Foundations

1 Read the text and then answer the questions below.

The foundations, walls, floor, stairs and roof are some of the building
elem ents that all types of building have in common.
Foundations are structures that transfer weights from walls and columns
to the ground. There are two types of foundations: shallow foundations
and deep foundations. Shallow foundations are usually embedded a
m etre into the soil, whereas deep foundations are embedded m ore in
depth. They are recommended in case of very large design loads, a poor
soil at shallow depth or site constraints, such as property lines. There are
different types of deep foundation s and they can be m ade of tim ber,
steel and reinforced or pretensioned concrete.
Geotechnical engineers design foundations to ensure that they have an
adequate load capacity with limited settlement. When designing
foundations, it is also important to consider scour (when flowing water
removes supporting soil from around a foundation) and frost heave
(when water in the ground freezes and forms ice lenses).

1 Wh at are foun dat ions? How many types of 4 What do geotechni cal engineers
found ation s are there? design?
2 Wh at are the main featu res of shallow foundations? 5 What must be considered?
3 Wh at are the ma in featu res of deep foundations ? 6 What are scour and heave?

Walls
t"".-
. .
2 Read the text and decide if the sentences below are true (T) or false (F).

Building walls support the superstructures of build ing (roofs and ceiling s), separate space and
give protection against intrusion and the weather. They usually have about three separate
components : structural elements, insulation , finish elements or surface .
Walls can be loadbearing or non load bearing depending on the ir providing structural support to
the bu ildi ng or not. Exterior loadbearing walls carry cei ling, roof or upper loor loads to the
foundation. Som e bearing walls are inside buildings : th ey support joists a~ id span an d transfer
loads down to the foundation . ~~~
r
Usually conventional house walls have an inner wooden framewo :ra: ~a/ Llpport part of the
house , but does not support wall coverings, windows and doors : :_~:2. ~s e BC rical wiring , plumbing ,
insulation, and other utilities.

1 Wal ls ca n defi ne and protect area s, support 2 S_:2-::~r_::_'~

of buildings and del ineate a space.
2 There are two kinds of struct ura l a Is.
3 Exterior boundary wal ls give pro' ec'::::- 2g2 -5: -:'_5:- ,,-: . ::,,:-2'.
4 Loadbearing walls can onl e e :e' :' ,',::; 5
,... ..... _ - ::: - .::. .::.,-- .... -:;:
on en ional ouse t a s us,,;:: ..........
) -- - --- --
Floor
3 () 6 Listen and complete the text with the words from the box.

elect ri ca l wood surface cover in g underfloor st reng th

Floor structure contributes to the general (1) of the building system. It is formed of a
steel I-beam frame with a horizontal upper (2) to which a number of adjace nt
composite floor panels is fastened firmly.
Floors consist of a subfloor for support and a floor (3) used to give a good walking
surface. In modern buildings the subfloor often has (4) wiring, plumbing, and may
provide other services bu i It in, like (5) heati ng.
There is a wide variety of floor covering materials: carpet, ceramic tiles, (6) floor ing ,
laminated wood or stone.

Roofs
4 Read the text and decide if the statements below are true (T) or false (F).
Roofs can be divided in cut roofs, w here a carpenter measures, cuts and places every length of wood needed
for the frame ; and fixed roofs , made of pre-built and assembled trusses. Trusses are custom-designed by
computer so as to adapt to the typical weather conditions of the house. As they generall y rest only on ou tside
walls, they leave the inside free to move walls and to accommodate different room sizes.
When the frame of the roof is ready, a waterproof membrane is placed over it and it is held in place by battens
(long pieces of wood) that are nailed into the truss and are the supporting syste m for the t il es. Ti les are the n
nailed to the wood. The top of the roof is finished off w ith ridge tiles that cover both sides of the roof 's top ro
of tiles. Then the end of the wood at the bottom of the roof is covered by a fasc ia. The fascia allows air to flo
safely through the membrane. To take away the water from the bui lding, guttering is attached to the ' ascia.
heat can go straight out of the roof, insulation is also necessary.
When designing the roof structure it must be remembered that all the load on the roof has to be lr2'1S~erTec :
the supporting beams, bearing walls, building foundation and the earth.

Trusses are designed to adapt to the typical weather conditions of the house.
2 Battens are long pieces of wood supporting the tiles .
3 The top of the roof is finished off with a waterproof membrane.
L Then the end of the wood at the bottom of the roof is covered by the guttering.

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Stairs
5 Read the text and say what the stairs in the picture are like.

Staircases are powerful design

elements and an opportunity for
creative expression. They can be
spiral (twisting around a centre
pole with steps radiating out of it),
straight (they stretch from lower

circular (sweeping
to upper level in a broad
in one straight run),
curve from one level to another) or
~!~~llilillll~§~~
they can have other shapes. They
can be wide or narrow, steep or
gradual, return (dividing the run,
reversing direction 180 degrees at
a landing) or 'L' stairs (making a
90 degree turn at a landing).
Their design is influenced by
their function and their style
\'aries according to how their parts
are built and combined. Staircases
are built according to rules that
are im portant for safety, indicating
he heights of risers, depth and
\\idth of treads and placement of
handrails . The first measurement to take when building a staircase is the distance between the two
finished floors. This determines the height of the staircase. Its riser must not exceed 22 cm in residential
building_. The a\'erage width is 80 cm, and anyway it should not be less than 60 cm.

6 Work in pairs: use your own words to explain which kind of stairs you would choose for your home and why.

7 Think about the stairs in your house or a building you know well. Write a short paragraph answering the
questions below.
• What kind of stairs are they? • Would you replace them with another kind
• Do you think this is the best solution? Why/Why not? of stairs? Why/Why not?

MY GLOSSARY
average /'rev;:md3/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ row Ir~m/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
batten /'bretn/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ run IrAn/ - - -- - -
carpenter /,ko:pmt;::,(r)/ _ _ _ _ _._ _ _ _ __ scour /'skam(r)/ _ _
constraint Ibn'stremt/ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ settlement /'setlm;::,nt/ _____
electrical wiring II'lektnkl 'waI;::,rm/ _ _ _ _ _ __ shallow /'Jrej;::,u/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
embedded I lm'bedrd/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ span Ispren/ _ __
framework /,frermw3:k/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ firmly /,f3:mli/ _ __
guttering /'gAt;::,nl]/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ steep Isti:p/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
handrail /,hrendred/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ to stretch It;::, stretJ/
hea\'e I hi:v/ to sweep It;::, swi:p/
:-beam albi:m/ tile I taIl/
:o:s d:) Ist/ tread I tred/
.3..: c i::g IrendnJl trus s I trAs/
;-:c:;:; ji;:g pi \n111]/ turn I t3:n/
:-;c.ge ::':e nd:) [;:>Ii utility Iju:nlni
r:5e~ nil r waterpro of membrane /'w::l:t;::,pru:f 'membrem/ _ __

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