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TAFE Timber Education Newsletter 2010 #2 |
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1-Jun-2010
In this issue of the newsletter:
2010 #2
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Tassie carpenter and Melbourne apprentice nail top national award
Launceston carpenter Ty Turner was named "National Carpenter of the Year for 2010". Ty, 32, became a carpenter
straight after school because he had a passion for working with wood. He now employs six people on jobs all over
Tasmania. Nowadays part of his passion is to help his apprentices get a similar appreciation of one of nature's
greatest inventions.
The nation's best apprentice carpenter is Nicholas Edgerton of Melbourne. The judges said Nicholas stood out
because of his volunteer work in rebuilding some of the homes in the Marysville area, spending weeks away
from home to do so.
More info and the state by state winners are at:
www.carpentersday.com.au
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LVL and I-beam popularity increases
There has been spectacular growth in the consumption of LVL and I-joists in building and construction in
the past six years. This growth is forecast to grow at similar rates up until 2013 and beyond. These new,
stronger and better value products had resulted in greater choice for builders as these products were now
more prevalent as a stock line with merchants.
The grades of LVL have been refined to the point where merchants are now offering grades for residential
construction and grades for formwork and civil construction. Please note that there are no generic grades
for LVL. Each manufactured product has its own grade.
One LVL supplier's product is soon to be sized in 35, 42 and 58 mm thicknesses instead of 36, 45 and 63 mm.
75 mm will remain unchanged. This means that builders have a greater range of choices for F17 across sizes.
LVL was also becoming more commonly stocked by the merchant sector and the frame and truss plants are stocking
the product more frequently for lintels, replacing steel products, in wall frame production as well as its
traditional use as a bottom chord product. I-joists continued to gain in popularity as floor framing.
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Plywood, LVL, particleboard and MDF tutorials
An introductory series of tutorials on basic concepts of engineered wood is available from the Engineered
Wood Products Association website library. Great for those who have never used engineered wood and for
secondary school students wishing to understand the fundamentals.
The tutorials as well as some downloadable videos and other handy resources are available at
www.ewp.asn.au
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Timber wall cladding products
Weathertex, the Australian manufacturer of a range of reconstituted hardwood external wall cladding products
for domestic and commercial uses, have recently upgraded their website.
Besides the usual product information the website features a range of toolbox presentations videos on various
aspects of installing Weathertex products. For specifiers and builders it also has a heap of CAD drawings and
sketchup profiles which can be freely downloaded.
Being 97% timber and 3% natural wax with no other chemical additives Weathertex also proudly boast that their
products have a negative carbon footprint. A claim which has been independently verified by Denis Cooke & Associates.
More info at
www.weathertex.com.au
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New bushfire standard adopted in all states and territories
From 1 May 2010 the Building Code of Australia (BCA) has adopted the new building in bushfire prone
areas standard AS3959-2009. Therefore all states now operate under this new standard, including NSW, ACT and SA.
Internal timber-framed construction remains acceptable in all six BALs (bushfire attack levels) -- even
the riskiest BAL-FZ (flame zone).
Please let me know if you want the new standard explained to at any Teachers meetings so I can arrange somebody to attend.
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Plywood membrane solution - a roof system for BAL-FZ
Buildings on sites that have been assessed as being in BAL-FZ must have roof and eaves systems that comply
with the requirements of AS 1530.8.2-2007 Test on Elements of Construction.
A new datasheet details the first system for sheet metal roofs to comply. This plywood membrane (and timber-framed)
roof system can be used in combination with any wall cladding system that complies with AS 3959-2009 to BAL-FZ,
this includes systems utilising wall sheeting and weatherboard.
The roof system uses a membrane of 15mm plywood over the rafters/trusses with 75mm Anticon Roofing Blanket (glasswool).
The eaves system combines 15mm plywood and 16mm fire grade moisture-resistant plasterboard.
This datasheet and other useful guides that Forest and Wood Products Australia have developed to explain the new
standard are all available at
www.timber.org.au
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New acceptable standards medium density housing handbook
The Acceptable Standards of Construction Committee (ASCC) has recently released their much awaited Acceptable
Standards of Medium Density Housing Construction Handbook.
Developed over a number of years with input from all sectors of the industry, including the NSW Department of Housing
and the Office of Fair Trading, this handbook is a guide for the design and construction of conventional medium density
housing, up to three storey walk-up apartments.
The new handbook, like its stable mate, Acceptable Standards of Domestic Construction Handbook has been developed
to provide the designer and builder with a set of guidelines to assist in constructing a medium density building that
meets the typical expectations of the consumer -- not just the minimum standards laid down by the Building Code of Australia.
The handbook is now available for purchase through the TDA bookshop, the HIA, MBA, Dymocks and TAFE college book shops.
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Even More Teaching and Learning Resources
The web site
www.timber.org.au
has a large range of resources for use in education relating to the use of timber in buildings.
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Teaching Resources - information for teachers including downloadable PowerPoint presentations on applications, properties, production, AS1684, multi-residential timber framing, cladding as well as timber stairs manual.
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Learning Resources - information for students including applications, properties, production, durability, specifications, manufactured wood products, connections as well as 18 case studies of timber in use.
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Reference Resources - for teachers and students including timber flooring (installation guide), timber construction in bushfire prone areas through to structural timber design guides.
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The following educational resources are available through the Timber Development Association at no or small
cost. We also have a more extensive list of publications available from our website,
www.timber.net.au, which may aid your teaching.
Acceptable Standards of Domestic Construction
These handbooks are a reference for builders, owners, financial providers, owner builders, students or any other
person or institution wishing to determine what standard of quality is reasonable. Developed to describe standards
of construction acceptable to consumers, the lending or other authorities. The recommended retail price is $25 each.
For bulk purchases of one box (30 books) we are offering the books at the reseller price.
Australian Hardwood and Cypress Manual
The Hardwood and Cypress manual is a must have for all specifiers and for anyone teaching timber
related subjects. The Manual is split into four sections: an introduction, a technical and detailing
guide, a set of species guides, and application guides.
We have recently found a few more hardcopies and CDs of the manual when we moved our storage unit. Contact me if you'd like a free copy. It is also available for free download from
www.timber.net.au.
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Timber Framing Multi-Resource CD
This free all-in-one CD contains teaching resources for the following topics:
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Format
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Introduction to timber framing (video)
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Video
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Timber framing
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Interactive construction game
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Bracing and Tie-down Design - 4 case studies
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PowerPoint
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Using AS16884.2 span tables
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PowerPoint
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Introduction timber construction
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PowerPoint
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Timber stairs, balustrades & handrails manual
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PDF
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Timber wall cladding systems
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PowerPoint
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Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD)
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PowerPoint
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Occupation health & safety (OH&S)
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PowerPoint
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Timber truss installation (update)
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PowerPoint
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Please contact me for assistance with obtaining resources or any aspect of teaching timber related units or to update your contact details.
Stephen Mitchell
Co-ordinator, National Timber Education Program - ACT, NSW & SA
p: 02 8424 3700
e:
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This program is funded by the timber industry through Forest and Wood Products Australia
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