Building Arches The numerous types of arches, vaults and cupolas allow a great variety of architectural models. As a result, the technology can adapt to the most varied climatic conditions: zones which are arid or rainy, cold or hot. Although arches, vaults and cupolas are traditionally used to cover limited spaces, they are perfectly well-suited to build much larger spaces, up to tens of meters. Thus they can meet the needs of any building program, public or private, low-cost or quality housing, granaries, warehouses, shops, schools, public, religious buildings, etc.

Roof Cover Guide The roof constitutes the most important part of a building and special care has to be taken in preparing it and its elements. The best available raw materials should be used and throughout the production process it should be kept in mind that a sub-standard and ill-designed roof may not only result in a defective roof, but may also lead to severe damage of the whole building. In order to construct a reliable roof, not only the cover material - in this case the tiles - must be of a high quality, but the entire roof structure and cover must function as a coherent system which is adapted to local conditions such as climate, available skill and materials. This guide, therefore, aims at helping to do proper detailing, and to build and maintain the roof cover in a sound manner. For the design and construction of the suitable roof shape and the adequate structure the Toolkit Element 24: “ Roof Structure Guide” [6] should be consulted. See also: Roof Trusses & Concrete Roofing & Fiber Concrete Roofing & FCR/MCR Standards & FCR/MCR Quality & FCR/MCR Production & Fiber Concrete Roof Equip & Fiber Concrete Roof Tiles & MCR Roof Tiles

PLAYGROUND LAYOUTS. DIMENSIONS FOR VARIOUS COURTS. [PDF] Plans. See also: BOAT LANDING. ROOFED. and COVERED BARBECUE PIT. 13' x 19' POLE FRAME and  COVERED BARBECUE PIT. 13' x 25' POLE FRAME & INSECT SCREEN and BACKYARD BARBECUE PIT. 4' x 6'. BRICK CONSTRUCTION and CAMP STOVES. MASONRY FOR OUTDOOR COOKING and OUTDOOR FIREPLACES and PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT. WOOD FRAME SLIDE, SWING, SAND BOX, ETC. and WOOD DECK. 14' x 16' ATTACHED TO HOUSE and WOOD DECK RAILING & STAIR DETAIL and PICNIC TABLE.

Bamboo Construction Bamboo is one of the oldest materials people have used to increase their comfort and well-being. In today's world of plastics and steel, besides continuing to make its traditional contributions, bamboo is growing in importance.

UNDERSTANDING CLAY RECOGNITION AND PROCESSING By Miska Petersham.

Climate Responsive Building - Appropriate Building Construction in Tropical and Subtropical Regions (SKAT, 1993, 324 p.) See also: Tropical Building Design

Ferrocement Ferrocement is a highly versatile form of reinforced concrete made of wire mesh, sand, water, and cement, which possesses unique qualities of strength and serviceability. It can be constructed with a minimum of skilled labor and utilizes readily available materials. Proven suitable for boatbuilding, it has many other tested or potential applications in agriculture, industry, and housing. See also: Ferrocement

Building Pumice This book represents a first-ever attempt to explain and illustrate how the volcanic material pumice can be processed using simple technologies suitable for developing countries. In Germany, the first wall-building brick made of pumice and a slow-hardening binder (milk of lime) dates back to the year 1845. That marked the starting point of a local pumice-based building industry in volcanic regions of the Eifel Mountains, where pumice deposits were abundant. As time passed, the material's market area expanded steadily. Today's pumice industry in the Rhineland operates large production facilities and has enough raw material reserves to last beyond the turn of the century at the present rate of production. See also: Building Lime

Making the homestead pay Some hints on sinking your dollars into the soil, rather than the market...

22 Safety Items No Home Should Be Without Your home is your castle, but that doesn't mean you can pull the drawbridge and all will be safe. Plenty of dangers have already invaded your home. According to the National Safety Council, there were 29,500 deaths associated with the home in the year 2000.

Hardening Your Home Crime Prevention is defined is the anticipation, recognition, and appraisal of a crime risk, and the initiation of some action to remove or reduce it. You can have a significant effect upon the security of your residence by taking a few moments to assess its weaknesses and a few more moments to take simple actions (many of which cost nothing but your time or a bit of physical exertion) to eliminate or strengthen those weaknesses.

Knotting Dictionary of Kännet Knots illustrated.

Build an inexpensive but durable jackleg fence A jackleg fence consists of rails which are supported by two uprights that are joined together at an angle to form a long legged X. We used dead lodge pole pine for our fence. If we were working in an area that needed thinning we would use live poles, but they are extremely heavy to work with. Branches on live trees would have to be removed with an ax to avoid unnecessary use of the chainsaw.

"Some Thoughts on Snowloads" by US Army Corps of Engineers (requires downloading a file)

Knotmaking Get Knotted! Animated knots.

Knot Enough Knots? Then try this page for an endless assortment! Good rope links, too.

Green Building Source Has a whole slew of articles and info on all building aspects, with a bent for "green" technology - be sure to check out their "LIBRARY"

Cargo Containers Rent, buy or lease a container direct from the supplier. Constructed of 14 gauge steel and with solid steel doors container storage is one of the most secure storage solutions available.

Tim Carter's "Ask The Builder" Lot's of info on various building & renovation solutions. Use the search engine - it works!

Construction Innovation is published quarterly by the NRC's Institute for Research in Construction. It provides news of recent research results, product evaluations, code developments and conference highlights to Canada's construction practitioners.

Buying Rural Land: The Pleasures and Pitfalls by The Editors of Rural Property Bulletin Copyright 2003, Rural Property Bulletin Buying rural property today doesn't have to be an unrealistic dream for the "average" person -- if you're willing to plan ahead and resist the urge for instant gratification. Unfortunately, some people who buy rural property nowadays -- and maybe it's been like this forever -- seem to be motivated by a sense of desperation. They may hastily purchase the first "bargain" that comes along. Although it's one of the largest financial transactions most people make in a lifetime, buying land often seems to rival the purchase of a new pair of shoes in the amount of planning involved.

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