Building Constructions and Components Basic Technology JSS 3

SUBJECT : BASIC TECHNOLOGY

CLASS : JSS 3

TOPIC : BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND COMPONENTS.

Content :

Building components can be defined as components or things that make up a whole building. The building components are foundations, walls, floors, doors, windows, stairs and roof.

FOUNDATION

The stability of the building depends on the foundations. Foundation is an expanded base of a wall or column mutually made of concrete materials. The foundation is the lowest part of the wall of a building. The ground or sub-soil on which the building stands is called the NATURAL FOUNDATION while the expended base which is constructed of concrete or masonry materials like stones or bricks is called ARTIFICIAL Foundation. The foundation footing is the lower part of the foundation that rests on the ground.

FUNCTIONS OF FOUNDATION.

The main functions of a foundation to a building include:

i) To receive the weight of the building.
ii) To transmit the weight of the building to the sub-soil or ground.
iii) To hold the building firmly to the ground.
iv) To distribute the weight of the building over the surface area.
v) To sustain the dead load of the building.

TYPES OF FOUNDATION.

Generally, the foundation to be constructed on any site depends on:
i) The nature of the soil at the building site.
ii) The weight load to be carried by the foundation of the building.

There are four (4) main types of building foundation.

1. The Strip Foundation: This type of foundation is mostly suitable for small structures like bungalows. Where the continuous strip of foundation is used on the firm ground. If the soil is weak, this can cause destructive or settlement of the building structure. Due to this, the reinforcement strip foundation may be used to prevent the non-uniform differential settlement of the ground.

2. The Pad Foundation: The pad foundation is constructed where separate standing columns are need for the foundation to carry a slab at the top of the ground. The pad foundation is constructed to support the columns. It is widely used when you want to make use of the floor of the building as a “Parking Space” and also good for a place where you have rive or erosion flow.

3. The Raft Foundation: this is used where the load bearing capacity of the soil is weak and is best used for small building in water logged area. It is mostly recommended in construction of a three-storey building.

4. The Pile Foundation: this is made of reinforced concrete columns and cast through weak and swampy land to a Firm base, in order to carry the building structure above them. The pile foundation is mostly used for construction of massive structures such as Bridges and high-rise buildings.

 Diagram of types of foundation

WALLS
A wall is a structural member in building used mainly for the enclosure or division of a space within a building. Walls can be load bearing and can be non-load bearing.

A) The External Walls: these are usually Load bearing walls and are built right from the foundation to the roof level. It is constructed with 450mm (9 inches) thickness block.

B) The Internal Cross Walls: these are the non-load bearing walls. The internal cross-wall is the wall that carries only the weight of itself. It is used to divide a space and it is used as partition wall. It may be may be constructed with 150mm (6 inches) thickness block.

TYPES OF WALL
There are many types of walls, depending on the material used and the method of constructions.
i) Block wall,  ii) Partition wall, iii) Sleeper wall,  iv) Timber wall,  v) Foundation wall, vi) Glass wall, vii) Retaining wall,  viii) Stone wall,  ix) Bamboo wall,  x) Clay or Mud wall,  xi)  Masonry wall.

Functions of a wall.
a. To carry the load and other elements in the building structure.
b. To divide a space as partition and as a compartment wall.
c. To enclose a space as in the external wall of a building.
d. To protect the structure against weather.
e. For privacy
f. For security purpose.

WALL FINISHING.
This is the procedure applied to a building wall in order to cancel irregularities and unevenness in the wall and to provide hygienic and easily decorated walls. Any material so used to protect the surface of a wall from weather element is called wall finishes. The common wall finishing is:

1. Plastering: it is the type of finishing that is given to the internal wall of building.
2. Rendering: This is the type of finishing that is given to the external wall of a building.

WALL MATERIALS.
1. Brick
2. Wood
3. Block
4. Metal
5. Ceramic (Tiles)
6. Leaves/Bamboo
7. Glass

FLOORS
A floor is the button horizontal surface of an enclosed space. Floors may be situated on the ground below or above the ground. Generally, the two types of floors in use are:

1. The Concrete Floors: these are concrete floors which may be simply being finished with smooth surface, or lay with plastic or linoleum tiles.

2. The Timber Floors: These consist of wood, which are nailed over solid length of timber, the ends of which are supported by the main walls of the building. The solid timbers are known as Joist.

TYPES OF FLOOR.
1. The Basement floor: this is the lowest storey of the building. It serves as car park, potter’s lodge.
2.The Ground floor: this is the storey on the ground level.
3. First floor: one way is to name the storey immediately above the ground level floor as the first floor as in Nigeria.

FLOOR MATERIALS.
1. Brick
2. Wood
3. Block
4. Metal
5. Ceramic (Tiles)
6. Leaves/Bamboo

FLOOR FINISHES: a floor finish is a substance applied on a floor surface principally for the purpose of protection, beautification or modification of the floor in a desirable manner. Others floor finishes are: Tiles, Pitch mastic, thermoplastic tile, clay tiles linoleum, marble, asbestos tiles, terrazzo, asphalt tiles, wood board, Granolithic concrete, carpet or rug, etc.

ASSIGNMENT:

1. Define the following term: wall and floor.
2. Mention the types of wall.
3. State the functions of wall.
4. List the types of floor.
5. State the materials of walls and floors.