CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

1. Stone2. Uses of stone3. Cement4. Mortar5. Concrete6. Reinforced concrete7. Plaster8. Advantages and disadvantages of plaster9. Ceramics 10. What is clay?11. Moulding 12. Drying13. Firing14. Brick and uses.15. Building construction phases.16. The end

INDEX

Stone is a natural solid material extracted from quarries. There are many different types of stone used in construction such as granite, slate and marble. They each have different properties.Stones have been used by humans and other hominids for more than 2 million years.

STONE

1. Building and decorative stones walls and devocative purposes. Buildings, walls or paving slabs.2. Industrial purposes limestone can be used as calcium carbonate in farming and manufacturing.3. Limeburning it can be used as a more powerful alkali than limestone, or used as a cement with sand, to make mortar.4. Cement if limestone is mixed with clay, or sandstone before firing, it can produce Portland cement.

USES OF STONE

Cement is a blinder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The most important use of cement is the production of mortar and concrete the bonding of natural or artificial aggregates to form a strong building material that is durablein the face of normal environmental effects.

CEMENT

Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are tipically made from a mixture of sand, a binder such as cement or lime, and water. Mortar can also be used to fix, or point, masonry when the original mortar has washed away.

MORTAR

Concrete is a composite construction material composed of cement (commonly Portland cement), and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate, water, and chemical admixtures. Solidifies and hardens after mixing with water and placement due to a chemical process known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, wich bonds the other components together, eventually creating a robust stone-like material.

CONCRETE

Concrete is used to make pavements, pipe, architectural structures, foundations, motorways/roads, bridges/overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and footings for gates, fences and poles.

USE OF CONCRETE

Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars, reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthend the concrete in tension. The term 'Ferro concrete' refers only to concrete that is reinforced with iron or steel. Oher materials used to reinforce concretecan be organic and inorganic fibers as well as composites in different forms. Concrete is strong in compression, but weak in tension, thus adding reinforcement increases the strength in tension.

REINFORCED CONCRETE

Plaster is a soft solid that we normally use for aesthetic purposes, to cover brick walls which have a rough surface. In addition, plaster foam is used as a fire resistant material. Plaster comes from gypsum, lime or cement. We extract gypsum from the quarries, and then grind it. When ground gypsum is mix with water, it becomes a paste and we can spread it on interior walls.

PLASTER

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGESADVANTAGES:Plaster gives a smooth surface and has a nice finish.

It's easy to work with.

It's a good sound and thermal insulator.

It's resistant to fire within a room.

DISADVANTAGES:It's very weak.

It absorbs water.(For this two reasons, plaster isn't used on exterior walls).

A ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous. Because most common ceramics are crystalline, the definition of ceramic is often restricted to inorganic crystalline materials, as opposed to the non-crystalline glasses.

CERAMICS

Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals. Clay deposits are mostly composed of clay minerals, a subtype of phyllosilicate minerals, which impart plasticity and harden when fired or dried; they also may contain variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure by polar attraction. Organic materials which do not impart plasticity may also be a part of clay deposits.

WHAT IS CLAY?

1.Moulding:The first step in making ceramics is to give the clay the required shape, for example a brick.We make a mould with the negative shape of a brick, then we fill the mould with clay.The mould goes through a kiln on a conveyor belt.

MOULDING

2. Drying:There are two kinds of water in clay:The absorbed water and the chemically bound water. The absorbed water is what makes the clay wet. When it evaporates the clay becomes hard, but if water is added, it becomes soft clay again.Drying the clay can be done under the sun or with fans.

DRYING

3. Firing:To remove the chemically bound water we need high temperatures. Firing is done in a kiln, like an oven, at temperatues between 1,000C and 1,600C. When the chemically bound water disappears, the clay hardens irreversibly. After firing, the material is ceramic, that is why the ceramic stays solid even if you dip it in water.

FIRING

BRICKS AND USES BRICKS:Bricks are blocks of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar.The colour of the brick depends mainly on the type of clay is used.

USES OF BRICKS:Bricks are used for buildings and pavements.

Bricks are also used in the metallurgy and glass industries for lining furnaces.

They have high melting point.

BUILDING PHASES Phase #1 "The Paperwork"

The Hardest part of any project is getting started, "The Paperwork" can be very time consuming and taxing, but just like buying a car, it is a necessary evil. The following are your main paperwork check off list:

Contract with the required deposit: at the time of your proposal.

Builder package goes to the lender: your finance!

Phase #2 Taking shape

Before any building can take place, the lot must be prepared. Having a firm foundation is the key to building a solid structure. This requires several things:Dirt work and lot leveling.Footing and foundation complete, Trusses & Lumber delivered to the job site, and Framing.Windows, garage and exterior doors in placeWrap & scratch, brown coatRoof tile stacked & Exterior trim painted

Phase #3 Interior Selections

This is the turning point, as a structure becomes a home. During this phase, all of the small interior details and personal touches get set into motion.

AppliancesGraniteTileFaucetsSinksCarpetHardware

Phase #4 Nearly Complete

As your house becomes a home, there are a few more major projects that must be completed:

Insulating your walls followed by drywall

Texture spray and interior paint

Cabinets installed and stained

Tile work

Phase #5 Finishing TouchesYour almost home free, the dream is about to become reality. All of the pieces of the puzzle are almost together and yet there is still more to Concrete flat workDrivewayStuccoFinalizing electrical and plumbingCarpet installation Then there is a Good Old Fashioned Cleaning, removal of all signs of construction so that all you are left with, is your perfect vision of your new Home.Final Inspection