A Blueprint for Better Building
(Page 3 of 5)
August/September 2005
By Steve Maxwell
When you’re satisfied with your sketch, reproduce it with foam board held together with strips of masking tape. This way, you can remove and change design components such as walls or the roof as needed. For small- and medium-size buildings, you’ll find that a scale of 1 inch per foot is ideal. What you’re finalizing at this stage are the broad-stroke attributes of your structure: length-to-width ratio, wall height, roof design and slope, and door location. In all likelihood, your first model probably won’t look that good. That’s OK — identifying design flaws and rearranging the model to fix them is the goal of this exercise. Perhaps your walls are too tall for the pitch of your proposed roof; maybe the roof needs a dormer or two; how would the building look if it were 2 feet wider? Now is the time to ask questions of this nature — not after you’ve built the structure.
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When you’ve hammered out the main parameters of length, width and roof shape, fasten the pieces of your model together with carpenter’s glue and masking tape. Now you’ve got the best blueprints possible.
When it came time to file a project plan with my local building inspector, I drew critical dimensions on the front, side and top of my model using a felt-tip marker; then I took digital pictures from important angles and included photographs with my building permit application. I also e-mailed these same images to building suppliers for price quotes on some materials.
One added benefit of building a model is the dry-run practice you get from putting the structure together. Sure, building with foam board is very different than framing with studs and cutting plywood, but you’d be surprised how much the model-building experience can help later, when you’re wearing a tool belt and swinging a hammer.
Your model also is useful when it comes time to determine window size and placement. Too many buildings fall short of their aesthetic potential because of inappropriately sized or poorly placed windows. Cut some scale outlines of proposed windows using construction paper, and then temporarily tape them in place. Start with larger window outlines than you think you’ll need, and then use scissors to cut them down to the correct size as you determine their ideal location. Nowadays, just about every window manufacturer offers custom window sizes at no extra charge, so there’s no need for your windows to match any “standard” dimensions.
Foundation Options
The size, shape and floor plan of your building are just the first of the many choices you will need to make about your project. The next important set of decisions concerns the foundation.
Where I live, frost regularly penetrates 36 to 48 inches below the surface during winter and can cause “heaving.” This is when a structure’s foundation is pushed toward the surface by seasonal freezing of the soil, and it’s why deep foundations are typically used on buildings meant to last. That said, simpler top-of-ground foundations still work in well-drained locations in my region.etails of what works in your area will vary from one of these extremes to the other.
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