WOOD & LUMBER

● WOOD: A fibrous substance that composes the trunk and branches of a tree that lies
between the pith and the bark.
● XYLEM: The technical term for the wood.
● LUMBER: It is the processed wood to be used as a building material.
● TIMBER: It is the wood of trees that are yet to be processed.
● SLAB: A rough lumber tangentially cut running the full length of the log and containing
at least one flat surface.
● PLANK: A piece of lumber from 2 to 5 inches thick.
● BOARD: A piece of lumber that is less than 1 ½ thick and at least 4 inches wide.

Properties Of A Wood

● Cleavability ● Hardness
● Color ● Knots
● Durability ● Moisture
● Flexibility ● Weight

Cross Section of a Tree Trunk

● Heartwood: The central part of a tree

● Sapwood: The soft outer layers of the wood which
transport water and minerals to the crown of the tree
● Pith: It is the very center of the tree; also the oldest
part of the tree
● Bark: It is the outermost layer of a tree that helps in
keeping out moisture in the rain and prevents the
tree from losing moisture when the air is dry.

Advantages & Disadvantages of a Wood

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

● Workability & Aesthetics ● Shrinkable & Swelling

● Non-Conductor of Heat ● Vulnerability to Fire Damage
● Flexible & Durable ● Moisture & Water Damage
● Lightweight ● Pest & Fungi

Classification of Wood
● Hard: Deciduous Tree
● Soft: Conifers
Categories of Philippine Timber

GROUP I GROUP II GROUP III GROUP IV

● Narra ● Acacia ● Bakawan ● All other

● Yakal & Guijo ● Agoho ● Malakamias ordinary wood
● Tanguile ● Oak ● Malasaging species
● Apitong ● Pili ● Santol
● Mahogany ● Malabayabas
● Ipil

NARRA
Most expensive wood type.

Scinetific Naem: Pterocarpus Indicus

Weight: 600kg/cu.m.
● Color: Golden yellow to reddish brown
● Grain/Texture: Interlocking
● Rot Resistance: Good weathering characteristic and decay
resistance
● Sustainability: Maked as vulnerable due to 20% population
reduction in for the past 3 decades (in short, endangered
specie)
● Uses: Veneer, Furniture, Floorings, Cladding, Door panels,
Stairs

YAKAL
Hard and golden mahogany type

Scientific Name: Shorea Laevis

Weight: 700kg/cu.m.
● Color: Yellow to golden red
● Uses: Structural, Door Jams, Wood Decks
Philippine Mahogany
The most common lumber in the market

Scientific Name: Shorea Negrosensin

Weight: 500kg/cu.m.
● Color: Light to dark red
● Rot Resistance: Fungi and termite resistant but should not
be exposed to weather
● Uses: Indoor use, Framings, Joists, Doors, Furniture

Tanguile
The most common lumber in the market

Scientific Name: Shorea Polysperma

International Name: Meranti
● Color: Brownish Red
● Rot Resistance: Fungi and termite resistant but should not
be exposed to weather
● Uses: Indoor use, Framings, Joists, Doors, Furniture

Apitong
The Asian mahogany

Scientific Name: Dipterocarpus grandifloras

International Name: Keruing
Weight: 745kg/cu.m.
● Color: Yellowish brown to reddish brown
● Rot Resistance: Moderate to poor insect resistance
● Sustainability: Critically endangered due to 80%
population reduction
● Uses: Structural Timber
*Bamboo: It is neither a hardwood nor a softwood, rather it is from a grass species known as a
Giant Bamboo Moso.

Preparation Of A Wood
● Logging: It is the process of harvesting, cutting, and moving trees to a location for
transport.
➔ Cutting;
➔ Skidding: It is the process of pulling cut tress out of the forest;
➔ Bucking: It is the process of cutting trees into logs.

Illegal Logging in the Philippines: Section 68. Cutting, Gathering, and/or collecting
timber or other Forest Products without License.
“Any person who shall cut, gather, collect, remove timber or other forest
products from any forest land, or timber from alienable or disposable public land,
or from private land without any authority, or possess timber or other forest
products without legal documents as required under existing forest laws and
regulations, shall be punish with the penalties under Article 309 and 310 of the
Revised Penal Code…”
— Executive Order no. 277, series of 1987

Types of Log Sawing

● Log Sawing: The operation of preparing or cutting the logs into its commercial sizes.

