Construction Materials and Building Processes

Posted on Oct 1, 2024 in Social sciences

1. Materials Used in Construction

Construction materials are used in home building, monuments, and public works.

Stone Materials

Compact Rocks: These are stone blocks of limestone, marble, granite, etc., which are named blocks, masonry, pavers, and slabs.

Disintegrated Rocks: These are fragments of stone of varying sizes.

  • Clay: Rocks of very small grains, characterized by their ability to absorb water.
  • Arid: Fragments from the disintegration of other rocks.

Cementing Materials

Binders are materials that, when mixed with water, become viscous and solidify, assuming rigidity. They are used as a means of union or bond for other materials to result in a mass called:

  • Mortar: A mixture of inorganic binders, clay, water, and possible additives.
  • Concrete: A mixture of aggregate, binder, and water.
  • Cal-facade
  • Gypsum – for partition

Ceramics

Ceramic materials are made of molded clay pieces and fired in kilns.

  • Bricks: Pieces of baked clay, prism-shaped, with holes or solid.
    • Fine bricks: Have great weather resistance and insulation properties. Used for facades.
    • Ordinary bricks: Offer the least resistance, cheaper and rugged. Used for walls and partitions.
  • Texas: Pieces of clay used in roofs.
  • Tiles: Square or rectangular pieces that are used for coating walls of bathrooms and kitchens.
  • Gres: Mixture of clay, quartz, and feldspar with which glazed pottery is made highly resistant to wear. Used to cover floors.
  • Porcelain: Ceramic material coated with enamel. Is used for toilets.

2. Construction of Buildings

  1. Preparation of the site: Demolition, debris removal, and leveling.
  2. Foundation: Placement of the elements that form the base of the building. The foundation elements are the shoes, feasting, or piles.
  3. Elevation of the structure: Pillars are built, and plates are formed to create the floors.
  4. Coverage of water: Placing the roof of the building. The materials used in building roofs are tiles, zinc, and slabs of slate.
  5. Placement of pavement: On each floor plate, building materials such as marble, stone, wood, etc., are placed.
  6. Raising walls: Walls and partitions that enclose and divide the floors are built. They are constructed with ordinary bricks.
  7. Placement of housing facilities (core).
  8. Finishing work: The building is made suitable for its final use. The house is furnished, painted, and electrical installations are placed.

3. Construction Tools

Wheelbarrow, pick, carrycot, shovel, hammer, pot, trowel, spirit level, trowel, chisel, gauge.

4. Construction Machinery

  • Excavation and earth moving: Bulldozers and loaders are used.
  • Leveling of land: Bulldozers and graders are used, followed by bulldozers.
  • Transportation of materials: Large trucks and dump trucks are used.

5. Graphical Representation

Plan views and horizontal sections are used in:

  • Plans of distribution: Describe the internal partitioning and the status of doors, windows, toilets, and furniture.
  • Plans for foundations: Show the supporting elements of the building and water connections, gas, electricity, telephone, and other installations.
  • Deck Plans: Show the roofs and terraces.
  • Location maps: Represent the location of construction, the streets that surround it, and other data that can help locate it.

Dialogue

Dialogue is the exchange of messages between two or more speakers who alternate in the roles of sender and receiver.

Signs of Dialogue

  • In oral dialogue, words are complemented by sentence intonation (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, ironic, etc.). This intonation signals the end of an intervention and the transfer of the word to another party.
  • Non-verbal communication is also very important in this type of dialogue: gestures, glances, and movements that qualify the meaning of words.
  • It can be said that the phrases that are part of the dialogue acquire their full meaning when embraced by intonation and nonverbal communication.
  • Written dialogue has marks of orality, i.e., signs indicating the way the characters talk, such as signs of intonation (interrogative, exclamatory, hortatory), hesitations or unfinished sentences, interjections, vocatives, formulas at the beginning of a shift, and slang or imprecise expressions.

Context or Situation

The situation of communication or dialogue context is determined by several factors, including time, place, social status or authority of the people involved, etc.

All these factors determine the tone and themes of the conversation:

  • The time (in hours or work, on vacation, getting up at night, in the Middle Ages, in the eighteenth century, now, etc.).
  • The place where the dialogue is developing (in class, in the pool, at the doctor’s, etc.).
  • The identity or social status of people (children, elders, bosses, customers, etc.).

The situation or context, as part of the dialogue, determines whether it is a formal dialogue or a spontaneous conversation or chat.

  • Spontaneous conversation: A dialogue between trusted people who comment on several issues and move on from one to another arbitrarily, driven by the dynamics of the talk. This kind of dialogue is discussed in an informal or colloquial style that should be reserved for family or friendly conversations.
  • Formal dialogue: Adopts standards and discusses a specific topic with a practical purpose. In this kind of dialogue, the speaker must use a formal style of conversation, using clear and precise expressions.