Professional Home Builders - Home Design - Construction - Project Management - Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC
At the Brad Harley Construction Company we offer both wood and concrete framing. We have provided a list of the services we offer for both wood and concrete framing
Wood Framing
The Brad Harley Construction Company can provided any of the following services:
- balloon and platform framing
- framing fasteners;
- structural diaphragms
- joists, girders, and pintles
- frame to foundation connection
- adhesives
- wind and earthquake loads
- fire resistant framing
- load bearing exterior walls
- stud partition wall
- prefabricated framing assemblies
- grademarks
- span ratings
- glulams
- curved panels
- roof truss erection loads
- bridging and bracing
- connectors and holdowns
- and hundreds more wood framing considerations.....
Concrete Framing
When selecting a structural building system, it is important for the engineers and architects to understand the appropriate application of post-tensioned concrete and the effects that may result. If properly analyzed and assembled, concrete structures from high quality materials can provide a superior combination of durability, sound control and fire safety needed in today's building market.
Some of the benifits of concrete framing:
- Concrete structures go up faster.
- Concrete's greater mass improves thermal behaviour.
- Concrete framing is readily adaptable to late changes.
- The typical rate for a mulity story building is one flooor ever 4-6 days.
- Concrete framing keeps storey heights to a minimum which reduces the cost.
- Concrete can be easily moulded. It can produce complex shapes and set-backs and can be self-finished in many ways.
- Concrete allows construction to start sooner. There are no lengthy delays while structural members are fabricated.
So what's the bottom line: Concrete reduces capital and financing costs. Cheaper and faster construction means lower holding charges and an earlier yield on investment.
Concrete Footings
Beginning with a level foundation or concrete pad is the key to building any structure successfully. A concrete pad, sonotube/concrete footings, cinder blocks or super spikes may be used in cases where the ground is uneven or slopes. If you plan to mount the structure on a concrete slab, a floor is not required.In situations where a structure is to be raised or a building permit is required (i.e. the area of the structure exceeds 100 sq. ft.), it may be advisable to install concrete footings. The footings should be 10" in diameter and drilled well below frost level.
Concrete footings are constructed by local contractors to specifications provided by a canopy manufacturer. Concrete is poured around a cage of rebar embedded in the ground at the fuel outlet site. Anchor bolts protrude from the footings. Footings are constructed for each vertical support column of the canopy. Each support column has a welded plate on the base with holes designed for the anchor bolts. Each column is bolted onto a footing, usually 1 to 2 feet below grade. Nuts on the anchor bolts are used for leveling the column. Electrical and fluid conduits are constructed in and around the columns. Earth or other material is graded over the footing. A concrete cap, 1 to 2 inches thick, may be poured over the footing.
Concrete
There's more than one way to build your concrete home: Insulating concrete forms, concrete masonry, aerated concrete, tilt-up concrete, precast concrete. With volatile wood prices, logging's high environmental price tag, and a growing shortage of high quality lumber, concrete offers a variety of products and construction techniques to provide cost effective, quality alternatives to wood-frame home construction.
All of these systems share the same basic virtues of concrete — beauty, strength, durability, low maintenance, energy efficiency, environmental friendliness and peace and quiet. Which concrete building technique is right for you depends on the labor force and predominant building practices in your area. Whatever your choice, you can rest assured that your beautiful concrete home is built to last.
As a whole, concrete framing provides structural integrity, termite protection,
and thermal insulation, and it helps reduce air infiltration in buildings. It
also readily absorbs heat, making it ideal as thermal mass in passive solar building design. There are many concrete framing options and products:
- Cast-in-place
- Autoclaved aerated concrete
- Masonry
- Insulating concrete forms
- Precast
Cast-in-Place Concrete
Unlike ICFs, cast-in-place framing construction involves setting up removable or temporary forms for the pouring of concrete walls. Rigid foam board insulation is usually placed between the removable form. Steel rebar is also generally used to add strength to the wall. Such concrete buildings are typically constructed in one of three ways:
- Only the exterior walls are cast-in-place concrete.
- Both exterior and interior walls are cast-in-place concrete.
- The floor/ceiling, exterior walls and interior walls are all cast-in place concrete.
Autoclaved Aerated Concrete
Autoclaved aerated concrete comes in plank or block form. These units are much lighter than traditional concrete blocks because they use a special mixture of sand, limestone, cement and an expanding agent.
Masonry
Masonry is concrete blocks assembled with mortar.
A Trombe wall is a special type of masonry wall used for thermal storage in passive solar building design. A typical Trombe wall consists of an 8- to 16-inch-thick masonry wall coated with a dark, heat-absorbing material and faced with a single or double layer of glass. The glass is placed from 3/4 inch to 6 inches from the masonry wall to create a small airspace. Heat from sunlight passing through the glass is absorbed by the dark surface, stored in the wall, and conducted slowly inward through the masonry.
Applying a selective surface to a Trombe wall improves its performance by reducing the amount of infrared energy radiated back through the glass. The selective surface consists of a sheet of metal foil glued to the outside surface of the wall. It absorbs almost all the radiation in the visible portion of the solar spectrum and emits very little in the infrared range. High absorbency turns the light into heat at the wall's surface, and low emittance prevents the heat from radiating back towards the glass. Although not as effective as a selective surface, painting the wall with black, absorptive paint will also help the wall to absorb the sun's heat.
For an 8-inch-thick Trombe wall, heat will take about 8 to 10 hours to reach the interior of the building (heat travels through a concrete wall at rate of about one inch per hour). This means that rooms remain comfortable through the day and receive slow, even heating for many hours after the sun sets, greatly reducing the need for conventional heating. Rooms heated by a Trombe wall often feel more comfortable than those heated by forced-air furnaces because of the radiantly warm surface of the wall, even at lower air temperatures.
Architects can use Trombe walls in conjunction with windows, eaves, and other building design elements to evenly balance solar heat delivery. Strategically placed windows allow the sun's heat and light to enter a building during the day to help heat the building with direct solar gains. At the same time, the Trombe wall absorbs and stores heat for evening use. Properly sized overhangs shade the Trombe wall during the summer when the sun is high in the sky. Shading the Trombe wall prevents the wall from getting hot during the time of the year when heating is not needed.
Insulating Concrete Forms
To construct an insulating concrete form (ICF), builders pour concrete into a foam form. The form then stays in place to provide insulation. Builders construct walls by stacking ICFs, cutting them where needed to fit windows and corners, etc. They also place steel rebar horizontally and vertically within the form to provide strength. Although all ICFs are identical in principle, the various brands differ widely in the details of their shapes, cavities, and component parts.
Precast Concrete
Manufacturers construct precast concrete walls or panels off-site. Most of them are pre-insulated as well with rigid foam board. But additional insulation of your choice usually can be added inside the wall cavity to achieve a high R-value. The panels typically come in lengths of up to 16 feet and in standard heights of 4, 8, and 10 feet. Once constructed, they're transported to the building site. A crane is needed to lift them in to place. Precast concrete walls have been shown to be very effective in passive solar design. | 