Flat Sawn
● Most common
● Wider boards, fewer knots
● Cheap

Quarter Sawn
● Takes more time to produce
● High price tag

Rift Sawn
● Produces narrower boards
● Cheaper than quarter sawn

Live Sawn
● Not sold on a commercial basis
● No control over grade of lumber
Types of Wood Grains
● Wood Grain: Refers to the alignment, texture, and appearance of wood fibers

Cathedral Straight/Ray Fleck Rift Sawn Live Sawn

Produced by flat sawing Produced by quarter Produce by rift sawing Produced by live sawing
sawing

Types of Dressed Lumber

● Surfaced/Dressed Lumber: A lumber having at least one smooth side.
○ S2S: A lumber that has 2 smooth sides
○ S4S: A lumber that has 4 smooth sides.

Deflects in A Wood Wood Seasoning

Wood Preservation
Lumber Products
● HARDBOARD: It is a compressed and composite board. Also known as HDF
(High-Density Fiber Board) normally used for cabinets and toilet partitions.
○ Thickness range in inches: ¼”, ⅛”
○ Size: 4x8ft (1.20x2.40m)
● PARTICLE BOARD: Also known as chipboard or LDF (Light-Density Fiber Board). It is
made of engineered wood products from wood chips and synthetic resin that is used in
cabinetry and other furniture.
○ Thickness range in inches: ½”, ¾”, 1”, 1½”
○ Size: 4x8ft, 2x8ft
● MDF BOARD: Also known as Medium-Density Fiber Board. Almost the same definition as
a particle board but a higher density level than that of the LDF board.
○ Thickness range in inches: 3/10”, ⅛”, ¼”, ⅜”, ½”, ⅝”, ¾”, 1”, 1¼”
○ Size: 4x8ft (1.20x2.40m)
● PLYWOOD: It is lightweight and strong, typically made of thin veneers of wood peeled
from logs that are sandwiched together with binders, pressed, and heated.
○ TYPES OF PLYWOOD:
■ Softwood: most common type for structural use
■ Hardwood: commonly specified for paneling and finishing work
■ Exterior/Marine: waterproof plywood used for interior and exterior
finishes
○ SIZES OF PLYWOOD:
■ 4x8ft (1.20x2.40m) — most common
■ 4x9ft (1.20x2.74m)
■ 4x4ft (1.20x1.20m)
■ Thickness: ⅛”, ¼”, ½”, ¾”, 1”
○ PLYWOOD GRADES:
■ GRADE A: front and back is free from defects, smooth, and sanded
■ GRADE B: sanded smooth but have few deflects
■ GRADE C: unsanded with knots up to 1½” wide
■ GRADE D: unsanded with knots up to 2½” wide

Computation for Woods

● BOARD FOOR (SI): A unit of measurement for the volume of lumber.
● BOARD METER (Metric): 1 bd.m. = 0.225 bd.ft.

SLAB/BOARD/PLANKS: LOGS:

t = Thickness in inches D = smaller diameter of log in inches

w = Width in inches L = length of log in feet
L = Length in inches
 WOOD JOINERY, FITTING, & FINISHING

JOINERY: A part of woodworking that involves joining together pieces of wood to create
furniture, structures, toys, and other items. Some wood joints employ fasteners, bindings,
or adhesives, while others use only wood elements. The characteristics of wooden joints are:
strength, flexibility, toughness, etc. Derive from the properties of the joining materials and from
how they are used in the joints. Different joinery techniques are used to meet differing
requirements. For example, the joinery used to build a house is different from that used to make
puzzle toys, although some concepts overlap.

Types of Wood Joints

Butt Joint: is an easy woodworking joint. It joins two pieces of wood

by merely butting them together. The butt joint is the simplest joint to
make. It is also the weakest wood joint unless you use some form of
reinforcement. It depends upon glue alone to hold it together.

Biscuit Joint: It is a reinforced Butt joint. The biscuit is an

oval-shaped piece. Typically, a biscuit is made of dried and
compressed wood, such as beech. You install it in matching mortises
in both pieces of the wood joint. Most people use a biscuit joiner to
make the mortises.

