bricks are arranged in various patterns, called bonds
• Arrangement is dependent on long sides (stretchers) or short sides (headers) or placement
• Ancient Mesopotamia and Palestine, the chief building material was brick
• They had limited wood or stone
• 9000 years ago inhabitants of Jericho in Palestine used brick for buildings
• Sumerian and Babylonian builders constructed ziggurats, palaces, and city walls of sun-dried brick and covered them with more durable kiln-baked brick with decorative pictorial friezes
• Persians built Great Wall of China out of brick
• Romans built large structures like baths, amphitheaters, and aqueducts in brick with marble facing
• Middle Ages, the Byzantine Empire, northern Italy, the Low Countries and Germany builders valued brick where stone was scarce
• They used warm, red, unglazed brick laid in patterns (checker, herringbone, etc)
• These traditions continued in the Renaissance and in English Georgian architecture and were brought to North America
• Brick known to the Native Americans of pre-Columbian civilizations who made sun-dried brick
• Great pyramids of the Olmec, Maya, and other groups were made of brick faced with stone

Brick Continued

• Bricks made in vast quantities
• Versatile building material

Basic Brickwork Terminology

• Course: a horizontal layer of bricks or other masonry units
• Bed joint: the horizontal mortar in every course
• Head joint: the vertical mortar in every masonry unit.
• Stretcher: a brick laid with its face parallel to the wall and its long dimension horizontal.
• Header: a brick laid so as to bond two wythes together
• Wythe: a vertical layer of masonry units, one unit thick
• Soldier: a brick laid on its end with its face parallel to the wall
• Rowlock: a brick laid on its face with its end visible in the wall face

Structural Bonds for Brickwork

• Running bond: consists entirely of stretchers
• Common bond: has a header course every sixth courss
• English bond: alternates courses of headers and stretchers
• Flemish bond: alternates headers and stretchers in each course

Clay definition

• Earth or soil that is plastic and tenacious when moist and becomes permanently hard when baked or fired
• Clays consistent of a group of hydrous alumino-silicate minerals formed bythe weathering of feldspathic rocks, such as granite
• Grains are microscopic in size and shaped like flakes
• Their aggregate surface area is greater than their thickness to take up large amounts of water by adhesion for plasticity
• Common clay is a mixture of kaolin, or china clay (hydrated clay), and the fine powder of some feldspathic mineral that is anhydrous (without water) and not decomposed.
• Clays vary in plasticity, are malleable and capable of being molded into any form when moistened with water.
• Used to create pottery of all kinds, bricks and tiles, tobacco pipes, firebricks, and other products
• Different varieties of clay and clay rocks
  • China clay, or kaolin
  • Pipe clay
  • Potter's clay
  • Sculptor's clay, or modeling clay
  • Brick clay
  • Fire clay
  • Shale
  • Loam
  • Marl

Module 4

• Building construction terms include English terms with their equivalent Vernacular terms.

Module 5

• The Major elements of a building: (1) foundation, (2) structure, (3) exterior walls, (4) the interior partitions, (5) the environmental-control systems, including the heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, lighting and acoustical systems, (6) the vertical transportation systems, including elevators, escalators and stairways; (7) communications and (8) power, water supply, and waste disposal systems
• Drawing Standards are from “the National Building Code of the Philippines"
• Construction Drawing Standards taken from “The National Building Code of the Philippines". (P.D. 1096 Rule 1 Article 3.2.1 – Architectural Documents)
• List of Required Sheets includes those containing Republic of the Philippines, Office of the Building Official, District/City/Municipality, Land Use and Zoning, Line and Grade, an Architectural description, a description of Structure, Electrical, Mechanical, Sanitary, Plumbing, Electronics and a description Geodetic Engineering Title Block Contents
• A. Logo / Firm
• B. Architect-in-charge: -a. PRC Registration no. / Date / Place -b. PTR no. / Date / Place -c. TIN -d. UAP no. -Important These drawings as instruments of service are the properties of the Architect.
• Engineer
• Project Title / Location
• Owner / Signature / Address
• Drawn by/ Checked by / Approved by / Dates / Revisions
• Sheet contents
• Sheet No.
• Architectural Documents (NBC Art. 3.2.1 Rule I)
• Location plan:
• (2km radius: Commercial, Industrial and Institutional Complex)
• (Half kilometer radius: residential buildings)
• Drawn at any convenient scale
• Showing prominent landmarks or major thoroughfares Site Development Plan and / or location plan at scale 1: 200 M. standard or any convenient scale for large scale development showing position of building in relation to the lot
• Floor Plans: minimum scale - 1: 100 M
• Elevations - at least four (4): minimum scale – 1: 100
• Sections at least two (2): minimum scale – 1: 100 M
• Foundation Plan: minimum scale – 1: 100 M
• Floor – framing Plan: minimum scale – 1: 100
• Roof – framing Plan: minimum scale – 1: 100
• Details of footing / columns at any convenient scale
• Details of structural members at any convenient scale

Graphic

• Clear orderly lettering
• Group notes and styles of leaders
• types
• Sheet composition

Tiles

• Alpha numeric
• Graphical

Symbols

• North arrow
• Elevation callouts
• Sectional callouts
• Column callouts/bubbles
• Room callouts
• Door callouts
• Detail callouts
• Wall callouts
• Elevation bullets/reference

Dimensions