Hallo again from me, Mr. Vine… I’m quite busy during this few days…fuhh! OK, in this today’s episode I would like to introduce to you the typical sections of building structural. In my presentation, I kindly want to tell the story in ‘newbie’ terms as a few people asked me about the building components name and the functionality. This means by preliminary explanation to the non-engineering, yet interested in gaining some basic knowledge in engineering especially in civil.

A basic building structure would be an example as most building would have the similar components. It will not be as detail as the civil construction structure with fully detail descriptions but enough for fundamental understanding.

Divide into 4 sections: Foundation, Ground Floor, 1st Floor and Roof.

Concrete = Cement + Aggregate + Sand + Water (+ Admixture)

By referring to the figure above, typical building structure can be divided into four sections, namely as: Foundation section, Ground Floor section, First Floor section, and Roof section. Note that the main material for most usage in construction buildings is concrete, and others like steel, wood, and bricks.

Foundation and Ground Floor Section

Section 1 and 2: Foundation and Ground Floor.

The foundation section would be the first part in constructing a building. Although the components seems only a few but it is known to be the most critical part (stability of the ground) for the building to sit on. The knowledge of geology, soil mechanics, and geotechnical becomes handy to overcome any challenges when facing the unpredictable ground condition. When the ground condition considered as poor quality and not suitable for shallow foundation, we need to install piles (reinforced concrete for above case). The footing is the second part and it will carry the whole building structures weight (loads) from the roof section down to the ground floor section. The stump columns acted as the connector to the main columns structure as well as the ground beams.

The second section after foundation is the ground floor which consist of numerous components. The ground beams will support the ground floor slabs and the wall, and it is connected to the main columns, plus placed closely to the ground surface. On the other hand, the ground floor slabs will carry the internal weight within the building rooms like wall, tiles, electronics, household furniture’s and so forth. Normally bricks (clay or concrete) will be used to form the building walls and support the doors and windows. The columns of the building would be main structure to carry the other components weight as well as the connector. Staircase normally would be install as a separate components than others.

First Floor Section

Section 3: First Floor.

The third section would be the first floor section. In this section most of the structure components have the similar functionality as the ground floor sections. In addition to this section is the balcony which support by the first floor slab and beam with applied cantilever principles in structural design. The building finishes would be the tiles for floor, painting and cement mortar for internal walls, and asbestos or else for ceiling. It is a must and recommended to fortify the building with reinforced concrete materials where steel bars are being added, thus protection against cracking, deflection, and etc.

Roof Section

Section 4: The Roof.

Lastly, the roof section considered as the simple one compare the other components in terms of construction. It normally requires the skill of carpenters which uses wood as common materials, or sometimes steel which requires detail design of roof truss. The roof beams acted as the truss support, similar as the ground and floor beam, and will bond or intact with the columns. The roofing finishes would be the uses of various tiles products available in the market today, like flat, hollow, slightly curved, plain, etc. Nonetheless, the quality of tiles often neglected or ignored as it is the first shelter ‘shield’ against the heat of the Sun and the acidic-water of rainfall.

Once again, I used my favorite computer-aided software called Google Sketchup 7 to make the building model with some textures. It is easy to use (yet powerful) and it could be done by the numbers of layers; section 1 to 4.

The model of building developed with Google Sketchup 7.

In conclusion, this preliminary understanding of the building typical structural components becomes more useful when doing the stages of structural design, estimation of cost, drawing of floor-plan, planning of works, presentation of work progress, and so forth. Thanks for reading and may this will benefit the both of us. Cheers…

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