WOODWORKING QUIZ for 21 AUG 04

[Ralph Jones]

Good Evening Friends,
When you walk into a house and the floors are sloping to the outside walls is telling you what? There could be a couple of reasons.

Respectfully,

[Toggy]

Outside row of stumps have rotted off or the foundations sunk.

Ken

[Robert WA]

Good Evening Friends,
When you walk into a house and the floors are sloping to the outside walls is telling you what? There could be a couple of reasons.

Respectfully,

You just got new bifocal lenses in your spectacles.

[RETIRED]

Had a few too many? :D :D

[fxst]

washaways??

[hexbaz]

Good Evening Friends,
When you walk into a house and the floors are sloping to the outside walls is telling you what?It would be telling me to get another house. :D

[Bob Willson]

The floors have been angled for easy hosing out. Great after a party. :D

[ubeaut]

You are standing in my house.

[bitingmidge]

You've parked the campervan under the house, forgotten that it only just fits under with millimetres to spare, and jacked it up to change the tyres.

P

[Ralph Jones]

Good Evening Friends,
You fellows have quite a sense of humor and I really enjoy your candor. Many times I LOL at the answers.
You are correct that the foundation sunk or maybe even termites, that is if they are present in your area. Even if the foundation did not sink but, there was a lot of moisture the floor joists may have rotted where they meet the sill plate. How many of you blokes build you structures on piers? Just wondering.

Respectfully,

[bitingmidge]

You are correct that the foundation sunk or maybe even termites, that is if they are present in your area.

How many of you blokes build you structures on piers?

Ralph,

If it was the termites round here, you wouldn't be wondering about the floor being out of level. You'd get home one afternoon and wonder where your house was.

As for building on piers. In Queensland they are called stumps, and that is (or at least was) our vernacular form of building. Now Concrete, treated timber or steel is used, but originally they were simply hardwood poles stuck in the ground, maybe with a bit of creosote to stop the termites, but the timber used was so hard that the termites usually wore out their teeth before damaging it.

My parents once lived in a house in Longreach in central Queensland which had stumps made of a particularly hard timber "Gidgee". It was only about three feet above the ground, and I was intrigued because the stumps didn't seem to be in any set pattern and the floor framing was all over the place. On investigation it turned out that half the stumps were actually trees that had simply been cut off to the right height! (Not typical construction, but illustrates the character of the timber!)

Pretty much all of the above is true, but how do you know when to believe me??

Cheers,

P :D :D :D

[Ralph Jones]

Good Evening Bitingmidge,
I did a search of the land of OZ and found that there are several methods of building in your area, when I noticed that many of the structures were on what we call piers. I Some of the southern states here such as North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and other spots that I can't think of, the structures are on piers. due to the bad storms they receive on occasions. Like Hurricanes and Tropical storms in the gulf of Mexico.

As a matter of fact Florida had a bad hurricane recently and people are still without water, electric and food, not to count the other necessities.

Respectfully,

[duckman]

Good Evening Friends,
You fellows have quite a sense of humor and I really enjoy your candor. Many times I LOL at the answers.
You are correct that the foundation sunk or maybe even termites, that is if they are present in your area. Even if the foundation did not sink but, there was a lot of moisture the floor joists may have rotted where they meet the sill plate. How many of you blokes build you structures on piers? Just wondering.

Respectfully,

G'day Ralph,

Would you mind explaining what a sill plate is?

Piers, that is brick piers, are or at least were fairly common in parts of New South Wales. Here in Victoria, on the rare occassions that houses are built with a timber sub-floor in lieu of a concrete slab nowadays, concrete stumps are used unless there is a lot of fall on the land in which case timber posts/poles are often substituted because concrete stumps just get too big and heavy. :eek:

Hooroo...

Mark.

[Ralph Jones]

Hello Mark,
The sill plate is the 2 x 6 that is placed on the top of a foundation to lay the floor joists on when placing a floor framing. Unlike the framing of a house that is being built on piers like you fellows do in cases. Then the sill plate is eliminates and the band board is mortised into the post then the joists are secured through it.
thanks for your question.

Respectfully,

[Toggy]

Actually Ralph building a house on a pier would be interesting. Trouble is some sod would want to park his bludy big boat in your back yard. Would have to keep off the turps too; too big a swimming pool to fall into.

Hooroo,

Ken