Bridle Joint: A bridle joint is a woodworking joint, similar to a mortise

and tenon. You cut a tenon on the end of one piece and a mortise into
the other piece to accept it. You cut the tenon and the mortise to the
full width of the tenon piece. This is the distinguishing feature of
this joint.

Dado (Joinery): It is a slot cut into the surface of a piece of

wood. When viewed in cross section, a dado has three sides. You cut a
dado perpendicular to the grain. It is different from a groove, which
you cut parallel to the grain.

Mortise & Tenon Woodworking Joints: One of the strongest

woodworking joints is the mortise and tenon joint. This joint is simple
and strong. Woodworkers have used it for many years. Normally you
use it to join two pieces of wood at 90 degrees.
 Finger Joint: also called box joint, is a popular woodworking joint.
You use it to join two pieces of wood at right angles to each other. It
is much like a dovetail joint except that the pins are square and not
angled.

Half-Lap Wood Joint: A half-lap joint is one of the frequently used

woodworking joints. In a half-lap joint, you remove material from
each piece so that the resulting joint is the thickness of the thickest
piece.

Pocket-Hole Joinery: one of the more popular woodworking joints is

the Pocket-Hole Joint. It is nothing more than a Butt joint with Pocket
Hole Screws. The pocket holes require two drilling operations. The first
is to counter-bore the pocket hole itself, which takes the screw head
contained by the piece. The second step is to drill a pilot hole whose
centreline is the same as the pocket hole.

Dovetail Wood Joint: The dovetail joint, or simply dovetail, is a

strong woodworking joint. It is great for tensile strength (resistance
from pulling apart). You use the dovetail joint to connect the sides of
a drawer to the front.

Rabbet Woodworking Joints: A rabbet is a recess cut into the edge

of a piece of wood. When viewed in cross-section, a rabbet is
two-sided and open to the end of the surface. An example of the use
of a rabbet is in the back edge of a cabinet.

Tongue & Groove Woodworking Joints: One of the more popular

woodworking joints is the edge-to-edge joint, called tongue and
groove. One piece has a slot (groove) cut all along one edge. The
other piece has a tongue cut on the mating edge.

Basic Woodworking Tools

● Power jointer and thickness planer
● Circular saw
● Hand saws, a router and two router bits.
● Jigsaw
● Combination square and tape measure
● A power drill or two
 ● Rasps, files, a random-orbit sander, a smoothing plane and a block plane.
● Joinery gadgets
● Chisels and a wooden mallet.
● A hammer and some screwdrivers.
● A Workmate, a puttering bench and clamps.

Wood Spiral Hanger Stand

Spiral assembly consists of hundreds of joints. Many of these joints are small and
relatively delicate. Many of the joints in a spiral staircase are doweled or use mortise
and tenon joints, which are nothing more than one small piece of wood penetrating into
a corresponding piece of wood. You can't take them apart; the assembly is too
complicated. But you can reinforce them.

Preferably used joint in case of Wooden Spiral Hanger :

● DOVETAIL WOOD JOINT
● MORTISE AND TENON WOODWORKING JOINTS

Types of Oak Finish

Golden Oak: a classic oak finish familiar to any
antique lover. The glaze layer darkens the open-pored
early wood and contrasts beautifully with the
brownish-gold latewood. This finish looks best on red
oak.
1. Trans Tint honey amber dye to the bare wood
and let it dry.
2. Seal with shellac and scuff-sand when dry.
3. Glaze with Varathane dark walnut gel stain.
4. Seal with shellac and scuff-sand when dry.
5. Apply a topcoat of your choice.

Deep, Dark, Red Oak: This finish looks great on plain

sawn red oak boards and is impossible to get straight
out of a can. The red dye is incredibly strong. But the
gel stain is applied without a barrier coat so it darkens
both the early wood and latewood.
1. Apply Trans Tint bright scarlet to the bare wood
and let it dry.
2. Apply Minwax jet black mahogany gel stain.
3. Seal with wax-free shellac and scuff-sand when
dry.
4. Apply a topcoat of your choice.
Simple but Nice Oak Finish: This finish is as easy as it
gets. Its results are not as spectacular as those of
the other three recipes. But it makes up for its plainer
look with ease of
Application.
1. Apply two coats of Rocker's Mission Oak
Wipe-On gel stain.
2. Seal with shellac and scuff-sand when dry.
3. Apply a topcoat of your choice.
 BUILDING STONES

● Stones: are naturally occurring compact, solid and massive material that make the crust
of the earth.
● Rocks: posses suitable properties often find use in building stones.
● Weathering/Erosion: the natural process of rock disintegration

○ Stones are also called rocks.

