Home Adaptation: Key Terms in Adaptation & The language of Construction

Dr. Shah, Lecture (slides 2-40)

bearing wall

wall which supports the weight of the roof or upper floor of the structure

what are typical bearing walls in most houses

walls along the longest dimension of the house

what are bearing walls parallel with

the ridge of the roof (both interior and exterior)

what do you have to put if you open or remove a bearing wall 

a header 

is a header inexpensive or expensive

expensive

non-bearing wall

wall that runs along the supports for the roof, and just holds itself up

what is special abt non-bearing walls

they can be moved w/ no change to the support structure of the house 

vent

a pipe from a sewer line that vents sewer gages through the roof of a building

where to vents need to be placed

at each drain line from sink, bathtub, or toilet and extends through the roof

size of vent

must be the size of the drain line 

sink vent size

2”

toilet vent size

4”

how should the vent line lead to the roof

in a straight upward line from the main sewer line 

where is the plumbing located in most houses

channeled w/in 1 or 2 walls (kitchen and bathroom back-to-back) w/ faucet in 1 or 2 walls

what goes with each drain line

a vent that goes to the roof

what needs to change if you want to move the plumbing wall

the wall, the plumbing, the vents 

what happens to changing the plumbing wall in multistory dwellings

if 1 floor is changed the other floors have to change as well → can cause major disruption

electrical wiring

wiring for electrical outlets in the room being evaluated

how does the electrical wiring run

horizontally form outlet to outlet along the wall

what type of wiring does most house have

Romex wiring

Romex wiring

is a plastic clad wire which can be cut, spliced or bent as needed

what might some buildings use instead of romex

either rigid or flexible conduits or “armored” cable with mental wrap 

what does Romex or conduits or armored cable do for the wiring

allows for the wiring not to stretch

what needs to be placed in the house if you move electrical wiring

a junction box must be installed to allow a new wire to run to the modified location

how does wires get to the other side of the wall

pass through wall on the way to other parts of the house 

how are rooms typically wired

in one, more or less continuous chains

ground fault interrupt

don’t follow this continuous chain pattern since they may be linked to a single circuit

where might ground fault interrupt circuits be placed 

bathrooms, kitchens, outdoors (the outlets that have the buttons)

telephone lines 

thin 4 conductor lines from telephone connection to various rooms of the house 

where can telephone lines be found

connected in the room or pass through the wall

cable tv cabling

drops are provided to each bedroom, family room, living room

computer network

some houses have prewired ethernet between rooms

what networking is dominate

wireless networking

joist

horizontal support for floor or celling 

what do joist provide

a solid grip for ceiling mounted tracks and such (any ceiling hung device)

plate

horizontal boards the run along the top and bottom of a wall

where do most walls have a plate

a single on the bottom and a double on the top  

stud

full length vertical support for a wall

where does a stud run from

plate to plate

what do plates hold up 

the upper part of the house 

where are studs usually placed

on 16” centers

what is an alternative location for studs to be placed on

24” centers

studs are always a even divisor of 

48” (standard size for plywood and other wall coverings) 

corner studs

special compound stud installed at junctions of walls

what do studs allow for

anchoring structures of walls and provides surface for support of wall material

header

horizontal beam that extends across the opening for doors and windows 

how strong must header be

strong enough to support the weigh of the building for that width, as door or windows replace studs

how are headers contructed

made by 4×12 timbers

actually how long is 4×12 

3.5 × 11.5 

why are headers 4×12

bc most doors and windows have even tops

cripple

a short stud used to hold up a sill or header

what is the length of the cripple dependent on 

the size of the header of height of the sill 

sill

horizontal board that provides the lower edge of a window