○ All building stones are rocks in nature, but not all rocks may not be useful as
building stones.
○ Stones are natural and do not required to be manufactured.
○ Stones have been used in all type of construction since time immemorial.
○ Some Historical Buildings made of stone: The pyramids of Egypt, The eiffel tower,
The temple of Jagannathpuri, The Taj Mahal, the Red fort, the great wall of china
○ Stone, timber and clay had been the most commonly construction used material
right from the beginning of the civilization till the advent of Portland cement and
hence concrete in the early nineteenth century.

Classification of Stones
➔ Geological
◆ Igneous Rocks: formed by the natural process of cooling and
crystallization from originally hot and molten magma. They are the
most abundant rocks in the crust when considered depth wise.

● Plutonic Rocks: These are formed at greater depth below

the surface. They are exposed on the surface by erosion of
the overlying secondary rocks with passage of time. They
are coarsely crystallized. i.e. the component of crystals can
be easily seen without the help of magnifying glasses.
Granites, Syenites and gabbros are typically igneous
plutonic rocks.
● Volcanic Rocks: These are formed on the surface of the
earth from lava coming out of numerous volcanoes that
erupt from time to time. Basalt and trap rocks are very
common examples; the constituents minerals are so small
that they can be seen only after magnifying under
microscope.
● Hypabyssal Rocks: These are formed at shallow depths,
about 2-3 km below the surface from magma that could
not come out as lava. They show crystal that are partly
coarse and partly fine in size. Rock known as porphyries
belong to this group.
◆ Sedimentary: From the word sediment, meaning particle. It is the
most widespread rocks found covering a great part of the surface
of earth. They are formed from any type of preexisting rocks by a
simple process of breakdown into smaller particles under the
influence of natural agencies like wind, water and ice, and
atmospheric gases.
● Clastic Rocks: sedimentary rocks formed by deposition
and consolidation of disintegrated sediments and
fragments from the previous rocks in suitable river basins,
lake and the sea basins etc. They are most widespread and
include such types as sandstones, hales, breccias and
conglomerates. Sandstones are made mostly of silica
grains fused together or thoroughly compacted under
natural environment. They form very good type of building
stone.
● Chemically formed Rocks: Many sedimentary rocks are
precipitated from river, lake and especially from seawater
by evaporation etc. some of the components of previous
rocks are taken in solution during the processes of
weathering and erosion. The water may get saturated with
these compounds with passage of time and precipitate
them. The huge accumulation of these precipitates and
evaporates ultimately may form rock deposits of
considerable importance. Limestones, Gypsum, anhydrite
and rock salts are few examples of chemically formed
sedimentary rocks. None of them are used as building
stones.
● Organically formed Rocks: As we know that more than 70
% of the surface of earth is covered with water in the form
of sea and oceans. Great variety of life exists in these
great water bodies. Many sea animals have their hard
parts made up of bones, which are a mixture of calcium
and magnesium carbonates. These parts accumulate at
proper places on the sea floor. Gradually huge thickness of
such deposits get formed and compacted and consolidates
with passage of time. These are the organically formed
sedimentary rocks. The best example of organically formed
sedimentary rock is a great variety of limestone, which
now form the greater part of many mountains of the earth
including Himalayas. Many massive types of limestone
form best type of building stones.
◆ Metamorphic: meta= Change; morph=form; These are originally
either igneous or sedimentary rocks. The process for their change
under the influence of increased temperature, pressure, and
chemical environment is called metamorphism. When an existing
rock gets subjected to increased temperature or changed stresses
and chemically active fluids it undergoes a slow but definite
 change in its original structure and chemical composition. The new
rock so formed is called metamorphic rock. Example:
● Marble: formed in natural environment by very gradual
heating of sedimentary rocks, limestone, in its natural
environment. The heating may be caused by rise of
magma from below in a limestone area.
● Slate: Similarly, another sedimentary rock, slate may be
formed combined action of temperature, pressure &
chemically active fluids that it gets changed to a
metamorphic rock slate.
➔ Physical
◆ Stratified: Most sedimentary rocks occur in distinct layers of same
and different color and composition. Their different layers are also
called beds and are separated by planes of weaknesses called
bedding planes
◆ Massive/Unstratified: occur in huge masses without showing any
layered structure in them. Igneous and many metamorphic rocks
and some sedimentary rocks may be seen occurring as big
masses. Granite and Quartzite often occur in massive form.
◆ Foliated: Very often a third group of rock is distinguish as foliated
rocks in which there is profuse development of well defined band
of different composition. This is seen as schists and gneisses. The
foliated rocks do not yield building stone of good quality
➔ Chemical
◆ Silicious: These rocks have SILICA as the predominant
component, that is more than 50% of the bulk composition of the
rock. These include variety of quartzites. Naturally they are
classed among the strongest type of building stones. Some other
rocks like granites, sandstones and gneisses are also made up of
Silica in combined form.
◆ Argillaceous: They are mostly sedimentary rocks having clay
(hydrous alumino silicates of K, Na, Ca, Mg. etc.) as a dominant
constituent. They are invariably soft and untrustworthy as building
stone and untrustworthy as building stones. Shales, Slates, and
Schists are examples
◆ Calcareous: In these rocks, the dominant component is a
carbonate ,generally of calcium but often with magnesium. Most
commonly they belong to sedimentary and metamorphic group of
rocks. Limestone, dolomite and marbles are entirely carbonate
rocks and all form good building stone.

Quarrying of Stones
● Quarrying: The process of extraction of suitable stones from their natural place of
occurrence for use in construction.
○ It is known that stones occur in nature in the form of natural rock masses forming
hills or walls of valleys. These have to be broken and extracted from those natural
outcrops for using in the construction
 ○ Quarrying is different than mining used for extraction of ores for metal in that in
mining we go deep below the surface, the top surface is left in tact, and the ores
are extracted from under the earth. In quarrying, however, the process of
extraction starts from the surface.

Selection of Quarrying Site

Engineers and Contractors have to keep in mind following factors while deciding about the
location of quarry site:
● Availability of Sound Rock: A quarry can be opened up where a sound rock that can
yield good quality of building stones existing in sufficiently larger area. These is essential
because quarrying operation require quite heavy initial investment in men and
machinery and these have to be economically viable.
● Distance of Area of Construction: Quarrying is a common operation. The quarrying site
must necessarily be close to a main road so that stones extracted from it can be
transported to any outside place at economic rate
● Availability of Water and Dumping space: In quarrying operations, large number of
equipments, men and machines are often required. Sufficient safe distance from
quarrying must be available. Often lot of water is also required for the workers and even
during cutting operations when machines are to be used. This must be available locally.
Dumping space is required for storing the broken stone and also for dumping useless
rock fragments obtained during quarrying. Further, adequate drainage outlet for
removing any underground or surface waters immediately after rain must be provided at
the quarry.

Preparatory Steps for Quarrying

Once a site for quarrying of Stone is decided. Following predatory steps becomes necessary for
starting operations:
● Selection of Method of Quarrying: Quarrying can be done manually or with the help of
machines. Mechanized quarrying is the advanced and preferred method of the quarry,
the nature of the rock and the commercial demand.
● Preparation of a Layout: A scheme for operation process or layout of the quarry has to
be prepared after selecting method of quarrying. This should include the face of attack,
the progression of attack and various stages in which the block of rocks are removed.
● Removal of overburden: The upper surface of natural bedrock is quite often covered
with some thickness of soil or weathered rock called overburden. Such overburden as
well as loosely held rock pieces have to be removed well before the start of quarrying
operations

Methods of Quarrying
A. Quarrying Without Blasting: In this methods, skilled persons remove
blocks of rocks from the places of occurrence. They may use hand tools or
even light channeling machines called channellizers. No explosive
material is used for breaking the stones.
B. Quarrying by Blasting: This method involves use of explosives for
breaking stones from very hard rock like quartzite and sandstones,
basalts, traps, and non-ornamental granites. It has been observed that
quarrying of these types of hard rock becomes very laborious and costly
by other methods. The basic principle employed in this method is to
 explode a small quantity of an explosive at a calculated depth within the
body of the rock. The force generated due to explosion is sufficient to only
create cracks and loosen rock block of good size.

Dressing of Stones
● Dressing of Stones: the process of giving a proper size, shape and finish to the roughly
broken stone as obtained from quarry. This is done either manually or mechanically or in
some case using both the methods.
○ Stones as obtained from quarries are very rough and irregular in shape. Besides,
they may be too bulky to be used in construction. Hence, various objectives of
dressing are:
■ (a) To reduce the size of blocks to easily portable units: This is often done
at the quarry itself because transport of big rock may be costly.
■ (b) To give a proper shape to the stone: We can use stones in foundation
as blocks, in walls as small units, in floor as slabs and in column as
rounded or square pillars. Each situation requires a proper shape that has
to be given under the process of dressing.
■ (c) To obtain an appealing finish: Stones always come in rough and
rugged forms. For use in building construction in walls and exteriors, they
have to be given an aesthetic appealing finish. A stone house has its own
distinction, beauty and indivuality in a concrete jungle.

Method of Dressing of Stones

● Manually: Skilled workers can work wonders on suitable types of stones with chisels,
hammers and abrasives. Not only they can give excellent finish and polish stones but
also may do carving and engraving that can withstand centuries.

Pitched Dressing: only the edges of a block are

leveled skillfully by use of hammers. The surface
is left in original cut.

Hammer Dressing: The edge as well as the face

are reduced to even regular surface. It has pitted
appearance on the surface.

Chisel Dressing: straight grooves are made with

the help of a chisel at all four edges. The
superfluous stone from the centre is removed.
Chisel drafted stones are specially used in plinths
and corner of the building.
 Rough Tooling: edges are first made square by
using chisel and hammer. Then a series of
grooves of variable width are developed over the
surface of stone.

Boasted Finish: very common type of finish in

which the surface of the stone is covered with
parallel marks that may run in a particular
direction on a particular face. A boaster which is
actually a wide-edge chisel is used for the
purpose and hence the same.

● Mechanically: special saw fitted machines can cut slabs and any other shape from
rough rocks. These are called rock cutters. The grinding and polishing machines are
fitted with wheels or discs with abrasives capable enough to give polish and fine finish to
any desired degree even on the hardest of stones.

Selection of Stones for Construction

● The type of building and the situation where stone is to be used such as:
○ Residential building or a public building, such as for school, department office,
community centre etc.
○ Commercial building like cinema hall, shopping complex stadium, etc
○ A monument building such as temple, mosque,church, fort etc
● The precise location in the building
○ Where the stone shall give a preferential benefit in terms of cost, appearance,
and durability such as in foundations, superstructures, arches, columns, beams,
plinths, or flooring, sills and cantilever.
● Cost of construction with stones.
○ This will depend on factors of availability of stone, in nearby area, their
extraction, transportation and dressing before putting them in use. Sometimes a
desired quantity of stone may not be available locally. It may have to be
imported from other states or even from other countries. It is only after through
analysis of factors as mentioned above that the engineer will be able to decide
about using stone in the construction at hand.
 STONE & MASONRY
● Masonry: It is the art of building with stone, bricks, concrete blocks, and other materials.
● Ashlar: Consists of carefully worked and joined stone blocks laid in parallel horizontal
courses
● Rubble Stone: Consists of irregular stones with good face for the wall surface.
● Course Rubble: Roughly square blocks leveled up to 30 to 45 cm. thick courses
● Bricks: Manufactured from clay and other materials processed into a workable
consistency molded to sizes and fired in a kiln to make them strong, durable and
attractive

Classification of Masonry

Rubble: Includes rough Flagstone: Also known as

fieldstone which may flat slabs. Consists of thin
merely have been broken pieces (1/2” and up)which
into suitable sizes. May may or may not have had
include irregular pieces of their face dimensions cut to
stone that have been some particular size. Used
roughly cut to size. Usually for walkways and floors.
used for filling material.

Cut Stone: Also called as Crushed Rock: Stone

dimension stone. Consists of consisting of pieces varying
pieces that have been cut in size from 3/8 to 6”. Used
or finished according to a to a large extend in
set of drawings. Used for concreting.
wall facings.

Types of Stones

Argilite: Formed from clay. Marble: A metamorphic

Commonly dark-blue with rock. Limestone and
faint shades of green. Used dolomite have been
for floor tile, stair threads, recrystallized to form
coping stones, interior wall marble. Famous types are
base, interior window stools carrara parian, numidiam,
of exterior window sills. onyx, etc. Colors range from
yellow, white, black, etc.
Used for wall facing,
column facing, and flooring

Granite: An igneous rock. Serpentine: Color is olive

Composed of quartz, green to greenish black.
feldspar, hornblende, and Used for interior only due to
mica. Very hard, strong, deterioration from
durable, and capable of weathering.
taking a high polish. Used in
flooring, wall paneling,
column and mullion facings,
stair threads or flagstones
 Limestone: A sedimentary Sandstone: A class of rock
rock. Very low in absorption composed of cemented
and has a smooth texture. silica grains. Colors include
Color is fairly uniform light gray, buff, light brown, red.
gray.

Travertine: A sedimentary Slate Rock: Colors are

rock. Composed mainly of black, green, red, gray, or
calcium carbonate. Used as purple. Used for flooring,
an interior decorative stone window sills and stools,
because of its pleasing stair threads, wall and
texture column facing. Formed by
metamorphosis of clays
and shales deposited in
layers.

Construction Stones

Ashlar: Work requires the Rubblework: Used as

use of cut stone and random when no attempt is
includes broken ashlar, made to produce either
irregular coursed ashlar, horizontal or vertical course
regular coursed ashlar. lines.

Trim: Involves the use of Paneling: Consists of using

stones cut for a specific slabs of stone cut to
purpose. dimension and thickness to
cover backup walls and
Quoin - stones laid at the provide a finished exterior
intersection of two walls.

Brick Face Name

Brick Patterns

Stretcher Bond: Most well Flemish Bond: It is like the

known and used when cross bond, except all layers
laying facing bricks alternate between a header
with a joint. Primarily used and a stretcher
in pointed brickwork. Also
known as Running Bond.

Garden Wall Bond: It is a Common Bond: Also known

Flemish bond in which three as American Bond. Involves
stretchers between each a course of full headers
header, then it is known as being inserted every six
a “double stretcher garden courses. A header is always
wall” bond. centered on one of the
stretchers.

Stack Bond: Also known as English Cross Bond: This

tiled bonds. Highlights the pattern has visible crosses.
vertical aspect of brick They are formed by a
work. Facing bricks are continuous alternation
stacked one on top of the between a layer of headers
other. It can be done with and a layer of stretchers,
both stretchers and end much like a header bond.
headers.

Soldier Course: Involves

bricks being laid standing
on their ends with the
narrow edge facing out.

Concrete Hollow Block (CHB)

Concrete Hollow Block: a block made of concrete that has hollow spaces between its walls. It is
used to build different types of walls for different purposes like retaining walls, decorative walls,
classic walls, etc.
● Main ingredients: Gravel, Sand, Portland Cement, Water
● Properties: Moisture, Water absorption, Drying shrinkage, Strength, Density
● Uses: Walls, Backing for face bricks, Fireproofing over a structural member, Retaining
Walls, Boundary Fences
● Sizes (LxWxH): 4”x8”x16-24”, 5”x8”x16-24”, 6”x8”x16-24”, 8”x8”x16-24”,

Advantages & Disadvantages of a CHB

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

● Cost-effective ● High Maintenance Cost

● Innsulative mAterial ● Low-bearing Capacity
● Lightweight ● Water Seepage
● ENergy-efficeient
● Site Ready
Classification of CHB
● Grade A: Load bearing units; 1500 kg/m^3
● Grade B: Load bearing units; 1000-1500 kg/m^3
● Grade C: Non-load bearing units; 1000-1500 kg/m^3
● Grade D: Solid concrete blocks; 1800 kg/m3

Types of Concrete Hollow Block (CHB)

Mortar & Plastering

● Mortar: Mixture of sand, cement, and water that spread between bricks or stones so as
to hold them together when it hardens
● Plastering: The process of covering rough walls and uneven surfaces in the construction
of houses and other structures with a plastic material, called plaster.